4. The Reasons Why You Should Learn Chinese with Dr. Trudy Hu (04/21/2014)

Post date: Apr 23, 2014 12:28:47 AM

The Reasons Why You Should Learn Chinese with Dr. Trudy Hu

Chinese has become one of the most uprising languages in the world recently. Almost everyone knows the values of learning a foreign language which opens unlimited opportunities in learning, travel, work, and commerce, etc. Most of the foreign language courses offered in American schools are predominantly Spanish, French, German, and occasionally Japanese, and Arabic. Language provides lens to understand a particular culture or a collective group of people, including their food, festivity, lifestyle, needs and wants, tradition, belief or religion, as well as medical, social, and political systems.

Chinese culture has proclaimed longer than 5000 years of history with more than 26 dynasties and it still remains as one of the most important ancient civilizations in the world. Ancient China has been the cradle for all sorts of inventions and development, such as agriculture, paper, pen, ink, printing technology, silk, fabrics, porcelains, fireworks, medicines, medical surgery, weaponry, and political evolution, just to name a few. The long history also created countless national treasures in literature, arts, artifacts, philosophy, and wisdom; not to mention the celebrated enticing Chinese cuisines.

Learning Chinese also includes the above-mentioned advantages. The challenges of learning Chinese are numerous.

I. First of all, Chinese is completely different from the Romance languages (one of the major Western linguistics), Italian, Spanish, French, English, or German which all have similar alphabets in spelling format.

II. There are two different Chinese written forms, Traditional and Simplified ones, and two different Chinese phonic systems, Traditional Phonics and Pinyin (alphabetic phonics), and these two different Chinese written forms are practiced in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China, as well as various parts of Asia.

III. The sources of the textbooks, teaching methods, and teacher selection can be a risky choice for individual learners and school officials. It leaves lots of room for language and cultural brokers’ manipulation, misrepresentation and misleading marketing approaches. Once you choose the wrong source or the wrong approach, it can become a major financial and time loss for an individual or an institution.

IV. Most of the teachers are native Chinese speakers who may not understand the strengths and obstacles that English speaking students and faculty experience. Most of the native Chinese speaking teachers do not have a good command of English which may create teaching or communication barriers, such as misinterpretation, lack of cultural understanding, or personality or culture clash issues.

V. Lack of Quality Control or Accreditation Standards—Quality concern is caused by the lack of qualified bi-lingual teaching materials, teaching methods which should have been congruent with students’ original linguistic, cultural, educational and political backgrounds. Editors and teachers are gatekeepers to create, select, compile and censer the materials to prevent any inappropriate contents and ideology to be indoctrinated into students’ young minds.

However, learning Chinese with Dr. Trudy offers students/individuals different experiences.

I. Creative and fun visual learning style to increase students’ intrinsic motivation in learning a difficult foreign language.

II. Chinese character learning will be facilitated with story-telling and tradition- introducing simultaneously. These methods will help students in memorization and further enhance students’ retention.

III. Chinese characters will be introduced through progressive steps and sequences so that students’ frustration and lack of attention can be noticed early to help trouble shooting in students’ learning obstacles.

IV. Interactive teaching and feedback from students are important ingredients in developing new materials, new methods, and exciting homework assignments.

V. Through Chinese teaching, Dr. Trudy will be able to bring ancient scientific discoveries and inventions to students in the modern era. The beauty of the poetry, calligraphy and art works will be also introduced gradually. The worldview of ancient Chinese civilization, and emerging Chinese societies in Asia will be introduced through language teaching.

VI. Dr. Trudy’s Chinese teaching gives you a clear learning sequence with measurable outcome and a sense of achievement in the supportive environment as well as in the context of Christianity. Dr. Trudy’s Chinese learning books will be the most exciting Chinese learning tools for children and adults. The learning methods will be innovative, interesting, and insightful. Dr. Trudy’s books will capitalize the talents of iGeneration who relies on visual and rational learning method.

VII. Dr. Trudy’s Chinese character learning approach entails artistic, philosophical and scientific or historical story-telling to enhance the fun of holistic Chinese learning experience. Last but not the least, learning Chinese with Dr. Trudy can be therapeutic and healing to students/ individuals who suffer from ADD, ADHD, Autism, Asperger’s Syndromes, and low self-esteem.

Author Introduction:

Dr. Trudy Hu is a psychiatric expert and a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who specializes in brain functions, bio-psycho-social holistic approaches in treatment and psychiatric medication consultation and coordination. She has practiced in US for more than 20 years. She integrates Eastern philosophy with Western training and immersed herself in both English and Chinese cultures and literature. She has published a book, titled “Modern Prince and Princess Syndromes” in Chinese. It has always been a vague dream in the back of her mind to start writing her own unique Chinese-teaching style which integrates Chinese learning, philosophies, calligraphy, and arts with the profound therapeutic and aesthetic power. Dr. Trudy Hu received her Doctoral degree from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her Master degree from University of Florida at Gainesville. She graduated from National Taiwan University with her Bachelor degree as a Foreign Languages and Literature major. She has extensive teaching experiences in Ming-Dao High School in Taiwan, University of California, Irvine, University of Texas at Austin, Chinese Schools in Portland area, hundreds of professional workshops, seminars, and conferences, etc.