Zusun Chinese School: Review teaching results and demonstrate language skills

Zusun Chinese School: Review teaching results and demonstrate language skills Side notes on Zusun Chinese School Recital Competition Zusun...

Zusun Chinese School Speech Contest Side Story

Zusun Chinese School held its annual recitation competition on the afternoon of February 16, 2014. The participating students, their parents, and teachers gathered together, and the sound of books echoed in each competition venue, which was very lively. Principal Chen Rongji said that this competition is not only a test of teachers’ teaching achievements, but also a good opportunity for students to practice and demonstrate their Chinese language skills. By reciting their own selected works, the students increased their interest in learning Chinese, deepened their understanding of Chinese classic literary works, and gained a deeper understanding of Chinese traditional culture. At the same time, the enthusiastic participation of parents has also enhanced the cohesion between students, parents and schools, which is very gratifying.

The competition lasted for 2 hours. According to different age levels and teaching content, it was divided into four groups: infant group, primary school group, middle school group and adult group. The competition was held in three venues at the same time. The judges are composed of teachers from Chinese schools and a specially invited expert team from the Confucius Institute at the University of Arizona. Among them, the middle school adult group invited Ms. Zhao Wei, the Chinese director of the Confucius Institute, to sit at the judging table.

Zhao Wei, the Chinese director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Arizona, led three teachers as referees. The picture shows Dean Zhao giving a speech to the middle school group

Due to the different age levels of participating students, the recitation performances in each venue are also unique, lively and interesting.

Many children in the kindergarten group recited Tang poems such as "Ode to the Goose" and "Compassion to the Peasants" in their tender voices. Their clear pronunciation and courage to stand alone on the podium and introduce themselves in Chinese made their parents and teachers proud. Although some children had some stage fright, in the end, with the encouragement of the teacher, they completed their "debut" in Chinese recitation, which warmed the hearts of the audience present.

Due to the improvement of their Chinese literacy and reading skills, students in the primary school group chose more classic stories learned in textbooks, such as "The Tadpole is Missing", "Catching the Moon", etc. The brothers Li Jianlin and Li Jianqiang, who are studying in the third and fourth grades of Ma Liping respectively, because of their love for "Journey to the West", brought everyone back to the scenes of Sun Wukong "making havoc in heaven" and "fighting three white-bone demons", which made parents and teachers laugh.

Many students in the middle school group and literature elective class fully demonstrated their autonomy and control over Chinese language learning by reciting their own exercises or classic poetry works. They talked about their dreams, introduced the Great Wall of China, or recounted their experiences during the Spring Festival. It is worth mentioning that Wu Lingling, a student in the literature elective class, chose the original poem "Arizona Clouds" by her teacher Shang Huiming. Her confident and devoted recitation performance made the audience who also live in this land empathize.

Wu Lingling, who won the first prize in the middle school group, recited the poem "Arizona Clouds" written by Chinese school teacher Shang Huiming

Li Shu, who won the first prize in the middle school group, recited his own work "Celebrating the Spring Festival"

Among these four groups, there is also a blind student in the adult class, Kathleen McKay, who is impressive. The blond woman brought her guide dog and doll to perform an interesting Chinese skit in which one person played two roles. Even at the end, she led all the American students to recite ancient Chinese poems. Her perseverance and courage to overcome her own inconveniences and persist in learning Chinese are worth learning from every student.

Kathleen McKay, a blind student in the adult class, performed a Chinese conversation with her doll. She also led the whole class to recite ancient Chinese poems

After the competition, parents expressed that they were very pleased to see every bit of progress in their children's Chinese learning. They were grateful to the teachers for their hard work and hoped that the school would organize more activities like this in the future. Ms. Zhao Wei, the Chinese director of the Confucius Institute who just came to the United States, also said that after listening to these students’ recital performances with eloquent words, she felt as if she was still in China. She was surprised that these students who grew up in the United States could learn Chinese so well. She was also very grateful to the school for its efforts in promoting overseas Chinese education. At the same time, she wished Zusun Chinese School better and better!

(Written by Chen Kai; Photography by Shang Huiming and Chen Rongji)