This summer Mrs. Allison Coulter will be leaving Chapin to live in China for about a month. While there, Mrs. Coulter will be learning Chinese and teaching English.

“I’m going to China to teach English to Chinese High School teachers who teach English,” says Mrs. Coulter.  “I’m flying to Shanghai, which is one the East Coast of China and then I’m taking a bus up 200 miles north to Munching.”

Thanks to the Ying Wen Teach, which in English roughly means English Teachers Teach, organization Coulter will  be working with other teachers to add one language to her extensive list.

Learning Chinese is a difficult process, much different from learning most other languages because of its complexity.

“I like the way it looks and I wanted to learn something different from Spanish, French, and Italian. It’s different. I’ve wanted to learn it since high school,” she says.  “There are 6,000 different characters but to be literate you have to know about 3,000.  There’s a Roman alphabet and they made something called pinyin. That is a way of pronouncing Chinese using our letters.” Coulter said.

Not only will Mrs. Coulter go to China to learn Chinese, she also hopes to help other high school teachers learn English. Mrs. Coulter hopes to learn Chinese better and to share her methods for Chinese teachers hoping to teach English more effectively.

“They want to know about our teaching methods.  They want to know about our culture. I’m bringing little story books,” she says.  “I’d like to connect with some of the high school teachers so that I can do a sort of exchange.”

When it comes to learning a new language Mrs. Coulter says that visiting the country of the target language is the key.

“None of it really makes sense until you’re there. It all kind of falls into place when you’re there,” said Coulter.

Learning from a CD or DVD is extremely different than having a one-on-one experience “When I talk with my Chinese tutor, it’s a whole different thing. It’s like when I sing in the shower I sound great and when I speak to myself in Chinese I sound great, but when I’m with her it’s different,” adds Coulter.

Unfortunately when she gets back from China, Mrs. Coulter will not be coming back to Chapin High School.  She will go to teach at Irmo High School for the 2011-2012 school year.

Congratulations to Mrs. Coulter and good luck next year at Irmo High School!