1 00:00:05,380 --> 00:00:10,650 MIN-MIN LIANG: So my philosophy of teaching Chinese-- well 2 00:00:10,650 --> 00:00:14,370 it's a very interesting process because when I started, 3 00:00:14,370 --> 00:00:16,510 I knew one method. 4 00:00:16,510 --> 00:00:21,010 And I thought that was the best in the world, 5 00:00:21,010 --> 00:00:24,700 to do drill instruct-- drill the students all the time, 6 00:00:24,700 --> 00:00:25,920 make them repeat. 7 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:29,320 But throughout the years, I realized 8 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:32,590 they can say certain things, but they could not 9 00:00:32,590 --> 00:00:34,440 have a conversation. 10 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:36,460 So they can do well on tests. 11 00:00:36,460 --> 00:00:38,880 It doesn't mean they can go and have a conversation. 12 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:43,310 So I think I've evolved, and right now I 13 00:00:43,310 --> 00:00:46,670 think the main philosophy for me is 14 00:00:46,670 --> 00:00:51,950 to have a welcoming environment to help students 15 00:00:51,950 --> 00:00:57,840 to speak the language, not to talk about the language. 16 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:02,650 So that's my current philosophical idea. 17 00:01:02,650 --> 00:01:06,430 So everything I do is to carry this 18 00:01:06,430 --> 00:01:10,455 out and create an environment for this philosophy. 19 00:01:13,300 --> 00:01:18,030 So I did a lot right for the past few years. 20 00:01:18,030 --> 00:01:22,860 I started changing, and I did a lot-- 21 00:01:22,860 --> 00:01:27,830 they said scaffolding instructions and very 22 00:01:27,830 --> 00:01:29,750 student-centered instruction. 23 00:01:29,750 --> 00:01:31,650 I used to be very teacher-centered. 24 00:01:31,650 --> 00:01:32,830 Which is very efficient. 25 00:01:32,830 --> 00:01:33,730 Don't get me wrong. 26 00:01:33,730 --> 00:01:35,360 It's a very effective tool. 27 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:38,230 You kept the students on their toes. 28 00:01:38,230 --> 00:01:42,630 They have to [INAUDIBLE] right away. 29 00:01:42,630 --> 00:01:45,510 And I got this evaluation one year. 30 00:01:45,510 --> 00:01:48,150 And they said, oh, the teacher is incredible. 31 00:01:48,150 --> 00:01:51,700 She was so good, but I wish I can learn how to speak. 32 00:01:51,700 --> 00:01:53,720 I was like, what does that mean? 33 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:55,250 And you spoke well. 34 00:01:55,250 --> 00:01:58,420 And I realized he was doing the drill pattern. 35 00:01:58,420 --> 00:02:01,970 He can say a certain sentence when I asked 36 00:02:01,970 --> 00:02:04,330 him to say and repeat after me. 37 00:02:04,330 --> 00:02:06,940 But have him to have a natural conversation 38 00:02:06,940 --> 00:02:08,860 was really difficult. 39 00:02:08,860 --> 00:02:10,229 So that dawned on me. 40 00:02:10,229 --> 00:02:11,940 I start changing. 41 00:02:11,940 --> 00:02:17,610 And I try to attend conference and workshop, 42 00:02:17,610 --> 00:02:20,840 not related to just teaching Chinese. 43 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:25,480 More like how to educate people. 44 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:31,570 More education and how to create an environment for all students 45 00:02:31,570 --> 00:02:33,060 to feel safe. 46 00:02:33,060 --> 00:02:37,090 So I adapt those philosophies in my course, too. 47 00:02:37,090 --> 00:02:40,610 So my philosophy is a welcoming environment. 48 00:02:40,610 --> 00:02:45,370 That means building a community for students 49 00:02:45,370 --> 00:02:49,830 to feel very safe to speak the language in this community. 50 00:02:49,830 --> 00:02:51,900 They're not afraid to make mistakes. 51 00:02:51,900 --> 00:02:56,010 And they'll always volunteer their opinions. 52 00:02:56,010 --> 00:02:57,980 That's my goal. 53 00:02:57,980 --> 00:03:00,820 The first step. 54 00:03:00,820 --> 00:03:05,310 As I said, my philosophy is to create a welcoming environment, 55 00:03:05,310 --> 00:03:07,150 to build a community. 56 00:03:07,150 --> 00:03:12,200 So for example, recently-- two years ago-- I 57 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:17,170 went to a workshop called Responsive Classroom. 58 00:03:17,170 --> 00:03:21,280 Responsive Classroom is geared to K through 12. 59 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:26,240 It's more treating the younger kids-- try to get rid 60 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:27,544 of the behavior issue. 61 00:03:27,544 --> 00:03:29,210 I don't need to do that in my classroom. 62 00:03:29,210 --> 00:03:32,640 But I think the strategy of theirs actually works. 63 00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:34,840 First thing they do is building community. 64 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:38,810 So for example, I do the first week of my course-- 65 00:03:38,810 --> 00:03:40,040 and these are hard to learn. 66 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:41,470 They already know how to speak. 67 00:03:41,470 --> 00:03:43,730 But they are so embarrassed with them 68 00:03:43,730 --> 00:03:46,850 because they would tell me, my pronunciation bad. 69 00:03:46,850 --> 00:03:50,670 I don't speak to anybody else, only to my parents. 70 00:03:50,670 --> 00:03:52,840 I don't want to speak in the classroom. 71 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:55,620 So basically, I do the greeting. 72 00:03:55,620 --> 00:03:58,090 The very easy things they're comfortable with. 73 00:03:58,090 --> 00:04:01,500 For instance, they talk about their name, what their major, 74 00:04:01,500 --> 00:04:04,770 they can all speak these in Chinese. 75 00:04:04,770 --> 00:04:07,020 So what I do is the first day like that. 76 00:04:07,020 --> 00:04:09,340 And then start it-- I build into a routine. 77 00:04:09,340 --> 00:04:14,300 So every class I spend five to 10 minutes every day-- 78 00:04:14,300 --> 00:04:16,380 we call greet-- every class, not every day. 79 00:04:16,380 --> 00:04:19,050 We don't have a everyday class-- called greeting. 80 00:04:19,050 --> 00:04:23,980 Basically I ask everybody to write their name on the card. 81 00:04:23,980 --> 00:04:25,260 So I collect the card. 82 00:04:25,260 --> 00:04:28,600 I put the card in the middle of the classroom. 83 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:31,060 I would start because I need to model what it means. 84 00:04:31,060 --> 00:04:32,870 So I will pick up a student's card. 85 00:04:32,870 --> 00:04:35,450 For instance, I say, oh, Sarah Ling. 86 00:04:35,450 --> 00:04:38,130 OK and I call her in her Chinese name. 87 00:04:38,130 --> 00:04:41,420 And I would start saying, how are you today? 88 00:04:41,420 --> 00:04:43,410 What did you do last night? 89 00:04:43,410 --> 00:04:44,240 Stuff like that. 90 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:45,870 Daily life things. 91 00:04:45,870 --> 00:04:48,930 And then I ask a student, did you see what I did? 92 00:04:48,930 --> 00:04:52,330 So follow my model, and come here, pick up a card, 93 00:04:52,330 --> 00:04:54,140 greet your classmates. 94 00:04:54,140 --> 00:04:56,620 So every day I would do this. 95 00:04:56,620 --> 00:04:58,550 I think after two weeks, everybody 96 00:04:58,550 --> 00:05:00,510 knows everybody's name. 97 00:05:00,510 --> 00:05:02,780 And while greeting this is not just simple 98 00:05:02,780 --> 00:05:05,660 greeting because you have a natural conversation when 99 00:05:05,660 --> 00:05:08,780 you say oh, I went to bed really late last night. 100 00:05:08,780 --> 00:05:12,080 And people would say, why? 101 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:14,390 So I started very structured, for instance, 102 00:05:14,390 --> 00:05:17,560 just everybody just say very limited things. 103 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:20,025 And then I would say, OK, so Sarah 104 00:05:20,025 --> 00:05:23,000 says she went to bed really late last night. 105 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:25,500 Do you guys want to know why? 106 00:05:25,500 --> 00:05:28,140 All in Chinese, so they would start asking. 107 00:05:28,140 --> 00:05:29,590 So I build on that difficulty. 108 00:05:32,300 --> 00:05:34,070 The Monday class is really fun. 109 00:05:34,070 --> 00:05:36,630 They love it because you can talk about weekend. 110 00:05:36,630 --> 00:05:41,080 So kids here, they did all kinds of activity during the weekend. 111 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:44,350 So they're so interested in finding out 112 00:05:44,350 --> 00:05:47,480 what their classmate did because they might not know each other. 113 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:49,260 Some took classes together. 114 00:05:49,260 --> 00:05:51,230 So they would [INAUDIBLE] same course together 115 00:05:51,230 --> 00:05:52,880 in the classroom. 116 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:57,530 Many teachers probably think it's a waste of time. 117 00:05:57,530 --> 00:05:59,090 Why are you talking about that? 118 00:05:59,090 --> 00:06:02,770 But I think through this, you build a community. 119 00:06:02,770 --> 00:06:08,380 So the moment they walk into the classroom, after one month, 120 00:06:08,380 --> 00:06:12,110 they could have a test before the top Chinese class. 121 00:06:12,110 --> 00:06:15,440 The moment they walk into-- because of these greeting 122 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:19,150 rituals, they have to switch their gear into speaking 123 00:06:19,150 --> 00:06:21,420 Chinese right away. 124 00:06:21,420 --> 00:06:24,760 And because you're having a conversation, 125 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:29,200 so you really need to engage your classmates. 126 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:31,350 So that's what I mean building a community. 127 00:06:31,350 --> 00:06:33,100 They feel so freely. 128 00:06:33,100 --> 00:06:34,561 Can talk about anything they could. 129 00:06:34,561 --> 00:06:36,560 And they don't know the words, they will ask me, 130 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:37,936 how do you say this? 131 00:06:37,936 --> 00:06:39,310 This is what I'm doing right now. 132 00:06:39,310 --> 00:06:41,810 It's really blah, blah, blah. 133 00:06:41,810 --> 00:06:44,560 And people really want to find out. 134 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:48,250 And I add another component after a few weeks 135 00:06:48,250 --> 00:06:53,940 is to-- by the time now, they already know each other's name. 136 00:06:53,940 --> 00:06:57,410 Every lesson, I ask them to write an essay. 137 00:06:57,410 --> 00:06:59,510 I give them a topic to write an essay. 138 00:06:59,510 --> 00:07:03,240 So I will ask them, for instance, I'll say, 139 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:05,480 we talk about family. 140 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:08,610 So our topic is Chinese family. 141 00:07:08,610 --> 00:07:10,260 So I wanted them to go home to write 142 00:07:10,260 --> 00:07:15,510 about maybe Italian family or Spanish family. 143 00:07:15,510 --> 00:07:17,050 So the structure. 144 00:07:17,050 --> 00:07:19,640 Model on the textbook. 145 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:24,310 So nobody knows what other students are writing about. 146 00:07:24,310 --> 00:07:26,640 So this time we call sharing. 147 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:30,340 So this sharing part is to talk about what did you write. 148 00:07:30,340 --> 00:07:35,060 So some students, oh, I wrote about Spanish family. 149 00:07:35,060 --> 00:07:36,400 And I said, what was that? 150 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:38,145 Tell us not just the title. 151 00:07:38,145 --> 00:07:39,270 What was the content about? 152 00:07:39,270 --> 00:07:41,320 So they talk about-- everybody has a chance 153 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:43,080 to talk about quickly. 154 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:46,680 And then I said, oh, this is very interesting. 155 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:51,020 So student will automatically, naturally, just ask, 156 00:07:51,020 --> 00:07:53,440 why did you pick this topic? 157 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:56,370 Did you know any Spanish people? 158 00:07:56,370 --> 00:07:59,880 So the natural conversation just flows. 159 00:07:59,880 --> 00:08:01,800 So they get into a routine. 160 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,710 So every time they come to my classroom, 161 00:08:04,710 --> 00:08:08,300 they know they should speak Chinese. 162 00:08:08,300 --> 00:08:10,540 And they should talk about their life. 163 00:08:10,540 --> 00:08:12,170 And that's what they're good at. 164 00:08:12,170 --> 00:08:14,110 They cannot talk about politics. 165 00:08:14,110 --> 00:08:16,660 They cannot talk about history. 166 00:08:16,660 --> 00:08:18,750 But they can talk about themselves. 167 00:08:18,750 --> 00:08:23,860 And so to make the oral proficiency higher, 168 00:08:23,860 --> 00:08:26,590 and they can speak much better. 169 00:08:26,590 --> 00:08:31,060 I remember there's one student after the Thanksgiving-- 170 00:08:31,060 --> 00:08:31,780 she came back. 171 00:08:31,780 --> 00:08:32,970 She was so excited. 172 00:08:32,970 --> 00:08:37,970 She said oh, [INAUDIBLE] that's how they address me 173 00:08:37,970 --> 00:08:44,520 as teacher-- and said, you know, I my father had this friend. 174 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:46,320 And I always call him Uncle. 175 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:47,340 He is from China. 176 00:08:47,340 --> 00:08:49,550 He doesn't speak any English. 177 00:08:49,550 --> 00:08:53,450 So I met him in New York when it was September. 178 00:08:53,450 --> 00:08:56,290 I cannot communicate with him at all. 179 00:08:56,290 --> 00:08:58,350 So during the Thanksgiving, my home 180 00:08:58,350 --> 00:09:01,750 is so far away, so I went to my uncle's place. 181 00:09:01,750 --> 00:09:03,030 And I can talk to him. 182 00:09:03,030 --> 00:09:05,720 And he kept saying that my Chinese improved. 183 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:08,770 And she said, oh my god, it's only two months. 184 00:09:08,770 --> 00:09:12,010 I can't believe I can speak the most Chinese. 185 00:09:12,010 --> 00:09:14,780 Even though I speak Chinese with my parents, 186 00:09:14,780 --> 00:09:16,890 I can never speak to anybody. 187 00:09:16,890 --> 00:09:20,310 And she just came back so excited. 188 00:09:20,310 --> 00:09:22,390 And I feel great. 189 00:09:22,390 --> 00:09:24,320 So I know it worked. 190 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:27,260 Because to her it's talking, speaking in Chinese 191 00:09:27,260 --> 00:09:31,500 doesn't have to be something she has to think about-- how do I 192 00:09:31,500 --> 00:09:32,980 come up with the first sentence-- 193 00:09:32,980 --> 00:09:37,540 anymore because she does that in our class every time. 194 00:09:37,540 --> 00:09:39,990 So it's very natural for her. 195 00:09:39,990 --> 00:09:43,877 And plus, she actually knows Chinese 196 00:09:43,877 --> 00:09:44,960 because of her background. 197 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:47,750 So she crossed the barrier to be able to speak 198 00:09:47,750 --> 00:09:50,645 to other people, which is fantastic.