CLS - 2010 年月刊 （畢業 ）
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The document provides information about the Chinese Language School of Greater Hartford including: 1) A summary of the principal's end of year report noting improvements in curriculum, enrollment stability, new parent activities and the school's continued growth under the new principal. 2) A list of awards given to students for academic achievement and Chinese language competitions. 3) The chairman's message thanking teachers and staff for their hard work and asking donors to designate the school for United Way donations to help address the school's ongoing budget shortfall.
CLS - 2010 年月刊 （畢業 ）
- 1. Sundays June 20101 June 2010 www.cls-ct.org A Place of Possibilities Principal’s Word 2 End of Year Report 3 Awards 5 Mt. Snow Skip Trip 2010 6 Students from Granby 7 Student’s Desk 12 Father’s Day Gift 14 Comic 16
- 2. Sundays June 20102 Principal’sWord “Two more classes to go and you will be done!” My husband is counting down the days before I step down from the Principal position. He can’t wait to have me back on Sundays and doesn’t have to help me chugging Chinese School’s stuffs around. These two years have been a wonderful experience for me. I have learned a lot from this special position and met a lot of friends.The help and support that I have received from the Board, Education Committee, teachers, and parents was amazing. Planning and working on school matters seem just like a rhythm – everyone just came in and helped to get things done! Looking back, I can see how these two years helped me grow and mature. Just comparing the Chinese New Year celebrations we had for the last two years. We gathered suggestions, complaints, and ideas from the first year to improve the program, the food serving, seating, and the games on the second year. We had more than 400 students, parents, friends, and guests joining us and we had a good time.This is the kind of spirit our Education Committee members have been sharing with me – “we are not perfect, but we are willing to do whatever it takes to make it better every time”. I believe it is this spirit that keeps the school flourishing -- We have stable enrollment, improved curriculum, new PTO, parent social and activities (ski trip, food tasting event and A Dong trip) for the last two years. (If you missed these activities, please make sure you join next year…They are a lot of fun!) I believe with the leadership of incoming Principal, Wen-Lin Su, the school will continue flourishing and many more good improvements will come. My special thank to my mentor, Jung-Jung Su for guiding me and advising me with her experiences and her exceptional organization skills. With her help and support, I was able to cut the learning curve. I want to thank the Education Committee members for their support and help making things happen; without them, we would not have these great events and activities.Thanks to our devoted and dedicated teachers for making learning Chinese language and culture a lot easier and fun for our students.Thanks to our generous donors! With these donations, the school can continue offering affordable tuitions and special activities. But last of all, the school would not have been here without the work of our Chairwoman, Dr. Shyling Lee. Shyling helped establishing the school, securing Trinity classrooms & facilities, setting up the school 501 (3) © non-profit status, and the long-term structure for the school. Many heartfelt thanks to our volunteers, parents, and friends – all the “unsung” heroes at Chinese Language School of Greater Hartford! Summer is coming! My term as the Principal is coming to an end! I wish everyone a wonderful and safe summer vacation! Sincerely yours, Shumei
- 3. Sundays June 20103 Principal’sWord (continued) End of Year Report “再 兩 堂 課 你 就 解 脫 了﹗” 先 生 已 經 很 興 奮 的 幫 我 倒 數 我 當長的日子﹐期待著我星期天不必去中文 學校﹐也不必再幫我搬著大包小包的東西。 其實﹐每個星期天的中文學校對我而言﹐就好像是去和朋友們有約一樣。看到好多的朋友﹐家長﹐和小朋友﹐就 很開心。尤其是看到從前教過的學生﹐一個個的長大﹐成熟﹐還會來跟我打招呼﹐那種成就感﹐是說不出來的甜 蜜﹗ 這兩年當校長給我很大的幫助。從這個位子上﹐我學習到了很多做人處事的經驗和交到很多的朋友。理事會﹐教 育委員會﹐老師﹐和家長們給了我很多的支持和幫助。我也很明顯的看到自己的成長。就從兩次新年慶祝活動來 比較﹐第一年很多細節都沒有考慮到﹐例如座位也沒有安排﹐領食物要排好長的隊等等。但第二年﹐靠大家的幫 忙﹐改進前一年的缺點。所以我們有400多位來賓﹐學生﹐家長來參加﹐整個活動的進行非常順利也很快樂。我 覺得這就是我們現在教委﹐老師們的態度 -- 我 們 並 不 完 美﹐但 是我 們 要 一 次 比一 次做 得 更 好 。 我相信 就 是 這 種 精 神 讓 學 校 越 來 越 蒸 蒸 日上-- 過 去 兩 年 來 學 生 的 人 數 穩 定 ﹐ 新 教 材 的 使 用 ﹐ 家 長 會 的 成 立 ﹐家 長 聯 誼 茶 會 及 一 些 校 外 活 動 (滑 雪 ﹐ 美 食 品 嘗 ﹐ 亞 東 購 物) 等 等。 我也 相 信 明 年 在 蘇 文 霖 校 長 的 領 導 下﹐ 我 們 學 校 會 繼 續 的進 步﹐成長。 我特別要感謝何蓉蓉在過去兩年來給我的指導與協助。她不厭其繁的將她過去當校長的經驗教導于我﹐使我能比 較快的了解校長的工作﹐了解如何處理校務﹗她 高 超 的 組 織 能 力 和 耐 心 是 我 學 習 的 目 標﹗ 還 有 要 感 謝 教 務 委 員 會 各 位 委 員 們 的 支 持 與 幫 忙 來 推 動 校 務 與 活 動。 沒 有 他 們﹐ 學 校 的 活 動 和 事 情 就 推 不 出 去 了﹗ 感 謝 各 位 老 師 平 時 努 力 的 教 學﹐ 讓 中 文 的 學 習 生 動 一 點 ﹐ 活 潑 一 點 ﹐容易 一 點。 我 們 的 但 是 飲 水 思 源﹐ 如 果 當 初 沒 有 我 們 的李世玲理 事 長﹐ ﹐幫 忙 成 立 學 校﹐ 取 得 在 三 一 學 院 的 教 室 使 用 權﹐ 取 得 美 國 國 稅 局 的 免 稅 證 ﹐ 定 下 了 學 校 的 長 期 目 標﹐ 今 天 學 校 就 無 法 存 在﹗ 同時 謝 謝 許 多 家 長﹐ 朋 友 們 默 默 的 在 幕 後 幫 忙﹗ 暑假 即 將 來 臨﹐我也將要卸下校長的任務﹗ 祝 福 大 家 有個 快 樂 平 安 的暑假﹗ 淑美 5-31-10 感言 Dear Members of the CLS Community, The summer is soon to begin and the classes are coming to the end. We are looking forward to a break from the routine of coming to CLS every Sunday for the last 10 months. It is great that every summer we get a chance to break out from the serious learning so we will be back in the fall refreshed and reenergized. Naturally this is the time to reflect on our work. We have made a lot of progress in many aspects - The quality of teaching has improved because of the collaborative effort between the Educational Committee and the teachers; the creation of the new post of PTA Coordinator has resulted in more parental participation in school activities. The visibility of our school has increased with the promotion effort from the staff and the Board, including some word-of-mouth news by many parents of our students. Over all, I feel we have truly become a big family. Every time when I visit the school, I feel the atmosphere is filled with By Shyling Lee (continued on page 4)
- 4. Sundays June 20104 friendliness, joy and animation. So our children are making progress in learning Chinese and we get along wonderfully. But this is not the final goal. I hope in the near future CLS will become an elite weekend school for learning Chinese. I hope to develop CLS so our classes will be competitively sought after in the Hartford community because of an excellent academic curriculum, creative cultural program, diversified student body, exceptional teachers, and enthusiastic staff.This requires everyone to do a little more to get there. And it is an achievable goal! The end of a school year is also the time to change guards. I want to thank our principal, Ms. Shumei Chu, for her dedication these last two years.The principal is the most burdensome post within the school structure. Remember, like all other CLS staff members, the principal is not paid. Her only reward is seeing the progress of the school and development of the children. In addition to proven capability, one has to be highly selfless and altruistic to be willing to serve as principal.Two years is a lot of time to give. It is not reasonable to expect any one in this position to stay on for a third year.That is why the term of the principal is only two years. So Shumei will have a more relaxed year to come. But she will stay within the Education Committee as an advisor to the new principal. Fortunately, we have another selfless and altruistic person in line to take Shumei’s place. Ms. Wen-Lin Su has taught at CLS for many years and has been the vice principal for the last three years. Wen-Lin will be at the helm starting in July. Please give Wen-Lin your support and assistance. I also want to thank Mr. Simon Su and Mr. Kuo-Wei Chi for having served the Board in the last three years.They have decided to step down from their positions on the Board to bring in new members. I appreciate their dedication and willingness to join the Board when we had many new challenges. My sincere thanks to their efforts in carrying out the tasks the board took up in these years. And I know they will continue to help out when their schedules allow. On June 1st, the Board held the annual meeting, Ms. Jung Jung Su and Mr. Adam Arnold were elected to take the two vacancies. Welcome, Jung Jung and Adam. I look forward to working with you. In regards to our financial heath, the tuition revenue for this academic year still has a shortfall of an amount similar to the previous two years. But because of our vigorous fundraising activities and many generous donations, we have raised almost $20,000.00 this year to fill the hole. Again, our staff do not get paid. Often they don’t even ask for reimbursements for the expenses. They are also thrifty in doing purchases for CLS. Yet we still have a shortfall. One can easily deduce that CLS education is a good buy. We do not wish to raise the tuition if we don’t have to. Now I am asking you to help keep the tuition affordable for everyone without costing you extra money. How can this work? If you pledge to give United Way a donation at work, please designate CLS to be the agency receiving your donation by writing our school name on the pledge card.There are three donors who did this last November and we are receiving their donations in the current year. We have contacted United Way and asked to be on their list of agencies.The response is that they will not expand the list due to the financial crunch in recent years. But they confirmed that donors only need to write in the name of their favorite charity. United Way will honor the donor’s wish. I know you are willing to do this for CLS. We will send out a message again this fall when the United Way Campaign is getting close. For now please remember this action is vital to CLS. If most of you designate your contribution to CLS, not only will our financial hole disappear, but also a nest egg may be in the making for the future. Enjoy the break. I look forward to seeing you in the fall refreshed and energized. Shyling Lee, Chairman, Board of Trustees
- 5. Sundays June 20105 Awards Michelle Tsun 秦穎愉 Tony Yang 楊東明 Eric Wang 王 昱 翔 Elaine Tsun 秦穎欣 Audrey Lai 賴澤婷 ACS Annual Chinese Culture Poster Design Competition (4th Place) ACS Excellent Teacher CertificateACS Annual Chinese Language Speech Competition (4th Place) Mei Yen, Yeh 岳梅艷 老師 Wen-Te, Wu 吳文得 老師 Li Jun, Cheng 程麗君老師 Caterina Wang 王昱婷 Samantha Tsun 秦穎珊 Hai –Hua Scholarship for outstanding academic achievement Victoria Tran 陳美鳳 ACS Student Honor Society for outstanding academic achievement Patrick Lau 劉楚明 Alumni Award Keith Lee 李國津 Retired Teacher’s Award Ying Ying, Lee 李英瑛 Marilyn Guerrera 林怡玲 Retired Education Committee Award Man Ling, Tang 湯曼玲 Yea Mey, Lu 陸雅美 Li-Yun, Hsu 郭麗芸 Jung Jung, Su 何蓉蓉 Parent Volunteer Of The Year Joe Tsun 秦耀明 Congratulations to Mrs. Wen-Lin Su (蘇文霖), our new principal of 2010 -2012.
- 6. Sundays June 20106 During the New Year vacation 2010, a group of three families from the Chinese Language School of Hartford went to Mt. Snow for a three-day ski/snowboard trip. The idea was hatched by Meiky Huang, who spends a great deal of her winter there with her husband and kids, and also volunteers as an Ambassador for the resort. Mt. Snow is an excellent choice for a local ski trip because it is fairly close (under two hour drive) and it is a large mountain with quite a variety of terrain. We were aided by Mother Nature with an eight inch dumping of powder prior to our arrival. The first day of the trip (New Years Day) the temperatures were fairly moderate and we even got some sun. For dinner, Meiky and her husband met up with us at a local Chinese restaurant. The place was very crowded and for good reason—the food was excellent. On day two, the weather turned colder as the wind began to pick up considerably. We also were greeted with another seven inches of new snow. Although most went downhill skiing, there was a group that went out on their cross-country skis. Apparently, the XC trails were in excellent shape. By the final day the conditions turned downright Arctic. The wind was howling at over 40 mph and the temperature was well below zero. Only one family was brave enough to venture out in this weather. As a matter of fact, most of the mountain was closed due to the wind. By that time however, everyone had gotten their fill of skiing and were ready to go home. I think it is fair to say that everyone had a wonderful time. I would like to personally thank all the families that participated and Meiky, for all her help in setting this up. Since this was our first trip to Mt. Snow, I was not familiar with the accommodations. We stayed at the Snow Lake Lodge and found it to be an excellent value. The room was clean, the staff was friendly, and they had a large hot tub which was a popular destination! The only downside is that the Lodge caters to the college crowd, so if anyone is interested in a more family-oriented inn, there are a number of options in the area. One other possibility is to rent a large house or townhouse which can accommodate up to five families. If there is sufficient interest next year, we will try to set this up in advance. We are hoping to make this an annual event! Mt. Snow SkipTrip 2010 by Adam Arnold
- 7. Sundays June 20107 Students from Granby Memorial High School Attending a Chinese New Year Celebration by Hannah Seger On Sunday, February 7th I attended a Chinese New Year celebration with my Chinese II classmates. It took place at the Vernon Center of Trinity College. We watched many entertaining performances put on by other groups of kids; including dancing and singing. Our class also performed. First we said a poem about the new year.Then we did a fashion show displaying Chinese outfits worn by emperors, scholars, students, and more. We each got to show off our outfit and announce what someone else was wearing.There were lots of people watching, especially little kids. A lot parents came to watch the performances, including my own. After the performances there were activities to participate in and food to eat, but my mom and I had to leave before all of that. It was an interesting experience. I am attending a Chinese New Year Celebration by Sara Miltenberger The Chinese New Year Experience at Trinity College this year with my Chinese class was really quite unforgettable.The friendly people, the delicious food and the wonderful entertainment provided by the students of the Chinese Language School was really a treat. I really enjoyed listening and learning (continued on page 8)
- 8. Sundays June 20108 from the other students that performed. My favorite performances were the Ribbon Dance, performed by the CLS Chinese Advanced Dance Students and Little Lion Dance & Singing “Two Tigers” performed by CLS Preschool students. It is so neat that these students are learning about their family history and the Chinese language so young. I also enjoyed the MC very much because he was very entertaining and funny. I was very proud of our school’s performance because we had practiced many times and really wanted to make Su Lao Shi very proud and I think we succeeded. Our costumes were very beautiful and during the performance, we spoke with confidence of our traditional clothing and history of the Chinese people. Many strangers came up to me later on, telling me our performance was fantastic and they were very impressed that we were only Level 2 students, who had obviously accomplished a lot. I really enjoyed performing at the Chinese New Year Celebration and hope that next year, we can go again and continue to impress the Chinese Language School Community. We have come a long way and will only continue to better our speaking, reading and listening skills. Our Chinese abilities will only improve and hopefully next year we will attend with a larger class. I Am Attending a Chinese New Year Celebration by Daniel Chapple During the Chinese New Year Celebration, we saw many performances that showed different aspects of Chinese culture.There were a wide range of performances including singing, dancing, and skits. From going to the celebration, I learned a lot about traditions carried out during the Chinese New Year such as the exchange of red envelopes with money in them. After the performances, we ate foods eaten during the Chinese New Year.The food included dumplings and lo mein. My favorite food we had were the dumplings. As we were eating, there were games that the younger children could play. I saw many different Chinese customs as well. Also, from doing our performance, I learned a lot about how the Chinese dressed in ancient times. We were very fortunate to be able to wear the clothes that royalty would have one worn. I was surprised that I understood some of what was being said by the hosts. I think that Chinese New Year is a great celebration.There are many traditions that are carried out each year that have been used for many years. Each generation keeps these traditions going on so that the Chinese culture will be preserved. Someday, I would like to go to China while the New Year’s celebration is going on so I can be a part of it. If I cannot, I would like to go to Chinatown in New York City to join in their celebration. It would be a great opportunity to see all of the traditions that we learned about first hand. From going to the Chinese New Year Celebration, I learned a lot about Chinese culture and New Year’s traditions. I would like to be a part of this again or something similar if we can. I am very happy that we were able to participate in this celebration. I am especially happy that we got to borrow the clothes that we wore.There were very special and it is something I would probably not have gotten a chance to do. I learned a lot from attending the Chinese New Year Celebration and am happy we could perform in it. Students from Granby Memorial High School (continued) (continued on page 9)
- 9. Sundays June 20109 Chinese New Year Celebration by Chasya Dorenkamp Last weekend I went to a Chinese New Year Festival in Hartford. I really enjoyed the music and performances and food. My favorite part was doing the fashion show. A lot of the festival was in Chinese. I understood a lot of what was being said and it made me happy. Our class got to see five performances before we went to get ready for our part of the performance. We dressed in Chinese clothing. I wore a green Chinese dress.The whole class looked very good and spoke their lines well. After our part of the festival, we got to go back and watch the rest of the performances. My favorite performance – besides our own – was the ribbon dance.The colors and costumes were beautiful.Their dance was very well rehearsed. Afterwards, I was very hungry.The food they served at the festive was very good. I had chow mien, a pork dumpling, an egg roll, and a red bean cake. I ate it all. The Chinese New Year Festival was so much fun! I will definitely want to go next year. Hopefully I will then know a lot more Chinese than I do now. I really love the Chinese culture and delicious food! Chinese New Year Celebration by Victoria Galarneau Students, ranging from elementary to high school age, gathered at Trinity College to celebrate the Chinese New Year on February 7th, 2010. Various performances took place, including singing, dancing, and skits; all relating to traditional Chinese culture and language. Our Chinese II class performed a fashion show. I felt very prepared because of multiple run throughs and much class time spent practicing. In the end, all of our hard work paid off and I thought our performance went really well. I hope future GMHS classes can participate in this celebration because it was a lot of fun and I learned a lot about the Chinese culture. Seeing everyone come together to share a common heritage results in an unforgettable and magical experience. I am Attending a Chinese New Year Celebration by Becca Smith I hope that throughout my life I can continuously enrich my life with learning and submerging myself among different cultures. Last weekend I was able to participate in a Chinese New Year Celebration at Trinity College with Granby’s Chinese 2 students. Along with our performance demonstrating traditional Chinese costumes there were a variety of acts including ribbon dances, songs, dances, and more. Having never experienced the Chinese New Year first hand, it was definitely an entertaining, exciting, and fun afternoon. When I first walked through the doors into the celebration there was an overwhelming array of red and gold mixed throughout the entire room.Traditionally you might think red means anger or passion, but in China especially during the New Year red and gold symbolize happiness and wealth. Everyone in the room was bubbling with excitement and the walls were adorned with decorations. I found my seat and waited for further instructions. This celebration was made possible by the CLS, and consisted of different groups of students and teachers performing and teaching different Students from Granby Memorial High School (continued) (continued on page 10)
- 10. Sundays June 201010 aspects of the Chinese culture. For example, my class put on a fashion show modeling Chinese clothes representing different positions in ancient Chinese history. Another fun part of the afternoon was the red envelopes! Red envelopes symbolize good luck and are meant to ward off evil spirits. Each of us were fortunate enough to receive one! The rest of the day was enlightening, fun, and full of culture. I am glad that I had the opportunity to partake in this Chinese New Year Celebration and I hope that I can continue learning and experiencing Chinese traditions. I learned a lot and so did my family! Chinese New Year Celebration by Marieta Jedamanova The Chinese New Year is the most important holiday in the Chinese Lunar Calendar. It lasts for fifteen days and every day there is a special activity, including worshiping the gods and families reuniting. Every year is named after a different animal.There are twelve animals in total: The rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. 2010 is the year of the tiger. At the Chinese New Year celebration at Trinity College, we celebrated the year of the tiger by performing many different Chinese cultural activities. Some include the Lion Dance and the famous Chinese Ribbon Dance. The celebration at Trinity College was a great learning experience for me. Our presentation taught me about the ancient Chinese culture and the costumes that were worn by the Emperor and Empress of the Han Dynasty. I also learned about the Lion Dance in which people dress up in lion costumes and one person controls the back of the lion while another person controls the front. While dancing, they imitate a lion’s movements.The Ribbon Dance was also very interesting. In Chinese ribbon dancing, many dancers use long colorful ribbons to portray different movements of wind and water. All of the dances at Trinity were elegant and beautiful and they were full of rich cultural history. Because I enjoyed this year’s Chinese New Year celebration at Trinity College, I hope to go again next year. The performances were all fun to watch and the Chinese food at the end of the celebration was also very good. It was also exciting to do our Chinese fashion show and perform on stage in front of everyone. I hope that our performance was also informational for everyone in the audience. It was a good learning experience as well as a fun activity which I hope to go back to over the years. Chinese New Year Celebration Response by Wesley Lata At the Chinese Celebration there were many people, and a lot of culture all bound to one room. In that single room held festivities I have never seen before, Including the Tiger Dance, Singing, and even tongue twisters. I saw people I knew; I even got to see my last year’s Chinese teacher Kao Lao Shi, along with some new people. What I enjoyed the most of the Chinese New Year celebration was the positive attitude given by all the people. My father had met up with an old friend while at the celebration. I was stunned at the fact that everyone was given a whole lot of respect, and then those giving the equivalent back to that person, and the next. I thought that the Chinese New Year Celebration was a lot of fun, because there was a lot of enthusiasm put into it. Students from Granby Memorial High School (continued) (continued on page 11)
- 11. Sundays June 201011 In conclusion my over all favorite aspect of the Chinese New Year Celebration, was the enthusiasm and the effort.The Effort was the most obvious part of the whole event, a lot of time was put into such an event therefore it deserves reconigition.The enthusiasm was the best a lot of laughter caught my attention and how it brought people together. Over all I thought the Celebration is definitely something to look forward to. Thank you Su Lao Shi My Chinese learning experience by Andrew Carroll A little less than two years ago, I signed up to take Mandarin Chinese I in my Freshman year of high school. I did not expect to actually be able to take the class as a ninth-grade student, due to its immense popularity. However, to my pleasant surprise, the schedule I received at the end of eighth-grade revealed that I had, indeed, been selected to participate in what would become the first Chinese course ever to be taught at Granby Memorial High School. When the first day of my Freshman year came, I found myself in a classroom normally intended for geometry classes. Around me were, perhaps, two dozen other students that had chosen to study the most widely spoken language in the world. As we waded through the first lessons, many of us found our interest in the language greatly increased. Others, unfortunately, lost interest altogether, and dropped out of the class. It became apparent as the first semester sped by that the majority of people that took the class only did so on a whim. Few, it seemed, actually desired to speak or write Chinese. When the last of those for whom the Chinese language was uninteresting left the class, our number had decreased to about 15 students. However, the quick-paced nature of the class did not only discourage those that took it on a whim: on the contrary, it proved greatly beneficial to those genuinely interested in the subject. Within a single year of learning the language, the remaining students learned the equivalent of what might be taught in two years in a French or Spanish course. Little more can be said of the first year of Mandarin Chinese at GMHS than this: it was a huge success. A number of students, including myself, opted to continue to Chinese II, but unfortunately, there were too few applicants from the middle school to offer Chinese I again. My personal experience with learning the language has been plagued with difficulty. My effort, both last year and this year, has been inconsistent in the class; accordingly, my understanding of the language is significantly less than that of my peers. However, I have continued my attempts to learn Mandarin Chinese for one reason: I love the language. Despite an endless number of idiosyncrasies and quirks in Chinese that I simply cannot understand, I find the tongue wonderfully simplistic, in speech and in writing. A lot of the grammatical concepts do not make sense to me, but so many of them do that simply following the structure of phrases is opium to my mind. Perhaps the single most difficult part of Chinese, for me, is learning to connect sounds to characters. Every other language I have studied thus far has had phonetic elements - not so for Mandarin.That individual syllables can have a Students from Granby Memorial High School (continued) (continued on page 12)
- 12. Sundays June 201012 myriad of different meanings is completely alien to me, as is the idea that each of these meanings has its own character. Learning Chinese feels like learning two different languages and trying to put them together. This issue is remedied somewhat by the method of learning new vocabulary. In both Chinese classes, new phrases have generally been learned individually, using PowerPoint presentations accompanied with teacher direction to maximize class understanding.This contrasts with other language classes, where often students are expected to learn vocabulary on their own. Such an independent strategy is sufficient for those classes, which do not involve foreign scripts - only foreign grammatical structures and vocabularies. Independent learning is not sufficient for English-speakers learning Chinese. It is difficult to summarize my experiences in learning Chinese, as they are many. I suppose the single best way to do so would be to answer this question: Were I to find myself in eighth grade again, would I still have chosen to take Chinese? The answer is yes. 学生: 甯 艾 老师: Mrs. Marilyn Guerrera 中 國 傳 統 節 日 與 我 學 中 文 的 想 法 大 家 好! 我 的 名 字 是 甯 艾. 我 的 英 文 名 字 是 Agnes. 我 住 在 Wethers- field, 康 州. 我 是 小 學 六 年 級. 我 學 校 的 名 字 是 Highcrest Elementary. 我 有 一 個 哥 哥 和 一 個 姊 姊. 我 哥 哥 的 名 字 是 甯 傑. 我 姊 姊 的 名 字 是 甯 萱. 他 們 的 英 文 名 字 是 James 和 Annie. 我 學 中 文 有 幾 個 原 因. 首 先 我 學 會 中 文 比 較 容 易 聽 得 懂 我 爸 爸 和 媽 媽 在 說 什 麼. 聽 得 懂 中 文 也 可 以 讓 我 在 台 灣 看 得 懂 和 聽 得 懂 電 視. 所 以 我 學 中 文 因 為 我 覺 得 很 方 便. 我 也 要 學 中 文 因 為 很 多 時 候 我 需 要 用 到 它. 例 如, 在 台 灣 坐 捷 運 也 要 看 得 懂 中 文 字. 看 不 懂 中 文 就 表 示 你 不 知 道 那 一 站 要 下 車. 看 不 懂 中 文 也 很 麻 煩. 這 就 表 示 你 看 不 懂 中 文 書 和 不 會 寫 信 給 你 的 親 戚. 這 也 是 一 個 原 因 我 要 學 中 文. 過 中 國 新 年 也 會 用 到 中 文. 過 年 的 時 侯 需 要 會 說 和 聽 得 懂 中 文 因 為 不 會 中 文 就 不 能 和 你 的 親 戚 交 談. 不 會 說 中 文, 就 不 能 說 吉 祥 話, 也 就 拿 不 到 紅 包. 這 就 是 我 為 什 麼 要 學 中 文. 我 希 望 長 大 的 時 候, 去 台 灣 學 中 文. 在 台 灣 我 可 以 有 更 多 的 時 間 和 機 會 練 習 中 文 和 學 習 中 國 文 化. 等 到 我 會 說 流 利 的 中 文 和 聽 懂 更 多 的 中 文, 我 就 可 以 幫 助 在 這 裡 聽 不 懂 英 文 但 聽 懂 中 文 的 人, 當 他 們 的 翻 譯. 我 也 可 以 介 紹 中 國 文 化 給 有 興 趣 的 美 國 朋 友 們. 学生: 何宇欣 老师: Mrs. Marilyn Guerrera 中 國 傳 統 節 日 與 我 學 中 文 的 想 法 你好！我的名字是何宇欣.我十三歲在中文學校和美國學校唸七年級.我在 SIMSBURY, CONNECTICUT 唸HENRY JAMES MEMORIAL初中. 除夕的晚上,我們家請很多人來吃飯；我們請表姐,表妹,姑姑，姑丈和幾位爺 爺的朋友．我們吃很多菜和拿了很多紅包．我的奶奶和爺爺只會講中文，所 以他們教我正確的中文用法也教我很多過年的習俗．所以我相信學習中文,懂 得中文是很重要的. 我的媽媽和爸爸帶我們去過台灣.台灣很好玩,可是如果我的中文好一點的話, 我就可以聽懂別人在說什麼,看懂店裡在賣什麼,對所有的事都知道得更多一 點. 第二個我想學中文的原因是因為中文現在很受歡迎．很多外國的公司和中國 做生意，需要很多懂中文說中國話的人．學好中文,可能有比較多的工作機 會，而且也可以交到新的朋友． 中國的歷史悠久, 是世界上最古老的國家之一.幾千年來留傳了許多文明古物, 書籍畫冊和風俗習慣.我雖然在美國出生長大,但是在家裡大多說中國話,吃中 國菜.我的祖父母和我們住,所以我們還遵循很多傳統的習俗.很多習俗很有趣, 因為我的中文有限,不能了解故事的由來.如果我學好中文,我就可以自己去發 掘,更加了解我的背景,讓生活更活潑和多元化. 学生: 李知予 老师: Mrs. Marilyn Guerrera 中国传统节日与我学中文的想法 我的名字叫李知予,今年十二岁. 我住在康 州西哈特福市.我在King Philip 中学读六 年级.我喜欢拉小提琴和踢足球, 也喜欢画 画, 唱歌, 和想当一个摸特儿. 每年我庆祝中国新年. 中国新年是一个的 理由让我在学中文. 我最喜欢的是:中国 食物,表演和游戏.中国新年的食物包括炒 面,饺子,火锅和春卷.我特别喜欢吃好吃的 火锅,跟着白菜,虾,肉,年糕和地瓜.我也爱 学中文，因为我喜欢看中国新年表演.我 最爱看魔术表演,他们是如何变出来的? 中国新年游戏很好玩.我最感兴趣的是中 国 yo-yo,和用筷子夹金鱼饼干,还有M&M 糖果. 我喜欢吃糖果和饼干。 我学中文因 为我爱中国新年。有趣，我学了很多中 国文化！ 学生: 賴澤停 老师: Mrs. Marilyn Guerrera 中 國 傳 統 節 日 與 我 學 中 文 的 想 法 我是賴澤停.我今年十二歲.我喜歡滑雪, 跳舞和玩電腦. 我今年上中學一級. 我喜歡中國新年,可是如果想要紅包我需 要講中文. 我也可以講 “恭喜發財! 紅包 拿來!” 我去中文學校因為我的媽媽要我跟我的 爺爺,奶奶,外婆和外公講中文. 我跟我的 爺爺,奶奶,外婆和外公在電話上講話. 我希望以後中文可以幫我在中文的聽說 讀寫更上一層樓. Student’s Desk(continued from page 11) (continued on page 13)
- 13. Sundays June 201013 另一个理由我在学中文因为我可以用我的中文。当我长大的时侯我可以去中国。学中文可以帮我说话跟另外的中国人住在中国。而且，在将来中国会更 好，所以我现在学中文就帮我很多如果我有一份工作在中国。 当我是一位母亲的时候，我要教我的孩子中文，让中国文化传承下去。但是不希望发生当我不知道中文。我是美国华人，所以， 我需要把中文学得更好。 如果我的孩子懂中文，那对他们的将来更有帮助。我要让我的后裔值得娇傲中国历史文化的伟大。 我想我的中文水平还要更多的提高。但是，现在我的时间比较紧，没有花太多的时间在中文上，我要在阅读和写作上花更多的功夫。如果我的写作水平提 高，那我就可以跟我的中国朋友写信交流。 如果我的阅读水平提高，那我就可以读我们家里订的中文报纸。 总之，我要花比现在在学中文更多的时间。相信我！！ 學生：楊東明 老師：Mrs. Marilyn Guerrera 中國傳統節日與我學中文的想法 你好，我叫楊東明。我在中文學校的七年級,可是我在美國學校六年級。 我十一歲。我很喜歡藍色。我覺得很幸 福。我有一個媽媽，一個爸爸和一個妹妹。我的妹妹的名字是楊思平。我的妹妹很搞笑,因為她有時候會做一些奇 奇怪怪的東西。 我為什麼學中文？我學中文不但因為我爸爸媽媽叫我學，而且去台灣還可以講中文。 我如果看得懂中文,學日文就会比較簡單。可是美國人講中文不标准。 中文很酷因為中國有很多文化。我有一次去台灣的时候，有一個小孩叫我豬頭。如果他們這樣叫我，我就会知 道，也知道人家不喜歡我。這是一個台灣的文化，是會亂叫人家名字。 我最喜歡的節日是春節。我今年春節是去莊嚴寺，一開始是在幫忙送東西到廚房。我在那裏當義工。很辛苦可是 沒有關係是因為不是只有我在當義工。我這個運輸组的工作很辛苦，因為一直在幫人家拿來的食物到廚房去。那 一天有好幾千人去莊嚴寺。 所以我覺的學中文很好，因為可以去中國和台灣。我也希望我中文寫作能好一點。我也希望我能看懂很多中文 字。這樣子我下次寫yearbook就不會這麼辛苦。 七年級 老師:Mrs. Marilyn Guerrera 學生 : 李知予 Chloe Li 七年級 7th Grade Date: August 2, 2010 to August 6, 2010 Time: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm Place: Irving A. Robbins Middle School 20 Wolf Pit Rd Farmington, CT 06032 Chinese Language School of Greater Hartford offers five exciting days of summer camp for children turning 6 and up by December 31, 2010. The curriculum includes martial arts, calligraphy, painting, singing, dancing, arts and crafts, Chinese Yo-yo, Chinese chess, Chinese cooking, etc. Please visit www.cls-ct.org or call (860) 461-4507 for Summer Camp registration details and application form. 2010 CLSYouth Summer Camp (continued from page 12)
- 14. Sundays June 201014 2. Fold both top and bottom edge to the center. Dad has always been there for us in countless ways.This Father’s Day, show your dad how much you appreciate his support, encouragement, and love by giving him this handmade Origami Shirt.This shirt will last forever; it will serve as a reminder of your love and gratitude. Video for Making Father’s Day Gift Correction in video: 1/4 inch, not 1/8 inch Father’s Day Gift By Jane Hsu Origami Shirt Folding Instructions: 1. Pinch the center of each short side of the rectangle. 3.Turn the paper over; at the top edge, fold down 1/4 inch. 7.Turn the paper over; fold both sides to the center. 8. Lift the loose corners at the center of the bottom and spread them apart. 5. Fold the bottom edge up one-third the height of the paper. 4. Fold it down again 6. Unfold the top edge. (continued on page 15)
- 15. Sundays June 201015 Defining the CLS ExperienceIt was Winston Churchill who wrote, “We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.” These words can definitely be applied to our many gifted leaders, committed educators, and passionate alumni. During my ten years as a parent of the CLS, I have seen the many ways that the school is working to build on the legacy of those who came before. I have been impressed by many of the engaged alumni. For example, Keith Lee will be the first person ever to receive the Alumni Award, which will be given to outstanding alumnus in years to come. He has helped at the Chinese New Year Celebration, the Riverfront Dragon Boat and Asian Festival, and Graduation ceremonies. He also comes once a month to take care of our library. Beginning this fall, there will be new opportunities for alumni to get involved at CLS. We’d love to capture stories about the truly powerful and influential role of CLS graduates who are out to make a difference. Please go to our Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ pages/Hartford-CT/Chinese-Language-School- of-Greater-Hartford/244466737868?ref=ts to connect with us. Or feel free to stop by at Trinity College in Hartford on Sundays for a welcome back to CLS. Our students often give little thought to their role as future alumni.To increase their awareness, the Library is renewing its efforts to enhance our students’ experiences and involvement in the school. “Welcome Back Alumni” programs and Story Hours will be important components of our library experience. This Newsletter contains many school updates. Dr. Shyling Lee, Chairman of the CLS Board of Trustees, received the Outstanding Citizenship Award at the Asian Pacific American Coalition of Connecticut (APAC) Gala, which was held on Saturday, May 1, 2010. Be sure to read her year end report on page 3. On May 29, many of the CLS students and teachers attended the Association of Chinese Schools (ACS) 2010 conference in New York. Check out who took home the prizes on page 5. Turn to page 6 to learn how to make an Origami Shirt by following the detailed instructions or by watching the video. I hope that you will fall in love with Origami that will fill your world with creativity and imagination. We are always looking for news from you and for other contributions to our Newsletter. Please contact us at: emykaren@cox.net. Have a wonderful summer! Hsiu-Chen Hsu 9. Fold the top edge to the back, along the existing crease that is the closest to the top edge. 10. Fold the top corners down and inward to meet at the intersection of the horizontal crease and the vertical centerline. You are forming the shirt’s collar. 11. Lift the bottom edge up and slide it under the collar. Press firmly at the bottom edge of the shirt. 12. Here is the completed shirt. (continued from page 14)
- 16. Sundays June 201016 This school admits students of any race, color, and national or ethnic origin. Chinese Language School of Greater Hartford Mailbox 702540 300 Summit St Hartford, CT 06106 © 2010 CLS