Native help local students learn Mandarin<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Lao tse, wo ai ni! (Teacher, I love you!)
\nImagine having spent a whole year teaching Mandarin to high
\nschool students and at the end that is one of the few phrases
\nthey can say.<\/p>\n
\"It has been a bit frustrating, but also fun and interesting,\"
\nsaid 23-year old Liu Wenjun, a volunteer Mandarin teacher from
\nChina University who has spent the last year living in a local
\nchurch and teaching her native language at a high school in
\nSalatiga, Central Java.<\/p>\n
\"We teach an average of eight to 10 classes, twice a week,\"
\nWenjun told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of her farewell
\nceremony with the Ministry of National Education on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
She explained that most of her students had never studied the
\nlanguage before and it was a bit difficult to control an average
\nof 40 students in one class.<\/p>\n
\"In teaching languages, ideally, there should be a maximum of
\n20 students in one class,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Despite the difficulties, her face lit up when she recounted
\nhow her students now practiced the language, which she said was
\nworth the frustration she felt at the beginning of the course.<\/p>\n
\"It also helped a lot to partner with a local teacher in
\nclass,\" she said, explaining that she used a mix of English and
\nMandarin in class, with the help of Indonesian translations from
\nher partner teacher. \"My students' English is not that good
\neither.\"<\/p>\n
Wenjun is among 19 fourth-year Chinese literature and
\nlinguistics students from Guang Zhou, who have helped the
\nMinistry of National Education teach the language in schools in
\nthe provinces of Banten, Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, East
\nJava, North Sumatra, West Kalimantan, North Sulawesi and South
\nSulawesi.<\/p>\n
The pilot project was initiated in 2004 by the education
\nministry in coordination with China's National Office for
\nTeaching Chinese as a Foreign Language.<\/p>\n
The young teachers spent an average of 36 hours each week
\nintroducing their language to Indonesian students, as well as
\ngiving additional training to local Mandarin teachers.<\/p>\n
\"We need to improve the quality of teachers and teaching
\nprocedures as Mandarin has been made an optional program in high
\nschools,\" Minister of National Education Bambang Sudibyo said
\nduring the ceremony. \"The language has also become an important
\nlanguage in commerce and trade, so it could benefit our students
\nif they have such a skill.\"<\/p>\n
Improvements in teaching procedures, most of the Chinese
\nteachers said, could start by adding more class time for language
\nstudy in schools.<\/p>\n
\"With only about 45 minutes of class time, we often spend more
\ntime reviewing previous lessons than teaching new lessons,\" said
\na fellow teacher, Xiong Fang, who spent her year in Pontianak,
\nWest Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
The program has also given the teachers the opportunity of
\nlearning Indonesian firsthand by communicating with the local
\npeople. \"I also learned a new language here,\" said Liu Heshi in
\nbroken Bahasa Indonesia.<\/p>\n
This year, however, the program will be changed somewhat to
\ninclude the sending of 50 local Chinese teachers to China for a
\none-month training program, organizing a teacher-training course
\nin September in Jakarta, and holding a Chinese speech contest for
\nhigh school students.<\/p>\n
Bambang added that the program should be further enhanced by
\npromoting Bahasa Indonesia in China's secondary schools.<\/p>\n
\"It will ease the exchange programs,\" he said, adding that the
\nministry would have to first upgrade local teachers' capability
\nbefore declaring Mandarin a compulsory program in secondary
\neducation.(003)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/native-help-local-students-learn-mandarin-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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