Columbus School of Chinese at NCLC 2016: Classroom Expressions

NCLC

Thank you everyone who came to our presentation, “Effective Strategies for Non-native Instructors,” at the 2016 National Chinese Language Conference, held April 28-30 in Chicago! We were honored to present to such a large and energetic crowd of native and non-native instructors and administrators.

During the presentation, CSC President Chris Stellato and VP Donny Newman, alongside  Director of the Confucius Institute at East Central Ohio ESC, Michele Carlisle, detailed how the strengths of native and non-native instructors could be utilized to provide the best student outcomes.

In terms of classroom management, we discussed how use of a strategic set of classroom expressions could help instructors and students remain in the target language as much as possible.

Here is a list of 20 of the most useful classroom expressions that are sure to help any Chinese class remain in the target language:

  1. shàng kè le / Class has begun.
  2. lǎoshī hǎo / Hello teacher.
  3. xià kè le / Class is over.
  4. qǐng tīng wǒ shuō / Please listen to me.
  5. qǐng gēnzhe wǒ shuō / Please say it with me.
  6. qǐng nǐ zài shuō yíbiàn / Please say it again.
  7. dǒng le ma? / Do you understand?
  8. wǒ bù zhīdào / I don’t know.
  9. qǐng ānjìng / Please quiet down.
  10. duì bú duì / Correct or incorrect?
  11. yǒu méiyǒu wèntí? / Are there any questions?
  12. qǐng nǐ wèn wèntí / Please ask the question.
  13. qǐng huídá / Please answer.
  14. qǐng jǔshǒu / Please raise your hand.
  15. “x” yīngwén zěnme shuō? / How do you say [it] in English?
  16. “x” zhōngwén zěnme shuō / How do you say [it] in Chinese?
  17. zhèshì shénme zì? / What character is this?
  18. zěnme pīn? / How is it spelled?
  19. dì jǐ shēng? / What tone does it have?
  20. wǒ kěyǐ shàng xǐshǒujiān ma? / May I go to the bathroom?