By Lilly Fabian
Staff Writer
Students say “ni hao” to Pauline Chang and the new Mandarin 1 and 2 courses, which made their Costa debut this year.
Chang was born in Taiwan and taught Mandarin in local schools as well as schools in Southern California. She taught Mandarin at Santa Monica High School for three years.
“Mandarin is becoming a very popular language and is continuing to grow,” Chang said.
According to Chang, Mandarin is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. It boasts the highest number of native speakers and is becoming one of the most popular foreign languages to learn.
“China’s influence [on the global economy] is growing, so it could be helpful to know Mandarin for careers,” Gong said.
In the past, Costa only offered Spanish, French and Latin. Due to popular demand from Manhattan Beach Middle School students, Mandarin was brought to Costa.
“We brought Mandarin and Chang to Costa because of the kids who were taking it at MBMS,” Principal Dr. Ben Dale said. “We wanted those students to be able to continue studying the language.”
Chang’s Mandarin 1 class is an introductory course intended to familiarize students with the language. Students who took the language at the middle school and wanted to continue their studies have the ability to take Mandarin 2.
“In my classes, I use a lot of pictures and gestures to help students understand the language,” Chang said.
According to Chang, the most effective way to help students absorb Mandarin is through visual aids and interactions.
“I was born in Switzerland and lived in China for most of my life, so I am pretty fluent in Mandarin,” sophomore William Gong said. “Chang is a great teacher, and I feel like I’m still learning new things.”
According to Gong, Chang’s Mandarin 2 class focuses on grammar, tones and characters. She engages the students in many activities to help them learn the language.
“It is beneficial to know Mandarin for use in global business,” Chang said.
With her extensive background in teaching, Chang encourages students to dive into learning language.
“I am very excited to be at Costa, and I hope to teach more Mandarin courses in the future,” Chang said.
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