Mandarin Students Make Intergenerational Connection
There is nothing quite like a conversation with a native speaker to make a foreign language come alive. Students in the Mandarin III and IV classes taught by Chloe Yang couldn’t head off to China last week, but they did test their skills during a field trip on Thursday to the Veronica B. Smith Senior Center in Brighton.
After brief introductions, the students paired off with Chinese American seniors at the center and spent time getting acquainted through a variety of activities, then shared a distinctly American lunch of pizza and salad before heading back to Rivers. Class members were Marie Jennings, Brendan Long, Tully Mahoney, Will Mulder, Bradley Stoller, Parker Weil, all class of 2019, plus Daniel Weitz ’20 and Alex Clay ’18.
The small groups began by discussing the proper way to address an elder in Chinese culture—by combining their family name with the equivalent of Grandpa and Grandma—and practiced writing each other’s names in Mandarin. Brendan Long was surprised to find that his name held a special significance to the seniors.
“They got really excited when they heard my last name,” said Brendan. “It turns out ‘Long’ sounds like the Mandarin word for ‘dragon’ which is a prestigious term for them.”
The students had brought photos on their iPads depicting people and activities important in their own lives. The challenge was describing the photos to the seniors with the vocabulary they had mastered.
“They realized that they could work around the vocabulary they didn’t know,” said Ms. Yang. “One student was a lacrosse player, but didn’t know the Mandarin term, so we talked about demonstrating some lacrosse moves for them to show them what the sport was all about.”
“I thought the whole experience was really great,” said Bradley Stoller, who had spent three weeks in Beijing this summer studying Chinese. “Listening to any senior’s story is always an eye-opening experience, and an important part of Chinese culture is respecting the elders. The part I enjoyed the most was being able to split into small groups and really build a connection with them. I especially enjoyed practicing my skills in ‘survival’ mode. Essentially, when the dictionary and teacher are gone, you have to figure out how to explain yourself with the words you know. Overall it was a really great experience!”
Rivers’ Language Department has partnered for three years with the Center which is home to a large contingent of Chinese-American seniors. This year’s program will include four visits—two to the Senior Center and two at Rivers.
“We’ll celebrate the Chinese New Year here in January, and do tai chi together as well as a dance that I’ve been having my students do in class called Little Apple,” said Ms. Yang. “One of the elders was so enthusiastic about our visit that he wanted all of us to go to his apartment for a traditional meal, but we’ll make dumplings in the Center during our February visit. Other activities might include writing calligraphy or Chinese checkers. Then we’ll finish the year here with the elders in April.
“All of the Chinese seniors participating this year have been involved since Rivers began the program,” said Ms. Yang. “Although their English may not be fluent, they are all highly educated professionals, some of whom were professors in Beijing, where I’m from. They appreciate the opportunity to work with young American students in this kind of collaborative setting, and to share their language and culture with them. On the ride back to Rivers, Tully Mahoney told me that she was pleasantly surprised by how much she could understand of their conversations, even though her responses may not have reflected how much she understood.”
“It was such an interesting learning experience,” said Marie Jennings. “I had a great time and am so excited to go again.”
Click here to read more about Bradley Stoller's adventures in Beijing this summer.
Click here to read more about Bradley Stoller's adventures in Beijing this summer.
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