Chinese Culture Club

Today after school, my classroom turned into a bit of a Chinese culture club. Four Chinese students stayed after school as well as a few hispanic students and an African student. They were all diligent with their work and were just finishing a snack, I allowed the atmosphere to become more relaxed. I was showing some pictures and started my favorite thing to do which is open up my Chinese notebook and ask for assistance. The students know as soon as I open up this notebook and if there is only one student near me, it is only a matter of seconds before all Chinese students are hovering over giving me lessons in pronunciation of my tones and adding other commentary. Shortly after that, other students (of a variety of linguistic backgrounds) will usually also become intrigued and come over to see not only what I am learning, but also to try to learn something themselves. I must say this has been probably the most unexpected, but delightful results of Chinese learning.

Last week one of the students wrote a song in Chinese for me. My teacher did not recognize the song so she asked if I could learn the tune from my students. I asked the students if they could sing the song while I recorded it on my computer. They all came together and began practicing, with a few giggles here and there, but also some genuine enthusiasm for the task at hand. The other students of course became more and more intrigued and even offered to go to another teacher to find a recording device when I was having trouble with the audacity program on my computer. The Chinese students were excited to sing the song and felt connection to each other through this shared cultural memory and the other students were excited to learn and hear it as well. I think these are the moments that international exchange programs, ESOL teachers, and any one else working in international education strive for.