Native Mandarin Chinese Teachers Expand our Global Village

On August 12, 2007, three women stepped on U.S. soil for the first time. Wu Caixia (Woo Shy Shah), Xia Ouyang (Shah Oh Yung) and Cao Hong (Shah Hung) are from China and came to GCS to teach Mandarin Chinese.

Wu Caixia teaches at Northwood Elementary, Xia Ouyang joins the Ferndale Middle team and Cao Hong teaches at High Point Central High. These three individuals are part of a larger group of guest teachers sponsored by the College Board that arrived in the United States in August.

The Chinese Guest Teacher program seeks to immerse U.S. students in the Chinese language and culture, not only to broaden their horizons, but also to equip students to succeed professionally in a world economy. “It is imperative that our students learn to speak Mandarin Chinese,” said Gisela Hood, GCS world language specialist. “Chinese is the most widely spoken first language in the world, and our students will greatly benefit from study of this world language.”

Their first impressions of North Carolina have run the gamut from, “there is no traffic here,” to “it is like one big, green park.” There is an adjustment for all three, but especially for Cao Hong and Wu Caixia who have each left a child behind in China.

The three women are gradually adapting to their new environment with the help of their mentors and host families, a lifeline for the women for the next two to three years. Overall, the differences in the two cultures are not stark, but ones that require adjustment. Classroom sizes here are smaller than the often 40-50 student classrooms in China. “Smaller classes allow us to communicate better with our students,” said Xia Ouyang. She also commented on the personalities of U.S. students, “Here they are generally more outgoing. They all want to go to the blackboard and are enthusiastic about writing Chinese characters.”

Cao Hong shares an office with her mentor, Maki Kamizato, Japanese instructor, at High Point Central High. The two women crack open one fallacy about Asian languages. “Japanese and Chinese are similar, and while knowing one language helps to understand the other, they are still very different,” said Cao Hong. “People assume we are fluent in other Asian languages, but that is not the case. However, students who have studied Japanese will do better if they take Chinese.”

A less serious myth concerns Asian food.  When asked their favorite Chinese food, students often answer, “sushi.” The teachers smile and pledge to turn that around. Sushi is from Japan they say, not China.

Lastly, learning Chinese is easier than people think because it follows the same grammar structure as English with subject, verb and object in the same order. All three teachers report that students are learning the new language quickly, and within a short time, they are able to speak basic Chinese phrases.

Wu Cai Xia, Northwood Elementary

Cao Hong, High Point Central High

Xia Ou Yang, Ferndale Middle

Their reasons for coming to the U.S are the same, if articulated a little differently. “I want to be a better all-around teacher, and the more I teach in my native tongue, the better teacher I will be for my English students, as well as my Chinese students,” said Cao Hong. For Xia Ouyang, teaching Chinese to English speaking students seemed a natural step as she was pursuing her master’s degree in teaching Chinese as a foreign language. Wu Caixia agrees with Cao Hong and adds, “I wanted to experience a different culture.”

Future goals for the teachers include personal and professional achievements. They all agreed that the ability to speak to classrooms in China via teleconferencing would allow for more interaction between the two countries and break down barriers.

A common desire to share their language and culture with American students unites the young women. Benefits such as new friends and new experiences are icing on the cake. Iris summed it up for the group, “We are not only colleagues, but we are also friends.”