It is Part of Who I Am

Hi, my name is Ei leen Terral and I am a 4th grade student at Barnard Mandarin Magnet Elementary School. My sister, Leeann, also attends Barnard and is in 1st grade. Barnard Mandarin Magnet Elementary School is a Mandarin immersion school in San Diego. From Kindergarten to 5th grade, classes are taught half in Mandarin and half in Engl ish.

In my fami ly, nobody speaks Chinese. My mom is Korean, my dad is French, and I was born in Seoul. I started learning Chinese at the age of 3 or 4 when we l ived in Singapore; at that t ime Leeann was not born. In Singapore, Engl ish, Chinese and Bahasa are three main languages people speak. Bahasa is the language spoken in Indonesia and Malaysia. I attended a local preschool where the fi rst year we were taught Chinese 20% of the t ime and Engl ish the remaining. Singaporeans cal l i t Singl ish due to the strong accent typical of Singapore. The second year was 50% Chinese and 50% Engl ish and that is what sparked my love for both languages. My parents bel ieve that the dual language school gave me a

good opportuni ty to learn both languages easi ly at a young age. They also recognize the fact that Chinese is an important and di fficult language. My dad bel ieves that i t is even more important to learn Chinese than French, and as of today I do not speak French.

Eileen Terral

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Hopeful ly, I wi l l start learning i t soon because i t is a strong part of my heri tage.

After Leeann was born, we left Singapore. My parents tried to make sure I continued learning Mandarin even when we l ived in di fferent countries l ike Korea and Uni ted Arab Emirates (Dubai). In 2015, we moved to San Diego, in t ime for my fi rst grade and fortunately, we found Barnard Mandarin Magnet Elementary School. Quick ly we learned that this school was perfect for me to continue learning and improving my Chinese sk i l ls. Leeann was l i t t le and started learning Mandarin in a preschool in America. There are qui te a few Mandarin preschools in San Diego,

so thankful ly she was able to have an ini t ial exposure to Mandarin before joining Barnard for Kindergarten.

For us, me and Leeann, we always had an interest in Mandarin and knew of the importance of learning a second language.

Like any other school there are many activi t ies one can do in the afternoon but being part of a language academy i t offers some special perks. Barnard has establ ished col laborations wi th the Confucius Insti tute at San Diego State Universi ty. The Confucius Insti tute is a non-profi t organization establ ished in China, to promote Chinese language and culture. This is simi lar to what

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France, Germany and Spain have been doing - these countries have been promoting thei r national languages around the world. The Confucius Insti tute focuses on the teaching of the Six Arts, including: ri tual ceremony, music, archery, chariot riding, cal l igraphy and computation. Obviously, in modern t imes i t is hard to practice chariot riding. Instead the classes some of my friends and I take are martial arts, dancing, singing, cal l igraphy, Abacus, Go game and Chinese chess. I have trained in Tae Kwon Do, the Korean tradi t ional mart ial art, since I was five, therefore, Kung Fu was never too appeal ing. There are many other activi t ies I am engaged in. The Confucius Insti tute invi tes Barnard students to perform at mult iple

events and festivals. Since I am not shy and l ike to be on stage, I am often busy practicing for some upcoming events.

The Chinese New Year is my favori te. Every year, each class does something di fferent. Last year?s performance was impressive and showcased the best of what students had to offer. Our class put a lot of t ime and efforts into i ts preparation and that?s what made i t so special . We also had a show at the historic Chinatown on 3rd avenue in San Diego and other places around the ci ty. Some students had a part in the show, Mulan, whi le some of us who were preparing to compete for the Chinese Bridge Competi t ion, got the opportuni ty to perform on our own. The Chinese Bridge

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Competi t ion is a contest open to al l students learning Chinese wi th no native speaker parents. This competi t ion is organized by the Confucius Insti tute for students from elementary to high school. In elementary school, we need to prepare a 90 seconds speech and a 2-minute show--ei ther singing, dancing, or any k ind of performance. Last year there were close to 100 contestants. I was happy and proud to get second place but also a bi t disappointed not to get fi rst place. A classmate, Kayla, did real ly wel l so i t is fine she won fi rst place. Last May we part icipated in the Asian festival in Mira Mesa Communi ty Park and last September we part icipated in the Moon Festival in Balboa Park.

Leeann was on stage for a part wi th Kuai Ban (wooden Chinese clapper) in front of a large crowd for the fi rst t ime. She said, she was ini t ial ly a bi t nervous but real ly exci ted to perform wi th her friends.

So besides regular elementary studies wi th Math and Engl ish, Mandarin and Chinese culture keep me pretty busy during the year. I am now looking forward to this year's Chinese Bridge Competi t ion in May, which wi l l requi re hard work. More importantly, I am exci ted to be going on the 5th grade trip to China next year. I wi l l be able to have my own unique experience of the country and interact wi th the locals and test how wel l my Chinese real ly is.

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