Chinese professors teach at JC

Two visiting professors from China will bring their language and culture to students in Jamestown schools.

Guo Li, who goes by the American name Tiffany, and Li Xiaoqing, who goes by the name Jennifer, will teach afternoon and evening classes in Chinese language and culture at the college starting Monday. They will also spend three days a week teaching elementary-aged students in an afterschool program.

“We wish that people (will) love China. We also want to learn from teachers and people here,” Jennifer said. “There’s so much for us to learn from.”

The two professors arrived in Jamestown Wednesday from Fargo by way of Chicago and Hong Kong.

Both serve as teachers at Huizhou University, Huizhou, in Guangdog Province. The university has a sister college agreement with Jamestown College that was formed about 2 years ago.

Jennifer said she hoped to “understand the lifestyle of this beautiful town, and especially, to learn from the teachers here, to learn from the teaching methods of this school and also to broaden our horizons.”

Tiffany is an assistant professor in the Chinese Language and Literature Department with a second-language teaching specialty. Jennifer is a lecturer in the Foreign Language Department and has 12 years of teaching experience. Both have been studying English since junior high.

They will be staying at the college for three months, and will attend French and Spanish classes there.

Tiffany and Jennifer are looking forward to teaching in Jamestown, both in the elementary schools and at the college.

“We really enjoy the chance to teach Chinese to students as a second language,” Jennifer said.

The college classes will include lessons on Chinese writing, grammar, speaking Chinese and pinyin characters, which are used to transcribe Chinese into the alphabet Americans recognize. Students will also learn about Chinese culture, including lifestyles, cuisines and the geography of the nation and Huizhou itself.

Eventually, Jamestown College hopes to expand the sister college relationship to include longer faculty exchanges and student exchanges, said Bob Badal, Jamestown College president.

The school has been working on increasing international study opportunities for its students over the past several years, he said.

The two professors will be introduced to groups and families in the Jamestown area, said Gary Watts, vice president of academic affairs.

“I think Jamestown is a peaceful place, and people (have) a peaceful frame of mind. People are very warm-hearted and humane and very civilized,” Jennifer said, praising the local school system.

Both teachers said their home was much more crowded than Jamestown, and said they’d noticed there was a lot of space. Tiffany was impressed by the space and the food, and Jennifer said she enjoyed the clean air and all the flowers on the Jamestown College campus.

“I hope (our students) can learn some Chinese language and culture from us. Second, we want to really experience the American culture here,” Tiffany said.

So far, 16 students have signed on to the daytime course, with an additional 10 participating in the evening class.

“To anyone in the community that has ever thought about wanting to understand Chinese or the Chinese culture, they have an opportunity that is really phenomenal here,” Badal said.

Classes will be available in the mornings and evenings for credit or audit. To sign up for a class, call the registrar at 252-3467, ext. 5554. There are fees to attend the classes.

Sun reporter Kari Lucin can be reached at 701-952-8453 or by email at klucin@jamestownsun.com

Tags: local news, news, education, china