Day 7 (八月八日）

你们好！

Today was a fun day at Startalk full of learning and activities! Students are really getting to know each other and enjoying their time together.

Level 1 students are working really hard on their closing ceremony activities. The attendees are in for a very special treat due to the students' awesome dedication! During class they learned tricks to remember characters. Students can do this by telling stories or recognizing the picture a character is outlining. For example, the character that means country is this one: 国。 First, they remember this character, 王，as king. Then they add the dot in the lower right corner as the king wearing a jade belt. Finally, the king lives inside a kingdom and these are its walls: 口。Here's an example of connecting pictures to what the character means…. can you guess what they are based on the photos?

Practicing for closing ceremony!

Level 2 continued learning description words, preparing to describe their product. They learned adjectives such as short, long, tall, wide, narrow, thick, thin, new, old, and many more! A lot to remember! But we believe they are capable of succeeding ;) They began to draft a description of their product using the words they have been taught in the past couple of days. Now it is time to promote their product! Therefore, the students began drafting a product promotion poster. Level 2 students are really immersing themselves into the business world! They finished up by practicing characters through a fun iPad app. 

For lunch, Startalk participants and team listened to a wonderful talk from political science professor, William Muck. He discussed the rise of China and how the US is responding to this rise. Students were intrigued by Professor Muck's opinion on the topic and asked many insightful questions to further their understanding of the complexity of US/China relations. We are very thankful that he shared his thoughts with us!

And finally, the students rounded out their day with some outdoor activity. I think they enjoyed the fresh air after a long day in class ;) Students found their inner child and drew on the sidewalk with chalk, played games, and some soccer. Others continued their practice of tai chi with masters from the kungfu studio. Some level 1's even continued to practice their dance for the closing ceremony. A great day overall! :) 

明天见！

Day 6 (八月七日）

你们好！

As the end of week 1 approaches us, students are trying to remember everything they have already learned, as well as learn new information! We are very happy with how they are successfully handling their work load!

This morning in class, level 1 students practiced dates. Luckily, there was a student in level 1 who had a birthday today! Therefore, the students learned to sing happy birthday in Chinese :) The students then reviewed all of the Chinese characters they have learned thus far in a quiz and a game; a great review for day 6! Afterwards, they practiced their dance for the closing ceremony.

Review games in level 1! 

Level 2 students learned all about shapes and colors. Students needed to learn this in order to communicate their ideas for their business labels and cards. To practice, they played the Chinese version of eye spy! One person described items in their shapes and colors while the group guessed what he/she was describing. At the end of class they began drafting the design of a container for their olive oil. They chose what shape the label will be, the colors, the designs, etc. A big project that will be proudly shown off at the closing ceremony :)

Chinese crafts and culture surrounded their afternoon. Students used the vocabulary they have learned to understand the concepts of paper folding, through making kites and origami, paper cutting, and Chinese knots.

明天见！ 

Day 5

你们好

Startalk had an exciting day today! Students had class this morning, got to go on a field trip to Mapo Chinese Restaurant, and then participated in martial arts at the KungFu studio in Naperville.

Level 1 students learned more rhymes today as a way to practice their tones and memorization. Next they discussed money in China. They learned the vocab, common phrases such as, "that's too expensive" (太贵了). Additionally, they understood how radicals fit into characters in order to make words; have your student explain radicals to you as a review :) 

Level 2 students had the wonderful opportunity of testing their knowledge today ;)  However, their focus was "why should we hire you?" They practiced a 3-on-1 interview in front of the green screen to get a feel for how the real experience will be. Therefore, the interviewee explained why he/she should get hired. He/she described his/her education, background, experience, and known languages, as well as anything that makes them unique. This activity is a great real-world experience for them! 

For the afternoon, students were given the chance to experience a Chinese Restaurant! They experienced the "family-style" dining where multiple dishes were placed on a revolving tray in the middle of the table; then students simply turned the tray around to get to the dish they wanted! A very good tactic for sharing ;) 

After lunch at Mapo, they journeyed across the street to the KungFu Studio! Here they immersed themselves into kungfu and tai chi, taught to them by Chinese masters. A great activity for some exercise and fun after a long day of studying and tests :) 

明天见！ 

Day 4 (八月五日）

大家好

Once again, Startalk had a successful day! Students studied hard in class this morning and were treated to a tea ceremony in the afternoon.

To begin, level 1 students focused on their passports today. They learned how to write the date issued, the date it expires, their birthday, their place of birth, their address, and their identification number; each of these elements are crucial to include in a passport in China. The students are allowed to get creative on the second page including what places they have visited. One student said he plans to go to candy land ;) The class continued to practice their rhymes and closing ceremony performances. 

Level 2's were introduced to business cards and business etiquette today. They compared an American business card to a Chinese business card and quickly noticed the differences. On Chinese business cards, they write some parts in English and other parts in Chinese in order to show that they know both languages, something we don't see Americans doing. Chinese business cards also include each of their phone numbers: home, cell phone, and office number; this way, others can reach them at any time. After observing these different cultural practices, students began to draft their own, but their's have to be completely in Chinese ;) Just one more way to WOW the Startalk team! 

Students working together on WeChat

Today during lunch, our students heard a wonderful speech from North Central College professor, Nicole Rivera; she talked to students about how cultures are different from others in the way they conduct themselves throughout the day, in their values, and beliefs. However, these different practices are not weird, just different. We were very appreciative of her discussion with us. At the end, students were asked to discuss a time they encountered a cultural difference.  

To conclude the day, the students participated in a tea ceremony, an ancient tradition in China. The students were first given the history and evolution of the ceremony, and then got to taste the teas themselves. They learned about three aspects of culture: product (in this case, the product was the tea), practice (the way they conduct themselves during the ceremony), and perspective, all of which they incorporated into the ceremony.

Today was a great day no doubt! 

明天见！ ：） 

Day 3

你们好！

Everyone had a great time at Startalk today. The program is starting to settle into a daily routine and you can tell there are a lot of good vibes floating around! Students are learning so much about the Chinese language (中文) and culture and it's only day 3.

After today, the level 1 students should be able to confidently communicate their name, age, grade, hobbies, and languages they know. Students' hobbies range from playing basketball to reading. They were introduced to some Chinese media by watching and dancing along to a video, I think they enjoyed that :)

Level 2 students were introduced to four basic business components. These essential components (in China) include email, resume, interview, and WeChat. By the end of class they even started a simple resume! Next Thursday, the students will have completed a full resume that is ready to submit to a business; be careful, your child might want to move to China to work after this program because they will be so prepared ;) The students continued to discuss their summer and career plans.

We are very proud of the students in their work already. They have to be in class for three hours in the morning and they all have such a good attitude, not an easy feat! We appreciate them so much! We encourage them to use Chinese as much as possible, and when I heard it during snack time, I felt very excited for their future Chinese language fluency.

Students ready to enjoy a Chinese lunch

This afternoon, students got a taste of Chinese cuisine, they made dumplings (饺子)! Dumplings are a very popular food in China (中国), therefore we thought it was crucial for them to learn how to make them :) After learning the vocabulary this morning, incorporating it into their lunch talk, and then using the vocabulary this afternoon, students had a full day of Chinese!

明天见！（See you tomorrow)! 

Day 2

Day 2 at STARTALK featured lots of learning, laughter, and fun. Students attended class from 9:00-12:00, had a gourmet lunch from Jimmy John's, and was topped off with calligraphy and painting! :)

Level 1 students tackled the tones today. There are 4 tones in Chinese that are not often easily attainable. However, Liu Laoshi made learning them very interactive by introducing a rhyme. Ask your students to recite the rhyme for you, they should have it memorized! Rhymes are beneficial to incorporate because they perfect one's pronunciation and makes them REMEMBER the correct pronunciations. After they had some fun square dancing; ask you child about it tonight ;) 

Level 2 refined their writing skills by creating large posters introducing themselves. They went through basic facts about themselves such as their interests and hobbies, where they're from, family members (including pets!), and what their studies are. An example is shown below! Next, the students were introduced to their business plan project, starting by understanding the vocabulary that is commonly used in business. 

This afternoon the students gathered for lunch and practiced some tai chi in preparation for next week!. Then, they were introduced to calligraphy. They were fully immersed into practicing calligraphy with the help of Chinese brushes and rice paper. But before they dove in, they were given a little history of calligraphy from Ding Laoshi. Calligraphy is at the center of Chinese culture, therefore, students are now one step closer to understanding this culture very different from ours. 

Day 1

大家好！ (Hello everybody!)

The 2014 STARTALK program commenced today and we are off to a running start! Participants and families were welcomed at the opening ceremony where introductions, videos, and exciting news made the room full of enthusiastic Chinese language learners!

Students dove right into their Chinese practice after the opening ceremony. 

Level 1 students focused their time on basic introductions. Ask your child to tell you their Chinese name tonight! They also practiced saying where they are from, how long they've studied Chinese, and their favorite part about learning the language. This was a great way to start the program and start reviewing any skills that might have been lost over the summer ;) Later, the class watched videos and played a few activities as a strategy to get to know each other.

Level 2 also focused on introductions. Their lead teacher, Shaoping Zhang gave them an overview of the class. A great question was asked, "Why olive oil?" As some of you may know, the students of the level 2 class will be producing a business plan to market olive oil as their big project. Zhang Laoshi responded by helping them understand that olive oil has not yet made a debut in China. It is a product not often found on the market. Accordingly, the NCC Entrepreneurship and International Business Organization are currently working on importing olive oil from Greece in an attempt to sell it through local stores here in the United States! Therefore, the students' business plans that they produce will serve as a beneficial hands-on experience, as well as a helpful tool to EIBO! Don't worry, the students' will receive credit! As class continued, students were introduced to each other, along with the vocabulary they will be using throughout the program. They studied these terms through a playful game of bingo.

The immersion lunch was full of conversations mainly conducted in Chinese, and after lunch students were introduced to Linguafolio and other technologies that will be employed throughout the program.

So who's excited for day 2?!?!? 


Photos from immersion lunch

再见！ (Goodbye!)