Category Archives: Event Recap

2015 CI Day Chinese Cultural Experience Camp

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2015 Confucius Institute Day (A.K.A. Chinese Cultural Experience Camp) was held last Sunday on October 25 at Tyee Middle School. It was a huge success! As a CIWA’s long term partner, CLTA-WA worked hard with other teachers and volunteers on making this amazing event happen. We would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to all the CLTA-WA board members and members for their great contribution to the CI Day. We are also proud of the wonderful Chinese community we have here who works tirelessly to promote the common cause of Chinese language and culture education. We have heard great comments and received gratitude from students and parents.

We are looking forward to more collaboration in the future which will benefit our community and promote Chinese education in the state of Washington.

OBAMA ANNOUNCES NEW PROGRAM TO DRAMATICALLY EXPAND U.S. MANDARIN LEARNING

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Great news from http://100kstrong.org/ 

OBAMA ANNOUNCES NEW PROGRAM TO DRAMATICALLY EXPAND U.S. MANDARIN LEARNING

1 Million Strong Initiative to Grow US Mandarin Study by Five Times in 2020

Washington, DC – September 25, 2015 – President Obama, during the first state visit to Washington by China’s President Xi Jinping, today announced a sweeping new nationwide initiative to see 1 million American students studying Mandarin by 2020.

The President called for a dramatic expansion of Mandarin language learning. Specifically, the 1 Million Strong initiative would in five years grow the number of K-12 students studying Mandarin in the US from approximately 200,000 to 1 million. The effort seeks to develop Mandarin language curriculum norms, double the number of Mandarin language teachers in the US and support the development of new technology platforms to enhance accessibility of language learning to remote and underserved communities.

“After all, if our countries are going to do more together around the world, then speaking each other’s language, truly understanding each other is a good place to start,” said President Obama at a joint press conference with President Xi.

“We welcome the US decision to extend the 100,000 Strong Initiative from universities to elementary schools. And by 2020, 1 million Americans students will learn Mandarin. The door of friendship with China will continue to be open to the American people,” said President Xi.

In 2009, President Obama announced the 100,000 Strong Initiative with a goal of encouraging 100,000 US students to study in China and learn Mandarin over a five year period. That goal was achieved in 2014. In 2013, then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton launched the 100,000 Strong Foundation, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, to further build upon the initiative and its goals. The Foundation will also lead the new 1 Million Strong endeavor.

“President Obama and President Xi Jinping share the goal of a stronger, more productive US-China relationship,” said Carola McGiffert, president of the 100,000 Strong Foundation. “That is precisely what the new 1 Million Strong Initiative is all about. By dramatically increasing the number of US students studying Mandarin over the next five years, we will ensure a greater understanding of China, create a pipeline of China-savvy employees and ensure that students from all walks of life have the skills and opportunities to compete in today’s workforce.”

To make 1 Million Strong a reality, McGiffert said the 100,000 Strong Foundation will work closely with governments and school districts across the country. The Foundation will also partner with technology and online-education leaders to ensure students, regardless of background or geography, have access to Mandarin language study.

中文消息来源：

美国《外交政策》双月刊网站9月25日报道称，100万美国学生将能够学中文。

当美国总统奥巴马2009年11月宣布“十万强”计划，提出到2014年派10万美国学生到中国学习时，这听起来像是一个遥不可及的目标。2008到2009学年，只有13674名美国学生到中国学习。但接下来的5年，在私人捐助和中国政府奖学金计划的帮助下，这个数字稳步攀升，2014年7月美国宣布这一目标已经实现。

现在，奥巴马又提出了一个更远大的目标，而且也更贴近国内。25日，在与即将结束对美国国事访问的中国国家主席习近平召开的联合记者会上，奥巴马宣布准备启动“百万强”计划，目的是争取到2020年实现100万名美国学生学习中文。奥巴马说：“如果我们两国准备在全球各地采取更多行动，那么一个最好的开端就是学对方的语言、真正了解对方。”

由负责2009年计划的非营利组织十万强基金会管理的这一新项目承认美中关系日益增强的重要性，希望培养能积极地和中国打交道的新一代美国领导人。

十万强基金会首席运营官特拉维斯·坦纳说，增加学习中文的美国学生的数量“将在各行各业培养一批中国通”，将“确保我们与中国的贸易关系继续惠及美国经济，而且美国未来一代的企业家、记者、工程师、科学家、医生以及政府官员了解中国”。

掌握中文的重要性和实用性变得越来越显而易见。当习近平在此次国事访问中会晤西雅图商界和技术界领袖时，脸书网站创始人马克·扎克伯格完全用汉语与习近平对话。

美国中文学习平台“疯狂新鲜汉语”的创始人杰茜卡·拜内克说：“这是一个鼓舞人心的例子，说明了语言和文化了解对于丰富美中在商业和其他领域的关系是多么重要。”她说：“扎克伯格是一个大忙人，如果他有时间学习中文，那么美国的学生也都有时间学习。”

 

CLTA-WA Professional Develop Grant Accepting Applications‏

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As a member of CLTA-WA, you are eligible to apply for our Professional Development Grants. The grants are offered to support member teachers to attend national or regional conferences, summer institutes, workshops or seminars, or to offset travel costs to attend our own workshops. The grants are awarded in US$100 for local professional development opportunities and US$250 for national professional opportunities.  Applications must be received at least 30 days prior to the event. The applications will be reviewed by our Scholarship Committee and the applicant will be notified of the award decision within 15 days. For details, please see the enclosed application form.
The following are some of the upcoming professional development opportunities for which you could apply for the aforementioned grants.
Regionally, WAFLT’s annual conference is coming up on 10/8-10 in Wenatchee,  and nationally, ACTFL will be held in San Diego 11/20-22.

 

Words from CLTA-WA President‏

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Dear CLTA-WA members:

On behalf of the 2015-16 Board of Directors, I would like to thank you for being great supporters for our organization!

I would also like to express our heart-felt thanks to Zoe Jiang, our immediate past president for the terrific job she did in leading CLTA-WA with great dedication and able hands in the past year.  Her outstanding leadership has been an inspiration to us all. A big thank-you also goes to Meitsu Chuang-Mendal and Adam Ross, who have stepped down from the board after a long and excellent service to our association as directors. They have served in numerous capacities on the Board and beyond, and their tireless work and wisdom have been instrumental in the work we do to carry out our mission of promoting quality Chinese teaching in Washington State.  Meitsu will stay on as an advisor to the Board while Adam will be moving on with his work in California and we wish him all the best in all his future endeavors.  Our appreciation also goes to our dedicated team of advisors – Nyan-ping Bi, Betty Lau, Chunman Gissing, Lotus Perry and Pollyanna Wang – their wise counsel and countless material help have been invaluable in building CLTA-WA into a leading Chinese teachers’ association in the country.

Thanks also goes to the members who joined us at this year’s AGM.  It was wonderful to see familiar as well as new faces!  Many of you gave wonderful input and expressed interest in hosting social events. Thank you!  A big shout-out too to Betty Lau, Chunman Gissing, Zoe Jiang, Meitsu Chuang-Mendel, Haiyan You, Alice Flores for sharing their teaching ideas and recourses.

The following is the roster of 2015-2016 Board of Directors:

President: Cheyenne Matthewson, Lakeside School
Immediate Past President: Zoe Jiang, Skyline High School
Vice President: Xiaofeng Foster, Edmonds Woodway High School
The Recording Secretary: Alice Flores, Annie Wright Schools
The Corresponding Secretary: Yvonne Louie, Ford Middle School
The Recording Treasure: Yuting Yeh, Sammamish High School
The Account Payable Treasure: Haiyan You, Shoreline Schools
Member at large: Tracy Ge, Sammamish High School
Member at large: Chen Tang, Overlake School
Member at large: Chiu-Hsin Lin, Eastern Washington University
Member at large: Sarah Yao, Odle Middle School

Upcoming event

Our annual summer workshop is scheduled on Sunday, August 23. The topic will be Task-based Learning presented by three of our own outstanding local teachers with a different emphasis on elementary, middle school and high school/college-aged students.  Please mark the date on your calendar and stay tuned for more information on the workshop.

 I would also like to encourage you to visit our website: https://jxi.ywi.mybluehost.me/ for updated information on association events.  You can also access a wide range of teaching resources on the site.

 Membership registration and renewal

Based on the input from our members, CLTA-WA has changed the annual membership cycle from calendar year to running concurrently with the school year, from July 1 to June 30 the following year.  If you have not renewed your membership for the new year starting on July 1, 2015, please take a moment do so before it expires so you can continue to enjoy member benefits, which include free admissions to most of our workshops, receiving job postings in Washington State and beyond and much more.

Membership information and registration: https://jxi.ywi.mybluehost.me/membership/

No organization can run successfully without the active involvement and participation of its members. Please join me and the Board to continue to promote quality Chinese teaching and to build an ever stronger network of local teachers.   I hope to see you all at our summer workshop and future events.  Thank you for your continued support and wish you a great summer!

Cheyenne Matthewson

President of CLTA-WA

president@clta-wa.org

Announcing the Election of Directors for the Term 2015-2018

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Dear Members,

I am pleased to announce that the individuals elected for the 2015-2018 term to join the CLTA-WA Board of Directors are:
  1. Alice Flore
  2. Tracy Ge
  3.  Xiaofeng Foster
  4.  Haiyan You
  5. Yuting Yeh

Congratualtions to them! I would also like to thank our members for voting. Please save the date for CLTA-WA’s 2015 Annual General Meeting on Saturday, May 30. Details about the AGM will be sent out in a later message. I hope to see you all there.

Best,
Zoe Jiang

2015 CLTA-WA Spring Workshop

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《任务型教学主题》的讲座

2015年3月28日，在华州孔子学院和华大杰克逊国际关系学院东亚中心的大力支持下，华州中文教师学会在华大成功举办了《任务型教学主题》的讲座。本次讲座有幸请到了佛吉尼亚大学世界语研究所的曾妙芬主任。曾教授既由浅入深地介绍了任务型教学的理论知识，又提供了诸多教学实例。她分享的评分标准和评分方式更是因实用性大获与会者的称赞。下午讲座中的分组讨论环节也让老师们有了互相学习的机会。华州中文教师学会为本次讲座增加了抽奖活动，奖品除了精美的文化礼品和教学用具外，还有曾教授的第三本著作，由北京语言大学出版社北美分社出版的《The Handbook of Tasks and Rubrics for Teaching Mandarin Chinese (Volume I)》。华州中文教师学会还贴心地为老师们准备了免费的教材、挂图、课外阅读、音响制品等。本次讲座，华州孔院不仅提供了经费资助，而且院长王雯秋女士和新到任的周军院长都亲自出席并发言。老师们在收获颇丰之余，还获得了OSPI颁发的Clock Hours。

An Article about Chinese Movies Shared by Our Member

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美国高中生眼中的中国电影：有很多颜色
文/露得
2015年02月20日，星期五

                                           《侨报》副刊，2015年2月18日

“中国电影常有功夫，美国电影常有枪和赛车。”

“中国电影有很多颜色，美国电影有很多暴力。”

“我觉得中国电影比美国电影更有文化，但是有时候我看不懂中国电影，因为有太多的文化。”

“中国的电影讲历史的比较多，而美国人更喜欢将讲现代和未来的电影。”

“中美电影我都喜欢看，不过我觉得中国的历史故事片比美国的好看，因为中国的历史很有意思。“

“中国电影好看极了，特别是第五代导演的电影，有很多的文化和知识。”

最近在我的中文课堂上学到关于媒体这一单元的时候，学生们就中美电影话题用中文互相采访。他们尽管中文有限，但都热烈地表达了诸如以上的意见。

我知道他们是很有发言权的，从他们每学期交上来的影评作业中，他们看过的中国电影面之广、对中国电影的喜爱程度之高，总是超出我的意料。为了培养学生们对让中国语言和文化的热爱，我鼓励他们课外观看原汁原味的中国电影，可有英文字幕，影评也可以用英文写，好让他们尽情表达自己的感受。

最受这些高中生们欢迎的影片当数武侠片《卧虎藏龙》和《十面埋伏》，曾经在西方获得大奖的这两部名片尽显武打风采，又有言情浪漫，叫我的学生们众口称赞，在此不必多言。

其次是功夫喜剧片，尤其是成龙和周星驰主演的电影，从早些年的《少林足球》、《功夫》到近年的《大兵小将》、《十二生肖》，将幽默和功夫融为一体，颇对这些少男少女的胃口。

一位男生对《大兵小将》评论道：“这部电影讲了中国历史上一段很重要的时期，很值得我花时间去了解。成龙的幽默恰到好处，摄影师的技巧也很高超。我向任何想看中国电影的人推荐这部电影。”

周星驰又导又演的《功夫》得到了一位女生的高度评价：“我非常喜欢影片中接连不断的动作和惊奇，你永远猜不到下面要发生什么。影片的卡通化和幽默是导演对功夫的独特诠释。”

爱情喜剧片也是学生们所爱。

在国内火爆一时的《北京遇上西雅图》，经我的介绍，引起了这些家住西雅图的学生们的关注。女生们比较喜欢这种找到真爱的美满结局， 一位女生连看了好几遍后感叹：“影片反映了美好的人生价值观，即金钱是买不到幸福的。”

混合了浪漫喜剧和悬疑的《Hold住爱》也得到了青睐，比如这位同学的评论：“这是我看过所有的浪漫喜剧片中最独特的一部，非常有意思。故事中多有意想不到的惊奇，很有创意。希望有更多的中国电影象这样！”

章子怡主演的《非常完美》是有着好莱坞风格的都市爱情片，其姊妹篇《非常幸运》是动作片和浪漫片的结合，我的一位学生称之为中国版的007 詹姆士邦德片。两部片子都以丰富的娱乐性吸引了学中文的少男少女们。

讲述当代中学生生活的电影《青春派》，我在班上放映时也受到了好评。影片主人公萌动的春心、高考的失败、与母亲的紧张关系以及哥们义气等等，得到了美国同龄人的认同。有的说：“中国高中生的经历跟我们的相似。”有的说：“电影中的很多情节都叫我认同。”还有的说：“影片展示了高中生的热情和疯狂。”

班上的一位周杰伦迷向我大力推荐周杰伦自导自演的故事片《不能说的秘密》，我看后决定在课堂上放映，有幸在网上找到了带英文字幕的版本。年轻男女主角的纯真恋情、时空穿越的扑朔迷离、优美的音乐，果然叫学生们反响热烈，音乐迷们尤其欣赏剧中的钢琴音乐。

很值得一提的是一位十年级学生对《山楂树之恋》的喜爱。他用英文写到，影片再现了他父母和爷爷奶奶口中的毛泽东时代的中国：文革中的生活、城市人到农村接受再教育的经历、跳忠字舞的场面等等，尽管他很难想象那个年代里人们的感受，尽管他不明白影片中许多中文的表达，但他还是觉得电影很有意思，他喜欢这样情节简单、没有动作和打斗的纯爱故事。

多么可爱的华裔少年，努力地走出自己的世界去进入那片遥远的土地，极力地用有限的中文去了解那个陌生的年代，就因为他的父辈曾经生活在那个时空，还因为爱情的美丽。

“Thematic Planning” 2014 CLTA-WA Fall Workshop

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《如何适应外语学习者的需求来设计单元》的讲座和研讨会
2014年11月1日，华州中文教师学会在普及湾大学成功举办了《如何适应外语学习者的需求来设计单元》的讲座和研讨会。单元外语教学有别于传统的外语教学模式，可以最大化释放老师的自由度，也可以极大地激发学生的兴趣。本次讲座的主讲人是在外语教学领域颇有盛名的海伦娜•柯顿。她的著作《语言与儿童:美国中小学外语课堂教学指南》堪称为美国外语教学界的“圣经”，是北美外语教师案头必备的宝典。讲座在“时钟找伙伴”的活动中开始，老师们不仅通过这个活动迅速认识了周围人，而且还可以将这个有趣的活动用于自己的课堂。海伦娜不仅传授了她在单元设计方面的经验和实例，还指导老师们当场设计了一系列单元。讲座的参与者不仅有中文、西班牙文、日文和法文老师，而且还有各大外语教学机构的负责人和代表。本次活动得到了华州孔子学院和普及湾大学东亚语言文化中心的大力支持。华州孔院不仅提供了经费资助，而且外方中方的院长都亲自出席并发言。普及湾大学东亚语言文化中心为本次讲座提供了雅致的会场和精美的茶点。活动圆满结束后，与会者纷纷表示受益匪浅，希望以后可以继续参加华州中文教师学会举办的讲座。