Learning Chinese at SJHS

For the second year at SJHS, one of the many elective classes that is available is Chinese.  The Chinese class has a wonderful teacher, Mrs. Debra Wells, and the students enjoy it. 

Mrs. Wells learned Chinese while serving an LDS mission in Taiwan, and then continued to study in college.  She decided to be a public school teacher, so she went to China and took an 8-week teaching course.  Between her mission and her life as a school teacher, she kept her Chinese up in many ways. "I worked for the U.S. Department of Defense in the Washington, D.C. area for a couple of years, translating oral Chinese materials. I worked with the BYU high school level Independent Study Chinese classes. My family and I hosted Chinese dancers several times for the Springville World Folkfest. I even got to be a guide during the Olympics - for the Chinese Women's Hockey Team!” she explained.

Next year, Chinese 1 is available for eighth and ninth graders, and if students take Chinese 1 in eighth grade, they can take Chinese 2 in ninth grade. They do a lot of fun class projects, like learning about the Chinese Lantern Festival and attending the BYU Language Fair.