Chinese-Language Education in Summit

With the introduction this school year of Novice Mandarin as a sixth grade elective at , the Summit Public School’s World Language Department has significantly expanded the opportunities for students to learn what has become one of the most popular languages to study.

“Along with Arabic, Farsi, Hindi, and Russian, Chinese has been determined by the U.S. Department of State to be one of the top five critical languages to learn,” said Leslie Zimring, supervisor of the department. “Of all the languages studied in high schools and colleges, Mandarin has shown the most increased enrollment rates. With China’s growing impact on the global market, knowledge of Mandarin will provide job opportunities in many fields,” she said.

This is the fourth year that students have had the opportunity to study Chinese, with a total of 72 students enrolled in the elective classes. Twelve students are in Mandarin 4, and 11 of them will be graduating in June. An independent study course is being offered next year for Mandarin 5.

Some of the Mandarin 4 students have had additional learning experiences and study abroad, said Zimring. One lived in Shanghai for the summer and is beginning to read short stories in Chinese characters.

What Students Are Learning

Twenty-six sixth graders are enrolled in the Novice Mandarin class at the middle school. They are learning greetings, numbers, the names of objects in the classroom, classroom instructions, and understanding of the pictographs behind the Chinese characters.

Students in the high school’s Mandarin 1 class learn to decode the written characters, learn to read pin yin, which is the anglicized form of what the language sounds like; and begin to communicate about school, family, and community. In Mandarin 2, communications skills are expanded, and the students begin an email correspondence with students who speak Chinese.

Mandarin 3 features lessons about Chinese culture, environmental issues, and political history. At this level of study, Mandarin is the primary language spoken in the classroom. Mandarin 4 continues to build on the skills already mastered.

The Chinese Teachers

Summit High School Mandarin instructor Joan Zhonqi Lu has been a member of the faculty for the past three years. She has a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Nanjing and a master’s in Chinese history from UCLA.

LCJ Summit Middle School teacher Carol Hong Qiu, who is in her first year in the district, has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing and a master’s degree in public administration from John Jay College. “I am delighted that so many of our students are interested in learning Mandarin,” said Zimring. “They are already steeped in Western culture and have so many opportunities to know people from these cultures and to visit the countries. But we are not as familiar with Asian cultures, and it’s really important for 21st century learning, for business, and for understanding world events to learn the similarities and differences between Western and Asian cultures and to develop relationships.

As Nelson Mandela said, ‘If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.’”

—By Cathy Fernandez, Summit Public Schools