Camper Diaries: Week 4 - Chinese Winter Camp

Hayden Lau George

My name is Hayden. I’m 13 years old. I studied in That’s Mandairn for 2 weeks. I feel good about my Chinese class because everyone is nice and friendly. I like my teacher Jiang laoshi very much, she always let us to be the “teacher”, so we can review and study by ourselves which is more interesting and active. I like this kind of teaching style very much. In my morning class, I can practise speaking as well as writing characters. In the afternoon, my favourite cultural activity were food and mask-making.I learned to making Tangyuan with all my schoolmates. Although I only spent two weeks in That’s Mandarin, but my Chinese has improved. I felt very happy and comfortable with all my teachers and classmates.

Kyra Jay

My name is Kyra, I’m 14 years old. I am from Canada. Last year I signed up 2 weeks Day camp with That’s Mandarin, I was very satisified with them, so this year I came back again. I think learning Chinese with other people (eg. teachers or my classmates) was very helpful and I feel that I learned a lot. Our teacher is very responsible and really professional, I like her very much. She focused on the structure of sentences and important vocabulary which can quickly help us to improve. In the summer camp;I enjoyed the field trips, afternoon activities and making new friends. I like learning Chinese along with other foreign language learners because it broadens my knowledge. Some places we went to were Yu garden、century park、watervillage etc. I like cooking class very much, this year I learned making Tangyuan. Overall, Mandarin camp was very fun and I hope I can come back again next year.

Astrid Ling

My name is Astrid and I am 14 years old. I live in Toronto,Canada. I enjoy learning Mandarin in the summer at camp with That’s Mandarin because I learn relevant material and I meet people from around the world. Last year I also came to That’s Mandarin, and during last year, I also took skype class with them because I want keep on learing Mandarin. I want to be able to communicate with people in Asia. Also I liked all my teachers in this school, my language teachers are all very kind and patient. When they takes us out for field trips, they take care of all the small kids,very responsible,and I always willing to help them to look after the small kids. I liked their traditional food-making class very much. I already learned how to make Jiaozi and desert dumplings. I was very satisified with my morning language class. I hope next year I can come back again and I hope we can have more cooking and practise classes cause I relly enjoy having those classes.

Capucine Lapierre

My name is Capucine, I am 14 years old. I came here with my two younger brothers. I like my Summer Camp because we not only study inside school but also go outside and I can meet a lot of other people who come from all around the world. I very much like my Chinese lesson, it’s very different from the style I learned before. Teacher will not make us just repeat the word or the text books, we need to use the words we already know to make long sentences. In That’s Mandarin I enlarge my vocabulary. The happiest thing is that I make great progress in saying long sentences. Also when we go outside in the afternoon, teachers always encourage us to speak to other Chinese people. We buy things in Chinese and finish the task the teacher gave us in Chinese. This year I only stay in Shanghai for one week, I hope next year I can come back again and stay longer to improve my Mandarin.

江弈

我叫江弈，我八岁了。我在That’s Mandarin学习了四个星期，我非常喜欢在这里学习，所以我让妈妈给我加了一个星期。我最喜欢的老师是张老师，因为她的课非常有意思，她一边教我们中文，一边用很多不一样的游戏帮我们复习。妈妈说我的中文进步了很多，而且敢跟别人说中文了。我特别喜欢跟老师们出去玩儿，我去过很多地方，比如豫园、科技馆、外滩等等，但是我最喜欢的地方是大自然昆虫馆。在外面玩儿的时候，我们要完成老师给的任务，比如用中文买东西；找到早上学到的汉字等等。我觉得很有意思。下午的文化课，我最喜欢的是实践课，我去菜场买过菜，也认识了很多菜；我还去邮局给我的好朋友寄了明信片，老师都要求我们说中文，我觉得很好玩儿。我也很喜欢跟同学们一起玩儿，下课的时候我们一起吃水果，看书，玩儿游戏。这个暑假我过得很开心。虽然我不太喜欢写汉字，但我会慢慢学习努力的。

My name is JiangYi. I am eight years old. I have been studying at That’s Mandarin for four weeks. I really like studying here, so I made my mom add a week to my studies. My favorite teacher was Zhang laoshi because her class was really interesting. While she was teaching us Chinese, she also used a lot of different kinds of objects to help us review. My mom said my Chinese has improved a lot and dared me to speak to other people in Mandarin. I especially liked to talk to the teachers and to go out and play. I went to a lot of places like Yu Garden, the Science and Technology Museum, the Bund, etc. But, my favorite place was the Nature Museum of Entomology. Playing outside, we wanted to complete the teachers’ tasks, such as using Chinese to buy things, using the things we learned in the morning to find the characters and so on. I found it very interesting. In the afternoon cultural classes, my favorite was the practical lesson. I went to farms and bought food, but also know a lot of food; I also went to the post office to send a postcard to my good friend. The teacher asked us to speak Chinese! I feel like I have fun with the other students. I also like to play together with the students, the class when we ate fruit, reading, playing games. This summer I had a great time. Although I do not like to write Chinese characters, but I will slowly get the hang of it.

Ethan Leung

我叫Ethan,我来That’s Mandarin学习两个星期了。我刚刚来的时候，很害羞，不愿意跟别人说汉语，现在我好多了，因为我交到了很多好朋友，他们都愿意帮助我提高汉语。老师们也很友好，我外出的时候，老师们都跟我说中文，如果我不会，只要问她们怎么说“……”就可以了。她们都不让我说英文，所以我觉得现在我的中文进步了很多。以前我不会说长的句子，只喜欢说词语，现在我能用句子跟老师同学说话了。今天下午我去了上海动漫博物馆，我非常喜欢这次的活动，早上汉语课的时候，老师教了我们很多词，比如孙悟空、蜘蛛侠、钢铁侠等等，下午我们必须记住并且说对这些名字，然后就能得分，得最高分的有奖品。我很喜欢这样一边学一边玩儿。今天拍毕业照的时候，我有点儿不开心，因为我不想毕业，我还想跟老师们学习，跟同学们一起玩儿。

My name is Ethan. I came to study at That’s Mandarin for two weeks. When I got here, I was very shy and didn’t want to speak Chinese to a lot of people. Now, everything is a lot better because I made friends with the other campers. They are all helping me to improve my Chinese. The teachers are very friendly. When I go out, the teachers all tell me to speak Chinese. If I can’t, then I can just ask them “How do you say…?” They do not let me speak English, so I think my Chinese has improved a lot. Before, I couldn’t say long sentences, just some words and sentences. Now, I can speak to my teachers and classmates. This afternoon I went to the Shanghai Animation Museum, I really liked this event. During Chinese lessons in the morning the teacher taught us a lot of words, such as the Monkey King, Spider-Man, Iron Man, and so on. Then, in the afternoon we have to remember and to say the names, and then be able to score the highest points and get prizes. I like this side of the school, the side where we get to play. Graduation photo shoot today, but I was a little unhappy because I did not want to graduate!

Ivan Gromov

这是我第三年来参加That’s Mandarin的Summer camp了。第一年我去了北京，第二年我去了上海，今年我还是来了上海。我很喜欢学中文，这里的老师也对我们很严格，比如文化活动的时候，她们会先收走我们的手机，下课，如果老师听到我说中文，她们就会要求我改成中文。我喜欢这里的原因是，这里的老师很用心，她们记得我喜欢做什么，我告诉过她们我喜欢踢足球，今年来的时候她们特别安排了一次去公园踢足球的室外活动，我玩儿得很开心。我每年都能认识很多新朋友，虽然汉语很难，但是我会坚持学习的。老师说我每年都有很大的进步。现在，我还能写很多汉字了，我觉得很开心。

This is my third year attending That’s Mandarin Chinese Summer Camp. The first year, I went to Beijing. The second year, I went to Shanghai. This year, I came back to Shanghai. I really like studying Chinese. The teachers here are pretty strict with us. They will take away our phones during class and even after, if they hear me speaking Chinese, they will tell me how to correct it. I like this. The teachers here are very careful, I think. They remember what I like to do. I told them I like playing football, so there was a special activity in this year’s camp where we played football in the park. I was so happy. I meet a lot of new people every year here. And, even though Mandarin is difficult, I am going to keep studying it. The teachers said I make a lot of progress every year. Now, I can write a lot of characters and I feel great.

Ava 朴珠希

我叫朴珠希，我是韩国人，我七岁了。我一共在That’s Mandarin学习了四个星期。我学到了很多东西，比如运动项目、水果、动物、颜色、食物、工作等等。我觉得我的口语进步了很多，特别是汉字，我现在会写很多汉字了。我最喜欢跟老师学写字和上艺术课，比如自己画风筝和脸谱等等，我觉得那个非常有意思。在这里，我有很多朋友，我们一起学习一起玩儿，每天都很开心。老师也特别好，刘老师又漂亮又有耐心，只有在我不肯说汉语的时候凶一点儿。我特别喜欢学习汉语，所以放学以后，老师也来我的宾馆，上门教我和弟弟再学习一个小时。我希望我明年还能回来，最好还能见到今年的好朋友。

My name is Piaozhuxi and I am Korean. I am 7 years old. I have studied at That’s Mandarin for a total of 4 weeks. I studies a lot of things, like sports, fruits, animals, colors, food, working, and so on. I think that my spoken language has improved a lot, writing characters even more so. Now, I can write a lot of characters. I really like writing and art classes, like the mask-painting and kite-making. I think they are both really interesting. I have a lot of friends here. We play together and study together; every day is a good day. The teachers are also particularly good. Liu laoshi was pretty and patient and only a little stern when I refused to speak Chinese. I especially like studying Mandarin, so the when we went back to the hotel, a teacher came with us and helped my brother and I review. I hope I can come back and study and see my friends next year!