ous characters. They wrote out several characters and pointed out the radical, but I am afraid they found me a slow pupil. “And isn’t Chinese a tonal language?” I diverted. Their response? “You get used to it,” they said, helping me hear the four different tones. I was amazed that each student I spoke with had the same basic retort to the “difficulty” question—“Different, yes; hard, no. Becomes second nature, normal. You get used to it.”Some traditional approaches are used in structuring the course: a character workbook, not unlike an old handwriting notebook; a textbook with more writing and lots of cultural insights; and a grammar workbook—and they all point out that the grammar is much easier than in western languages. But there is much focus on conversation, culture, and the comparison and contrast of cultures. In class, they practice listening and speaking; outside of class, writing and reading. Ms. Li uses video clips Mikaela Dow ’16 and Juliette Nast ’18 competed in the Chinese Bridge Cup in San Francisco this spring.
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We can recite traditional Chinese poems
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We can hold brief conversations
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We pray in Chinese
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We can write a paragraph
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We have done some calligraphy brushwork
and songs together with student presentations of simple stories in Chinese sentences. All of the students appreciate the many cultural opportunities outside of class—field trips to San Francisco, the Chinese Club and Multicultural Club activities, Chinese food preparation, and videos. In early spring, students Mikaela Dow ’16 and Juliette Nast com-
I asked Ky and Juliette to provide me with a demonstration of how they have approached the language through the guidance of Ms. Li—I am still endeavoring to get around this notion of “Chinese is hard!” “Aren’t there thousands of Chinese characters?” I asked. “Well, yes,” Juliette explained. “But many are repeated, and the context really helps.” “It is important to do a lot of memorization because everything is new and different,” Ky adds. Juliette continues, “There are no cognates between Chinese and English as there are between European languages and English, so repetition is key.” They went on to explain to me the use of radicals, particularly the ren radical¬, which help in memorizing and categorizing the vari-
peted in Chinese Painting/Drawing and Chinese Pen Calligraphy in the 11th Chinese Bridge Cup Contest for K-12 students organized by the Confucius Institute at San Francisco State University. In April, students Bianca and Juliette competed in the 40th Mandarin Speech Contest in San Francisco against other high school students from the San Francisco Bay Area, receiving a certificate of excellent participation. One very clear message emerges—students “love the class” and intend to continue their Mandarin studies. Juliette is encouraging her younger brother to take the class as a freshman. Bianca plans to pursue studies and a career in International Relations and Diplomacy based on her positive experiences in French and Mandarin. Ky speaks for all when he claims, “It was a great experience. I would definitely recommend it to a newcomer—it is an opportunity for the future.”
Meet the Instructor After just a few minutes with Xiaozhen (Vivi) Li, one can easily see why her students speak about her positive, bright character. She has quickly embraced the Justin-Siena community as if it was her longtime home and has become immersed in the life of the campus. Ms. Li immigrated with her family to the United States from southern China during high school, settling in Alameda. After graduating from Encinal High School in Alameda, she attended Laney College during which time she taught Cantonese and Mandarin in Saturday School in Fremont. Then, working on Chinese and education classes at UC Davis, Xiaozhen taught Mandarin in Sunday school in Davis and interned in Mandarin classes at Davis Senior High School. She decided to pursue her MA in teaching Mandarin as a foreign language, so she went to Beijing Normal University in China for 2 years. The program required her to do an internship in America, so she taught Mandarin at The College Prepara-
tory School in Oakland. She completed her master’s thesis in Beijing on the motivation for learning Chinese language and culture on native and non-native speakers and how to maintain and improve that motivation. It was in Davis where Ms. Li met her husband, Ziming Li from northern China, who is currently a Radio-frequency engineer in Berkeley. Ms. Li and her husband moved to Hercules when she was offered the Mandarin position. “I am so happy to have the opportunity to build the Mandarin program at JustinSiena,” Ms. Li effuses. “I love the school and have a good team with good support. I want to establish the program on a strong foundation, striking just the right balance between too challenging and just challenging enough” she explains. “I want the program to be student-centered and individualized. And I want to dispel the myth that Mandarin is too hard!” Based on the interviews with her students, it is clear she has achieved the perfect balance. justin-siena Avanti
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