Chinese Instructor, Mrs. Chen was born and raised in southern China. She has lived in the U.S. for over 13 years and has 8 years of full-time teaching experience. She moved to Conway 6 years ago after getting married to her husband, a native of Conway. Mrs. Chen works at both the Conway Junior High and Conway High School campuses, and is in charge of the Chinese program at both of these campuses. Chinese courses at the junior high and high school are offered in three levels of difficulty: Chinese I, Chinese II, and Chinese III. Each of these levels offers a comprehensive survey of the language, which includes reading, writing, speaking, and other interactive language enhancing skills.

One of the most common misconceptions about learning Chinese is that the language is “too hard to learn.” While this is a fear that might intimidate some individuals, learning a foreign language such as Chinese is an easy feat and contributes to both personal and professional growth. Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world, and is useful/advantageous especially in the career fields of the business and military professions.

Chinese might seem intimidating, but it is not as hard to learn as you might think. Many Chinese characters are pictorial representations of the actual word, which means a character might actually look like what it is trying to represent, making it easier to remember! Chinese grammar has no strict rules concerning verb conjugation or inverted sentence patterns, and Chinese vocabulary is constructed in a logical way, often combinations of basic words. Therefore, more complex words are simply combinations of words learned at an beginner’s level!

While it might seem intimidating at first, enrolling in Chinese classes will be one of the most exciting cultural experiences of your high school career! Aside from its personal and professional benefits, Chinese will broaden your perspective of the ever-changing multilingual world of today’s age and will give you a better understanding of Asian culture. So what are you waiting for? Dive into the cultural journey of learning Chinese!