Teaching Mandarin I

Recently I taught a 7th grade Mandarin Class over in the Middle School called "Pinyin, Dialects, and Chinese as a Cultural Lens." My objective in it was to explain the complex history behind an everyday tool to the learning of Mandarin:Pinyin, as well as to provide some perspective-creating information about language in China that doesn't quite fit into the general Mandarin cultural studies elements of the curriculum. 

I had been pondering about what sort of lesson I would teach and to whom for a while, and doing further reading on globally-focused ideas in which I'd taken interest, and it was only in a conversation with my grandmother as she helped my sister with her Chinese homework that it dawned on me. Her family has roots in the Fujian province of China, and more specifically Xiamen as well as Taiwan, the Philippines where Hokkien is spoken. Her Mandarin education extended to a 5th grade level, and thus my sister and I were approaching her Mandarin proficiency. She also has limited exposure to Pinyin, alluding to a generational and dialect-related gap in the system and speaking of Chinese. I found this to be incredibly interesting as well as an issue not many people know about.

My point of emphasis in this lesson was to teach how language truly is power in a multiplicity of ways, from standardization from an overarching government body, to the loss of dialects due to this standardization, or the increased literacy rates related to it. I wanted the kids o take away the message that Mandarin is only a part of the greater Chinese language, and I wanted them to gain the perspective of our thin sliver of learning Mandarin alone, and how there is a complex history behind the language that informs our greater understanding and study.

I'd say the balance of elements I employed in my class really helped my lesson flow well and for the children to be able to stay engaged. I used things like a video, an article, a game/activity, partner discussion, ad class discussion/contribution to diversify the learning methods and to spice up the experience. I'd say planning those and doing them was a key element to my success in the project. Planning too was smooth due to the fact that I had plenty of support and benchmarks along the way. As far as challenges go, I'd say the biggest one was scheduling. With senior spring's AP schedule and other conflicts, that was a difficult part of the project. Besides that I don't think I faced any other planning challenges or any in my delivery. 

I would evaluate this lesson to be highly successful! It felt incredible to engage with the kids on a topic about which I'm very passionate, and it was an incredibly rewarding experience for me. I received some positive feedback from the teachers I'd worked with and am curious to hear what the students think!