Taking it to the Streets

Wanling Zhong

Teacher - Chinese (Mandarin) 

Chinese Second Language students from Years 10, 11 and 12  greatly enjoyed a recent excursion to Chinatown. 

The students used the opportunity to practice their oral Mandarin skills. By engaging and conducting interviews with people on the street (in Mandarin, using pre-prepared questions) our students really put their learning into action!  This was a fabulous way for them to test and extend their language skills,   and a wonderful way to meet people too. 

The locals were happy to indulge our students, were impressed with their efforts and keen to help them through what could have been a daunting task.  It was great to see the students meet this challenge with such enthusiasm and good humour, while  creating cultural connections.

Once this task was complete, students feasted at David’s Master Pot  (the most popular street food in China) and they challenged their taste buds by choosing the spicy soup base! 

Students also made a vlog (video log) of the day to record their fun experiences in learning. This experience enabled students to immerse themselves into everyday Chinese life and learn to communicate with other native speakers.  

Klaudia Rose and Alice McCarthy

Year 11

The China Town Excursion was a great opportunity to put our Chinese skills to the test. We were able to engage in conversation with native speakers. The highlight was going to ma la tang and enjoying the delicious food.

Gerrard Hallis

Year 12 

The excursion to Chinatown was a great opportunity to practice our Chinese speaking skills with native speakers. We also got to try some chinese ma la tang (similar to hot pot) where we added in our own choice of fresh ingredients. Overall it was a relaxing and enjoyable day.

Stella Van Dartel

Year 12

It was both exciting and nerve-racking to practise our Chinese outside of the classroom. Everyone we spoke to was very kind and helpful. We learnt new things about these strangers and some new phrases. It was an enjoyable and memorable excursion and it helped me build more confidence with my chinese speaking.

Ethan Tran, Brian Gao and Ryan Chuah

Year 10

Our ‘Interviews in Chinatown’ excursion immersed us into a day of Chinese culture. During our adventure, we were able to apply our knowledge into real life situations where we communicated and socialised with native speakers. This gave our Chinese class insight into how we may be using our Chinese skills in the future outside of school. We ended the day with a well-deserved lunch at one of the tastiest Chinese hot pot spots in the city!