Fun and creative Chinese college professor

Wendy T.

Chinese

As an undergraduate at University of California, Los Angeles, my major was Chinese. I chose to study Chinese because I have always been fascinated by Chinese history and culture, and I believe language is the key to understanding other cultures, because it is language that primarily distinguishes one culture from another. Languages are what make a culture truly unique. As a graduate student at Teachers College at Columbia University, my major was Bilingual Education. I completed an integrative project, I examined what are the attitudes of second–generation Chinese immigrants towards learning their parents’ language. I observed two Chinese language schools for one semester and conducted a short survey with parents and students. I learned to make connections between the two disciplines Chinese and English. I currently work for the Fullerton City College as adjunct Chinese instructor. This experience was not only important to increase my teaching experience and how to meet the diversity student’s need. But most importantly, I realized that I do enjoy teaching Chinese and I find myself wanting to be more involved. I also believe it is very important to relate the material to the students’ own lives and to incorporate current events in some of the lessons, so that students see how language is used today, and how it could affect their own lives. I consider it very important for me to devote some of my time to help others. I expect to prepare for a profession that permits me to be closely related to adults