Fun+in+Dr+Zhou's+Chinese+Class

 **Fun in Dr. Zhou’s Chinese Class ** As a parent of a nine year old child attending the Xin Jin Shan (Golden Land) Language School in Melbourne, I would like to share with you my thoughts on my daughter’s progress, as she strives to acquire the Chinese Language. Ashleigh, known as Bai Ling Shuang   （ 白灵双 ） , has made significant progress with her Chinese Language learning, under the direction of Dr Xiaokang Zhou, her Year 3 Chinese teacher. Ashleigh joined the school in January 2008, having developed a taste for the Chinese language at her primary school in Chirnside Park, Melbourne. She has a natural gift for languages and enjoys the challenge of developing her skills in both the spoken and written word. Dr Zhou has given Ashleigh and the other students in her Year 3 class, the opportunity to learn the Chinese language via her clever rhymes and song s, in which she presents to the children new vocabulary , together with the corresponding characters, and s entence patterns. My husband and I had the privilege of attending Ashleigh’s final class for S emester 1, recently. On this occasion I was able to not only observe Dr Zhou’s teaching methods, but also participate in them. Dr Zhou taught the children a song about tableware, in which many new words were introduced to the children, along with their corresponding Chinese symbols. Of course, I am unable to read Chinese symbols having never studied the Chinese language before, but with the help of pin yin, I was also able to learn the rhyme Dr Zhou had created and within ten minutes the entire class was singing in Chinese, barely aware of the new vocabulary we were soaking up in such a short space of time. Ashleigh commented earlier in the year that she loves Chinese school, because it is fun and they get to sing songs, but that she didn’t feel she was learning anything. It took Ashleigh a little while to realise that through the learning of rhymes and song s, she was, on a weekly basis, extending her Chinese vocabulary dramatically. This year Ashleigh has learnt a large number of rhymes, each one equipping her with further vocabulary which, in turn, she can use in conversation. I have been very impressed with the Xin Jin Shan Language School and in particular Dr Zhou’s dedication to her students. Dr Zhou is a teacher who inspires and who strives to provide a classroom environment that is fun and engaging for her young students. I am certainly pleased that Ashleigh has had the opportunity to be a part of Dr Zhou’s class and I look forward to watching her progress over the coming semester and years. Louise Baker 23/6/2009
 * 白灵双家长贝克太太来稿： **