The Seattle colleges have a new’guest’ teacher.  Zhu Dan arrived in the Seattle faculties in Jan and will stay for an 18-month guest teacher program.  Dan, who teaches college-level English in her native Kunming, China, has the choice to extend her stay for another year. 

Dan is one of 34 guest teachers in nineteen states that are taking part in a new partnership between China’s institute Hanban and the College Board, a non-profitable organization that administers the advanced Placement examinations and SAT testing ).  Plans are for a further a hundred guest teachers across the US by this summer and 250 by 2009.  The partnership is part of China’s big effort to plug the Mandarin language and getting people in other countries to learn it. 

This is the ideal program for many Pacific Coast states that do a lot of business with China.  Chief Sealth highschool principal John Boyd journeyed to China as a part of a Hanban program and was stirred to supply a course in Mandarin to his Seattle faculties scholars.  He and Noah Zeichner, who heads up the highschool world language program, wanted to expand the world focus in his Seattle college.  They already have a student exchange program from Chongqing, China. 

Zhu Dan teaches the Mandarin language in 3 Seattle colleges – Denny Middle, Madison Middle, and Chief Sealth high schools.  While the institute Hanban pays her a stipend, the Seattle colleges provide housing, airfare and cover other charges.  Dan is residing with Sealth teacher Frank Cantwell and his family. 

Dan requested the guest teacher program for 3 reasons – to improve her very own English skills, to help northern Americans understand more about China and its culture, and to help get the program started within the Seattle colleges.  She wants to leave her students with enough understanding of the Mandarin language to survive a trip to her country. 

Before going to the US and the Seattle faculties, Dan had to take a fourteen day crash course in Beijing.  It covered our culture and education system, our cash system, and the way to write a check ( something seldom done in China ). 

many of her Seattle faculties scholars took her course, as it sounded fascinating.  Others have pals or members of the family who speak Mandarin.  Within her first 2 weeks of instruction, Dan’s Seattle faculties students could count to ten in Mandarin, pronounce the Chinese names she gave them, work thru the pronunciation drills and vocabulary exercises given them, and sing a song about the Chinese New Year to the song’My Darlin’ Clementine’.  Additionally, Dan shares her Chinese culture with the students, making her classes even more fascinating. 

Besides the guest teacher program, many Seattle faculties now are offering instruction in Mandarin, as well as sophisticated Placement courses in Chinese and the AP testing that earns varsity credit for the Seattle colleges scholars who pass.  For this year, Dan’s Mandarin class at Sealth school meets after school.  It is going to be part of the ordinary, daytime curriculum in the autumn.  Principal Boyd is encouraging elementary colleges inside his area of the Seattle schools to apply together for a second guest teacher for the Mandarin language.

If you enjoy traveling and would like to read more on some of the most famous places in the world, visit famouswonders.com and also check out Tiananmen Square Beijing.

Tags: china, Mandarin, Seattle Schools, Zhu Dan