From Li laoshi（李老师）
Singapore is a multi-race country with different culture. The multi-culture environment makes most people understand at least three languages. The globalization and the fast development of China economy make mandarin becoming one of the most popular languages in business and life. Meanwhile, Singapore is a Chinese society, more and more students start to pick up mandarin to make them become more competitive in their work and is easier to get into the Chinese culture.
Now more and more students in Singapore take Mandarin lesson as their second language. The international school makes Mandarin as one of the main course in their lesson schedule. In our teaching, we find more and more students facing a problem in speaking and communicating. Some students have a good base on Chinese writing and reading, but they have problems in expressing in Mandarin. The main problem is the language environment. Only in Chinese class, they can have the opportunity to practice and communicate with teacher or classmates. The time is not enough to pick up a language without extra practice and revise outside class. The most useful way to help them is to make them build a habit to speak a language in their daily life. More practice makes more confidence in speaking.
From Zhang laoshi （张老师）
In Singapore, proficiency in Chinese is not only a must for daily use but also a shortcut to business success. It helps facilitate communication and build up meaningful communication. As a Chinese teacher in Singapore, I have heard similar thoughts from many of my students.
I have worked in Kirinmandarin for more than 3 years and it is quite a journey. Majoring in Chinese, I feel great that my knowledge and experiences can help my students. In turn, I also learn a lot from my students.
In Kirinmandarin, I mainly teach business Chinese and conduct corporate training facing adult students – many of them are quite achieved in their fields. My students work in wide range of industries. Putting communication as the primary goal of teaching, we adjusted the course contents to their direct needs at the workplace. For example, if you work in the banking sector and are going to meet a client from China, we will simulate the scenario and practice together with you. At the same time, all the useful expressions, e.g. words, phrases, and idioms, are prepared for you. From my students’ feedback, almost all find it quite useful, especially for practical purposes.
In the future, I, along with all other excellent teachers in Kirinmandarin, will continue work to provide the golden standard Chinese education and customize each student’s needs with our best endeavor.
From Song laoshi（宋老师）
I think a good Chinese teacher should look beyond the language itself and tap into the culture level. In the past Chinese classes, teachers used to break down the text and analyse the grammar. In this way, the humanistic education function of Chinese teaching is far from full play. Even in the formal education system, Chinese sometimes becomes the least popular subject.
Based on my years of teaching, I want to stress the importance of interest, no matter in Chinese language or the culture, and preserving such interest in the course of teaching. Many students of mine took the initiative to learn Chinese because they were fascinated with Chinese culture. I often feel so touched by such intense interest and their enthusiasm. Hence, in my class, the cultural contents are incorporated in the language learning to highlight the rich connotation of Chinese education and fully display the charm of Chinese. I would ask my students in what aspect of the culture they are most interested and I will prepare the teaching materials particularly with this theme. Many high-level leaders in Chinese organizations, whether in business or non-business sector, like to quote idioms, poems and other old sayings in their speech. I have covered some of the most used expressions in my class and my students found it interesting and practical in use. So if you are interested in Chinese learning and Chinese culture, welcome to join Kirinmandarin and study with us!