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Middle School Chinese Department: G8 Native Chinese Theme Activity —“Talking to the Past”

November 9, 2021

“I remember when I was young, and everyone was sincere.” The exquisite days in the past went slowly. The lives of prior generations were also marked with unique imprints along with the changes of the times. Seemingly ordinary, their experiences were washed down by modern time and became immortal legends. The G8 Native Chinese Competition was centered around the theme of “Talking to the Past,” where students were asked to interview their elders at home, to allow students to feel the differences of the changing times.

In order to truly reflect the previous experiences of older generations, this interview was designed to be literary and accurate and required students to plan the questions ahead of time. The process included 20 minutes of a recorded interview. The assignment was for students in H and S Level. Through the communication with their family members and the interview records, students found out the shining deeds and valuable qualities embodied by the elders in the tide of the times. The students responded enthusiastically as soon as they learned about the assignment. Some students could not wait to share the wonderful life experiences of their parents and grandparents in the class, which was a good hook for the upcoming activities.

To help the students better complete this interview, the teachers of the middle school Chinese department taught the students in both H Level and S Level techniques of character communication and interview transcript writing based on students’ current Chinese proficiency. The techniques included skills such as how to write a formal character newsletter, how to design questions, how to change personal pronouns, and how to add, delete, and replace words, to help students understand the essentials of interviewing better. Since this time the interviewees are their family members, many students were motivated to begin. Some of them were eager to ask questions during the class, such as “How to design the problem to be more intensive and appropriate?” “How to express those questions more professionally during the interview?” Through the Q&A, the students were better prepared and more confident about the actual interviews that followed.

After the interview, everyone turned in the completed figures reports and interview transcripts. In order to enrich the content of the manuals, many students attached various old photos, such as old objects from their grandparents. With these faded pictures, those memories dusted in the old days came to reality. Many students compared the “slowness” of the past with the “fastness” of the present. The “gains” and “losses” during the changing times are reflected in the lines. The most surprising part was the students’ takeaways from this activity. Born after the year 2000, many of the students could understand what the older generations went through, and they could also appreciate the simplicity of the past “slow life.” More importantly, the students learned to cherish life at present and feel the unique charm of different times through the conversation with the past, which are chiefly what this activity aimed for.

At the end of the activity, a total of 15 students won the “Excellent Awards,” many other students received merit awards as well. Everyone demonstrated their understanding of the theme—“Talking to the Past”—through their well-designed works. We believe that this activity not only improved students’ writing skills but also guided them to embrace the new era in the reappearance of the old times.

(Written by Zhao Shuyi, Liu Cong, Kristen Portillo Pictures by G8 Teachers Edited by Huang Shiyuan, Brie Polette）