I studied with Ms. Chang during the National Taiwan Normal University’s Mandarin Training Center (MTC) September 2013 intensive summer immersion program. Ms. Chang ranks among the best teachers I’ve had across my studies she has the patience, knowledge, and enthusiasm to teach a foreign language. Some examples:
Superb Knowledge : I was impressed by Ms. Chang’s knowledge of mandarin, both written and spoken. She could easily work across the major systems within the language (simplified/traditional, pinyin/zhuyin), and made it a point to incorporate historical and cultural points into her lesson. She also taught in a very clear standard mandarin. My mainland Chinese friends tested me when I returned from the trip, and were surprised to find that I understood the differences between Taiwanese mandarin and standard mandarin pronunciation.
Introduces Topics Early, Then Reinforces: Ms. Chang did this with grammar and themes both large and small, but perhaps the most effective example of this practice was with measure words. We initially covered a set of 30 of them, with short daily drilling afterward. These measure words hardly appeared in our book’s lessons, but towards the end of the session when I started trying to read more “real world” material I saw that they were everywhere! This is also illustrative of how Ms. Chang incorporates material beyond the book.
Actively Takes Notes and Incorporates Into Later Lessons: I’ve rarely seen teachers themselves take notes, but Ms. Chang frequently did so (in a quick, casual manner that never disrupted the flow of the lesson), and in later essons I noticed she was choosing examples and repeating words based on these notes.
Flexibility: Ms. Chang clearly planned for the longterm in the 3week MTC session, but adapted her lesson plans as she developed a greater understanding of the student’s needs. As an example, during the first day she quickly identified the need to improve pronunciation. On the second day she adapted and we started learning zhuyin. I was initially skeptical, but after 1520 minutes of drilling every morning I was surprised at how much more authentic my pronunciation had become, especially with words such as “quan”, “qu”, and “guan”.
A Natural Conversationalist This may sound like a strange strength to cite for a teacher, but compared to several native spanish teachers with whom I’d previously studied, I now appreciate how important this is for learning a language, even in a classroom setting. By the end of the MTC course I was perhaps most proud of being able to comprehend and actively participate in an ad hoc conversation Ms. Chang was leading on how the Taiwanese health care system worked and whether it was overutilized for common colds and aches. Her passion for teaching and conversing made that possible.
I wholeheartedly recommend Ms. Chang for positions teaching Mandarin to nonnative speakers.
Thomas A. Bedington
Medical Informatics & Actuarial Analyst, Blue Shield of California,USA
Wake Forest University (WinstonSalem,NC, USA), English B.A.
Stanford University (Stanford, CA, USA), Computer Science (for credit Non Degree Option)