I am very happy about what I experienced in this teacher training class. Our learning activities are so motivating, and the course content and discussions are very useful. The interactions between the teacher and the class are so interesting and educational, and interactions among my classmates are so friendly and helpful too. The professor makes it very clear that the immediate goal of the program design is to develop our competitiveness on the job market. I believe all this is very helpful for us to become well-trained professional.

I expect to see more films or video tapes about some Chinese teachers --how they teach American students in their class.

I also expect to know more about American and Chinese history, especially about China’s affairs with the United States—e.g. Few Americans know that America and China were allies in WWII.

I also expect to listen to other classmates talking about their experience in teaching Chinese to different age groups of students.

(Janet Liang July 6, 2006)

Our learning experience includes the following: Each group or everyone is encouraged to come up with many ideas for learning activities, and these learning activities are good examples and practically relevant to our future teaching job. In the classes, students are able to exchange ideas and share information about their experiences.

The teacher provides a plenty of useful information and references. The teacher works with us with great enthusiasm. The teacher answered students’ questions very well. So far, the classes have been a systematic learning of foreign language teaching methodology and transcultural linguistic approach to teaching Chinese in America. I am also expecting to learn more examples of teaching techniques in the next few weeks.

(Joyce Chiu 7/5/06)

Our learning experience in this Chinese language teacher training program also includes the following:

Our class is divided into small groups to conduct sample teaching. Each group showed a lot of teamwork, planning, data collection and creativity in teaching. During this actual practice, we learned how to manipulate and maneuver the class smoothly through out. We used many of the direct and indirect teaching tools such as drawing maps, show videos and comparing the cultural differences among people. We emphasized strongly in class interaction. Class exercises and participation are the most effective ways for students to intake new information.

As a future teacher to be, I found myself amazed with how much I can be enriched and expanded from this program. I also learned how to make each class meeting as meaningful and excitable as it can be.

(Pearl Kwong 7/8/06 )