HuaMandarin Studio
As a high school sophomore, I have been exposed to many educators of diverse and unique styles. Mrs. Hua Zhang is one of those rare teachers who is both good at teaching and passionate about her subject.
In 2006, Mrs. Zhang established an after school Mandarin Program dedicated to young children at Meridian Park Elementary. Each year, she expanded the program by bringing it to the Shoreline Library, Shoreline Recreation, Park & Cultural Service, and other public and private schools, such as Kellogg middle school, Cascade K-8, Brookside Elementary and Parkwood Elementary and Brighton K-8.
The first time that I met Mrs. Zhang was during my early years at Parkwood Elementary. One day I asked my friend for a ride home, but she hesitated because she had Mandarin club after school. I was in desperate need of a ride that day, so I followed her to the club. She introduced me to Mrs. Zhang and I was immediately welcomed by her to partake in a paper cutting activity. My first impression of Mrs. Zhang was that she was very generous and took every opportunity to promote Chinese culture. Although my eight-year-old mind forgot about that day really quickly, it was Mrs. Zhang’s energy and positive spirit that has secretly lingered inside of me to this very day. In fact, it was her appetizing and appealing manner of promoting Chinese culture that drove me and many of my friends to choose Mandarin as our world language elective for high school.
After meeting her again this year, I can still sense her energy. Her passion has not decayed at all, but rather, it has only grown stronger. I come to such a conclusion because this was the year that I truly had exposure to her teaching style when I had her as a substitute for my Mandarin class at Shorewood High School.
One particular aspect of her teaching and personality that I find most valuable is her honesty. Upon the first day of substituting for our class, Mrs. Zhang admitted that she had no ready-made teaching materials for substituting in our class due to to original teacher's sick leave. However, she immediately took action by surveying us on not only what we learned on a regular basis, but also what we enjoyed. With immense consideration to our interests, Mrs. Zhang was able to formulate a lesson plan for us the very next day. It took us all by surprise when we realized that we have never been taught this way before.
I have never seen my class as focused as they were before until the day Mrs. Zhang subbed for us. It was impressive how she had a comical story to tell for every new vocabulary word she taught and how she made writing practice more interesting by allowing us to use her calligraphy brushes. How she taught difficult Chinese ancient pome into beautiful Chinese traditional brush painting. And I must admit that having Mrs. Zhang as a teacher was the very first time I didn’t feel the anxiety and stress that I felt in other classes.
Although Mrs. Zhang had high expectations for us, she was far from a force pressure. In fact, she was a power of encouragement by rewarding us with Chinese treats on a regular basis. Most importantly, her encouragement went beyond the classroom setting as she would email us and compliment us on our work.
Furthermore, it was amazing how she could transform our class from being just language class into a true Chinese class as she effectively balanced and captured the essential essence of the language as well as the culture in all of her lessons. With such an captivating teaching style, it was no surprise that all of my classmates, including myself, got almost perfect grades on our unit exam.
But I soon realized that our success was not only attributed to her effective teaching, but it was also the product of her love and sacrifice. It was not until the very last day of her substitute assignment that my classmates and I found out that Mrs. Zhang should have been staying at home to recover from a major surgery instead of teaching us all of this time. It was hard to imagine how she was able to use her smile to hide all of her pain as she stood and taught us for several hours every day and run back and forth from Shorewood and Einstein Middle School. She also continued her after school programs during this time. She did all of this because of her boundless passion to teach. It reflects how she prioritizes her students over her own health and it is such dedication is what makes others and myself admire the Chinese language and culture more.
Mrs. Zhang has the perfect background and capable ability to teach Mandarin. She was educated in Fudan, Shanghai and worked for many years as an editor and journalist in China. She has also consistently attends training seminars for foreign language educators in the US. Her teaching is well adapted to the American classroom and it is balanced with the perfect level of Chinese authenticity. She also has the ability to customize her teaching to meet individual needs. Her passionate and inspiring personality complements her amazing teaching capabilities.
Her work for the Shoreline Public Schools has not gone unnoticed. The district’s former public information officer, Craig Degginger, praised Mrs. Zhang’s work to increase opportunities for students in Shoreline Public Schools to learn Mandarin.
“We are glad though to be offering Mandarin language to our students, you should be proud of the role you have played in establishing that interest throughout the district.”
Ever since arriving in America Mrs. Zhang has dedicated her life to promoting the importance and beauty of the Chinese language and culture. However, rather than just focusing on inspiring her students, she goes beyond to encourage the interests of those outside of her classroom, which was the case for me.
Once again, Mrs. Zhang’s passion can be seen as she advocates for keeping Mandarin as a language option for middle and high school students. Mrs. Zhang teaches for the love of teaching that comes from her pure heart. She was born to teach. The fact that she has gained immense praise from other students, parents, and even local journalists, proves that I am not the only one who could see and appreciate her never-dying passion. That is why I believe that Mrs. Zhang will be able to create and sustain something that Shoreline has never seen before.
Mrs. Hua Zhang: Teaching from the Heart
By Jenny Nguyen
--Mandarin teacher Hua has been sowing seeds of Chinese and culture in Greater Seattle area for 12 years
From Parents
From Students
From schools
From Students
"I love Hua’s Chinese cooking class and dragon parade."
--Alex, Elementary school
"I like how Hua tells stories in class to explain how Chinese characters came to be. It helps me learn to love the Chinese language even more."
--Lyla, Elementary school
Middle School students:
--I really enjoyed Hua’s art project and calligraphy. It was fun and it was good practice on writing Chinese characters.
--I love how she is speaking Chinese in class. Yeah, it makes us more comfortable in a Chinese speaking environment.
--When we learned new characters, Hua gave us many examples, explaining each word and reviewed every day to make sure everyone learns and understands. She also paying attention to our tones.
High School students:
--Hua pulls us into conversation, tells us interesting Chinese stories, and actually immerses us in the Mandarin language.
-I really like Ms. Hua’s interactive teaching. I feel great and learn more when Ms. Hua just speaks Mandarin to communicate with students.
-I like the energy and enthusiasm that Hua brought to the classroom. I definitely feel her efforts which make Mandarin learning a lot more fun and enjoyable.
"Ms. Zhang's passion for Chinese truly inspires me and I will certainly try my very best to pursue the wonderful language.”
"Hua works very hard to provide the best possible instruction for learning Mandarin and Chinese culture."
--Mary Ann
“We feel very honored to have had the opportunity for our daughter to learn to speak, read and write Mandarin at a young age. She now has a solid foundation as she transitions over to take Mandarin in middle school and high school thanks to Hua's excellent system of teaching.”
--Denise D
“We think that Hua’s classes and camps have been very beneficial to our children's understanding of a foreign culture, and a positive learning experience.”
--Kim &Tom
“ Hua does an excellent job of balancing reading, writing, and speaking so that her students are comfortable with all aspects of the language. My daughter has made solid progress with her Mandarin since working with Hua.”
--Michael M
"Hua is a generous dedicated educator; The encouragement she provides goes a long way to keeping the children interested in an academic program that is outside of school."
--Rebecca & Mike C
“Both my children started learning Mandarin with Hua since they were only about 5 and 8 years old. Hua's curriculum has helped my children especially my younger son to continue his interest in learning Chinese after 6 years."
--Ming-Ming Edelman
Ms. Zhang has been our Mandarin Chinese teacher for our Cultural Explorations class, teaching students in grades K through 8. I have found Ms. Zhang to be punctual, dependable, and creative in her curriculum design. She is a very capable Mandarin Chinese teacher who has designed her own teaching materials and curriculum for our students. Her ability to bring the different components of the Chinese culture through her development of curriculum include language, fine arts, music, dance, food, and so on. Ms. Zhang believes that all students should be given the opportunity to learn a foreign language is demonstrated through her constant attempts to help all students learn and achieve.
—TP, K-8th School Director
“Hua is highly motivated, creative instructor who continues her works with us in our Chinese language program. Her lessons are carefully planned, and she uses a variety of methods to keep the children continuously engaged with language. ”
--Gail L, Director
"Hua interacts well with both children and adults on her audience. She reads and tells stories with enthusiasm. She is also professional on her approach to her job here , eager to please the families she works with, and a pleasure for me to work with.”
--Laurie F, Librarian
“She is an excellent instructor, very attentive and patient with her students and very enthusiastic about her classes. She is conscientious and a good communicator.”
--Mary A, Manager
“Hua has an attention to detail that spans from the repetition used to ensure comprehension and retention to follow-thought with each students in her multi-level classes.
--Mary C, president