Why Learn Chinese? What Do We Do in Our Chinese Classes?

1. Why Learn Chinese?What Do We Do in Our Chinese Classes? Jane Zou Chinese Teacher Riverwood High School Ridgeview Middle School zoux@fultonschools.org

2. 5 Top Reasons to Learn Chinese • To be equipped for future opportunities, by giving yourself the Chinese Advantage! - China is the 2nd largest economy in the world. world.

3. 2. The world is becoming flat in global economy! • As Thomas Friedman said, the world is becoming flat. Communication, ideas, and goods are traveling faster and faster between countries including the US and China.  Learning Chinese gives you the opportunity to take advantage of communicating with people on the other side of the world. 

4. 3. Chinese has become a must in government! • The Austrian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. The US Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geitner studied Chinese and attended Beijing University.  The former Utah Governor, and former Ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman is fluent in Chinese • President Obama has pledged to send 100,000 students to China in the next 4 years

5. 4. Chinese Culture! • Chinese culture is over 5000 years old.  By learning the Chinese Language, you will learn another culture and another way of looking at the world. Isn’t it fabulous that you are able to communicate with one fifth of the people on this planet with their mother tongue?

6. 5. Learning Chinese will give yourself a competitive advantage! • Chinese is the fastest growing world language taught in U. S. Schools. In the state of Georgia, currently there are about 3000 students learning Chinese. In Fulton Schools 9 schools are currently providing Chinese. • Federal agencies and business leaders are looking for people who can speak Chinese and understand the culture. • There are more opportunities for you to get accepted by your dream college and obtain scholarships.

7. Colleges offering Chinese in Georgia • Georgia Institute of Technology • University of Georgia • Georgia State University • Emory University • Kennesaw State University • University of North Georgia • Georgia Perimeter College • Morehouse College • Spelman College

8. Some Facts about Chinese • Chinese has a relatively uncomplicated grammar. Unlike French, German or English, Chinese has no verb conjugation (no need to memorize verb tenses!) and no noun declension (e.g., gender and number distinctions).

9. Some Facts about Chinese- cont’d • The basic word order of Chinese is subject — verb — object, exactly as in English. A large number of the key terms of Mandarin Chinese have been formed as translations of English concepts. You are entering a different culture and learning a new language, but the content of many of the modern key concepts is familiar.

10. Classroom activities

11. Products of Classroom Activities

12. Products of Classroom Activities – cont’d

13. Club & Field Trip

14. Some information on Summer Camps • Chinese Bridge – a two-week summer camp to China for American High Schools students (all expenses inside China is covered by a non-profit organization called Hanban) • UNG Federal Language Academy – a three-week summer camp for high school students to learn critical languages at University of North Georgia • StarTalk – a two-week summer camp for high school students to learn critical languages