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KENOSHA, Wisconsin — Yunghung Sandra Hsiao spent the first period of her recent Mandarin class teaching students how to make a sweet and sour chicken dish.
What you need to know
- Yunghung Sandra Hsiao has been teaching Chinese since 2002.
- Every year, I teach my students how to make Chinese dishes that are popular during Chinese New Year.
- That lesson was suspended for three years because of the COVID-19 pandemic
- Mr Hsiao said that students can get many opportunities by taking Chinese courses.
It was part of our class’ Lunar New Year celebration.
“Due to COVID we have been out of action for 3 years.This is the first year [we] It’s reopened,” Xiao said.
She provided chicken, egg and breadcrumbs. The students used chopsticks to bread the chicken, ready for Xiao to fry.
Fourth grader Azalea Salcedo was one of those students. She has been studying Chinese for her four years.
“Originally I wanted to take Spanish, but my mother forced me to take Chinese,” laughs Salcedo. “After a while, I thought, ‘This is so much better than learning Spanish,’ because I’m learning from the beginning, so I understand the language better, instead of picking up where I left off.”
I started learning Chinese when I was in first grade, so now I understand three languages. She also knows English and Spanish.
“Speaking and writing takes a little practice, but when it comes to reading, you can understand a lot, which is really amazing,” said Salcedo.
Shao, who is often referred to by her middle name Sandra, said it has been amazing to see how much her students have grown in the language over the past two decades of teaching.
She said students sometimes get nervous because Chinese doesn’t have an alphabet.
“Kids always think it’s too difficult because of the characters, so I said I control the characters. I try not to give them too much to you,” Xiao said. “I want you to memorize letters and apply the information you learn.”
As such, she focuses on hands-on instruction, such as cooking traditional dishes and teaching about the culture.
Helen Rose is a chemistry teacher and Hsiao calls her a mentor. Rose invites a Mandarin class to her chemistry class each year for the Chinese New Year celebration.
She said these students have an opportunity for success that many others do not.
“They’ve expanded well beyond the bubble, but they’re also learning to communicate globally,” says Rose.
Salcedo said he knows how many doors these classes can open after graduation.
“As with any language, learning it will get you further in real business, but with so much going on in China, having the language is very useful.” said Salcedo.
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