Philosophy & Style

Teaching Philosophy

My goal is to help Chinese language learners improve their practical skills, with a specific focus on listening and speaking proficiency.

Our lessons focus on conversations and emphasize real-world application. The teaching objective is to ensure students can engage in practical, genuine communication in Mandarin. 

My courses emphasize natural language acquisition and practical, everyday conversation rather than merely preparing for exams. I prioritize interactive language learning methods over rote memorization and passive drills.

As Mandarin is a tonal language, phonetics plays a vital role in the early stage of learning. My approach is grounded in practicality; I use simple, accessible explanations based on my teaching experience while minimizing technical jargon and excessive theory.

My approach to grammar is clear and concise. The aim is to help students master expression and communication rather than focusing on  "linguistic research".  

For reading and Writing, I advocate for reading aloud to reinforce learning. While typing characters is acceptable, I believe learning to write them provides a significant advantage in truly understanding the language.

Class activities are designed to enable students to use Chinese naturally, fluently and with confidence. 

Class Style 

• Laying a solid foundation

Great oaks from little acorns grow. As we know, Chinese is a tonal language, that means the language is understood through tones. If we use a wrong tone, the meaning changes. So it is essential that we place particular emphasis on pronunciation (the tones) at the beginning of our studies. This focus will significantly benefit both your speaking and listeng skills; once you master the tones, half the battle is won. In addition to pronunciation, other elements such as fundamental syntax and the basic writing system are crucial for establishing a sturdy foundation as well. I hope you all enjoy this important stage of your Mandarin learning and experience the unique fun of learning this tonal language. 

• Applying effective methods 

When it comes to learning a new language, not only do we want to experience the thrill and enjoyment of learning it, but we also want to see results and use it with confidence. Our classes are thoughtfully designed, as reflected in the following aspects.

• Structures and Interactive:

I utilize structured and interactive methods tailored to meet each student's individual needs and learning preferences.

• Student Centered:

My classes prioritize the student, fostering a welcoming learning atmosphere where everyone is encouraged to speak up and make consistent progress. 

• Clear Explanations:

I provide clear explanations of language points to prevent confusion and simplify the learning process. 

• Goal-Oriented Results:

All methods serve the goals of learning, and students will actually learn something and achieve tangible results after each class.

• Conversation-focused, backed by essential language skills

Our classes prioritize real-life conversations, allowing students to practice speaking naturally and interactively. This helps to build fluency, confidence, and the ability to communicate effectively in various situations. Also, because listening and speaking are interdependent, we focus on integrating both skills.  To achieve this, we utilize techniques such as shadowing, blind shadowing, and echoing to strengthen speaking with active listening. These methods strengthen speaking through active listening, helping students understand native speakers more easily and engage in more meaningful, functional conversations.   

Equally important is the learning of grammar and vocabulary. We place a strong emphasis on building solid grammar foundations. By integrating grammar into our conversations, students learn to structure sentences correctly, enhancing both written and spoken accuracy. In addition, expanding vocabulary is key to communicate more effectively and enrich language use. We introduce new words and phrases through vivid presentation and targeted drills, helping students expressing ideas clearly and commanding the language. 

 Sample Learning Plan  

 📚 for Weekly Review  🔖

Below is a weekly review plan I'd like to share with you. Within a week after each class, I've outlined a five-day review plan to help you systematically reinforce what we cover in class. This is for your reference only to help you guide your study habits. 

⦿ Day 1: listening 🎧

On day 1, you can do some light exercise - a focus on listening, right after your previous lesson. Listen to the new words and texts in the previous lesson. Then check your understanding by listening without reading the book. Identify areas that need more focus and continue listening until you understand all the content completely. You can use tools like Google Translate to input new words and the text (practice typing Chinese at the same time), then listen to them by clicking the speaker. Ideally, listen and repeat after the speaker to strengthen your understanding . This is an easy way to review and to improve both your listening comprehension and also help memorize what you've learned.

⦿ Day 2: Reading 📖

After a good listening exercise on the first day, It's a great day for you to focus on reading. Read the new words and text aloud. If you prefer reading silently, you can still do it as an extra. But reading aloud is highly recommended to build fluency. You can overlap listening practice by reading aloud to strengthen both your listening and speaking skills.  Repeat your reading until you can read them fluently.  Through these two days of listening and reading practice, you will have successfully mastered what you've learned in the previous lesson and be well-prepared for the practical exercises to come.

⦿ Day 3: Speaking 🗣️

This day is for you to be creative and use what you learned to perform practical application. You can use the learned vocabulary to make sentences and talk about things that are relavent. If you have a study partner, you can have a conversation with them. If you are alone, the best method is to talk to yourself, chatting with yourself based on the lesson you learned. For example, if the lesson you just learned is about daily life, you can think about what daily activities you do at home and try to express them in Chinese. or maybe you just learned about topics like shopping or asking for directions, you can imagine what you would say if you encountered such situations. You can imagine what you want to discuss in the next class, and you can practice beforehand. This is a great method that practices speaking and prepares you for speaking in class.

⦿ Day 4: Writing ✍️

My suggestion on this section is ,don't skip this way of experiencing a language through writing. With this exercise, your comprehensive language learning system will be complete. First, practice writing the Chinese characters for the vocabulary you reviewed this week (optional, but highly recommended). Second, copy the texts you've learned using Chinese characters. And third, write a short essay or diary entry about your daily life, using the vocabulary and sentences you've learned, and referring to the framework and sentence structure in the texts that you've reviewed beforehand.  

⦿ Day 5: Final Review 💯

The last day is for final review. Review the material you've learned and check your understanding of the lesson you've covered this week. By this day, you should have gained a lot and mastered the lesson that learned last time. And you are well-prepared for the next lesson. If you encounter any questions or problems during your studies, raise them in the next class so we can solve them together. 

Note: 

Prepare a vocabulary notebook. 📕  Write down the vocabulary and sentences you consider important, as well as those you encounter on other platforms outside of our course. Review them regularly. 

Happy learning! 

💡 Tips  

As a final note, here are some little tips to share:

1. Be interested. As we know, interest is the best teacher. 

2. Be persistent. Even studying just for a very short period of time (say 10-30 minutes) will be very beneficial as long as we do it every day. Time is the greatest artist and repetition is magic.

3. Speak it. To learn a language, practicing it as much as possible is essential,  and this is true for Mandarin as well. 

4. Think in the Language: A good way to think in the language is to “forget” your native language without having to match them one-to-one with your native tongue. Over time, thinking in Mandarin will come naturally to you.

5. Immerse yourself. Given today's information age, a multichannel approach including reading, watching and listening to a variety of materials in Mandarin would serve as a good supplement.  

6. Enjoy learning Mandarin! 👍