A Leap forward in the 2010-2011 Academic Year of Tucson Chinese School
Hong Lei
For any school, enrollment is generally viewed as an objective measurement of its
success, although I personally don’t think it’s the best criterion. This year Tucson
Chinese School reached its record-high enrollment with 170 students – an apparent
leap from the past years, thanks to all the support from parents, teachers, volunteers
and TCCC staff – filling our simplified, adult, bilingual and traditional classes.
A close look at the changes occurred in these different categories of classes may
help us to analyze the trend of development and guide our strategies for the future.
The largest increase of enrollment this year is found in the English Mandarin
Bilingual classes, with 233% more students registered for these classes as compared
with the number of the fall 2009. These classes are specifically designed for those
who lack a Chinese-speaking environment at home, thus linguistic help from parents
is not readily available. For this reason, the textbooks of these classes must be
written in both Chinese and English, and teachers must be fluent in both languages.
A total of 20 students, 5-12 years old, distributed in two bilingual classes, uses
a new series of textbooks, namely “Chinese Made Easy for Kids 1-5”. After completing
this series, learners will acquire a vocabulary of approximately 1,700 Chinese characters
and will be ready for SAT II / AP-Chinese Examinations. Additionally, this series
has fully considered the age factor, with a collection of materials that are appropriate
for young kids through teens. Starting form this academic year, the bilingual class
runs as a program by its own right, delivering systematic education to students from
non-Chinese speaking families.
A new 1st grade “Ma Liping Chinese” class is opened this year whereas most
of students from last year’s class returned and promoted to the 2nd grade. “Ma Liping
Chinese” was developed at the Stanford Chinese School in California, led by Dr. Ma
Liping. This course differs from other Chinese courses in our school in its pedagogical
methods, especially taking into account the situations of students from overseas
Chinese families. These students can generally understand the spoken Chinese language
but not necessarily the written part. Therefore, the “Ma Liping Chinese” program
emphasizes reading first. After the first 4 years, students will be able to recognize
about 1500 characters, which prepare them to read one of the classic Chinese fiction
stories The Journey to the West (adapted version). By the 10th grade, they will learn
nearly 2800 characters. Homework is aided by computer software, through which students
are provided with large amount of reading materials, mostly fun stories, riddles,
poems etc., easily attracting students’ attention thus seeming less intensive.
Simplified adult classes have increased its enrollment by 60%. It’s well
recognized that the motivation to learn Chinese in adult students is very different
from young students. This program, therefore, runs on a highly flexible basis with
a major emphasis on practical learning. Teachers can frequently adjust their teaching
contents according to students’ progress and interest, not necessarily restrained
by finishing a certain number of lessons in a semester. The textbooks, Learn Chinese
with Me (level 1-4), are used to provide a topical guidance. At any point of time
-- beginning, middle or end of semester -- students can decide to move to a different
level. Additionally, adult students have choice of two conversational classes.
Students enrolled in the simplified Zhongwen program consist of the largest
portion of our student body with 91 learners this year, a 15% increase from the same
period a year ago. The entire program is divided into 13 levels which shall be completed
in 11 years. Similar to the Ma Liping Chinese program, Zhongwen series is designed
for students who have mandarin-speaking parents. This program emphasizes building
a solid foundation starting from the 1st grade, giving full-scale yet progressive
education on listening, speaking, reading and writing. By graduation, the students
will have learned about 2200 characters. Elective courses (Chinese literature, history)
are available for continuing education after students graduated from the Zhongwen
program.
Other classes including the pre-K, traditional Chinese and all cultural classes
are as welcome as usual. Together they comprise a valuable asset of our school. Among
the cultural classes (sports, art and craft, games, painting, dancing, singing, computers
etc.), worth noting is the new chess class, which attracted about 20 young players
even during the first week.
None of the above is possible without good teachers. Twenty-nine men and
women, young and old, come to school every Sunday afternoon, a time that they could
spend with their families, a time that they could relax in their comfortable home,
a time that they could use to work on their own stuff if they really want to work.
They teach Chinese to a diverse population of students, some of whom are taken to
Chinese school without understanding why, some of whom come to school simply to make
Mom and Dad happy, some of whom see the potential of this language in a rapidly changing
world therefore do not want to be left behind; they commit themselves to a mission
that every Chinese will admit its importance but not everyone is willing to engage,
a mission that sometimes brings disappointment or even tears, a mission that calls
for such a moral height as “if I don’t do it, who will”. They work like professional
educators, but ask for no return or are compensated with a token of appreciation.
They complain nothing but expect to be respected. These are the twenty-nine men and
women I work with every Sunday afternoon; these are our teachers. Together we made
a leap forward this year.
