When the student becomes the teacher
By Melissa Muntz Community Reporter

Marlborough - Mandarin Chinese teacher Frances Cook knows exactly how her students feel when they try to tackle the intricate language, because she, too, was a student once.

"I took my first class in Mandarin Chinese over 20 years ago, when it was offered at my own high school as a one-year elective," she said.

Two decades later, many people are surprised to see Cook's face smiling back at them when she is introduced as the new Chinese language teacher at Marlborough High School.

"The only disadvantage that I've encountered so far ... is a temporary one and lies in the perception that a white American might be somehow less likely to be able to master Chinese as opposed to French or Spanish," she said. "Fortunately ... this perception is readily altered when auditors visit our classroom and see the work we're doing and fun we're having doing it."

Being a non-native speaker has not hindered her ability to teach the language. In fact, Cook said her experience on the other side of the desk helps her to relate to the students she has now.

Marlborough High School Mandarin Chinese teacher Frances Cook leads her class in a high-energy vocabulary game. PHOTO/MELISSA MUNTZ

"I know where their mistakes are and why they make them," she said. "I know where they lack confidence and what motivates them. Importantly, I know how to explain the language to them."

Cook operates a highenergy classroom that relies heavily on games and other fun activities as opposed to traditional textbook learning.

"I try to keep [bookwork] as homework, because I want to maximize the impact of the students' contact time with me using the language in class," she said. "I have found so far that high school students lack memorization skills and games lighten the burden of bookwork and validate the hours spent at home practicing character writing."

Cook studied for two years in a Chinese language program before studying at Peking University in Beijing. She taught Mandarin at the college level while earning her master's degree in Chinese Studies at the University of Michigan, but transitioned to the public schools as a way to increase the impact of her teaching.

"I see the opportunity to reach far more learners at an earlier stage of learning," she said. "One of things that I love about my work environment here in Marlborough is the support and excitement the program has elicited among such a broad base including parents, students, as well as among the faculty and administrators."

Cook said a solid background in Chinese will not only make her students stand out among their competition for college admission or jobs in the future, it was also better prepare them for the ever changing world that lies ahead.

"We've all heard about trade deficits, out-sourcing and flattening supply lines, and we need to think about how to prepare the next generation for the global age, which population indicators predict will not be dominated by Eurocentric models of trade or Anglocentric models of communication."

It's a heavy message that guides a lighthearted classroom. Students shout out answers as they play a vocabulary game in the classroom. Cook said it's the students who bring the energy, and she takes it to the next level.

"My role is to try to channel that excitement into the material," she said, "and, importantly, create a safe environment in which they can feel free to express that excitement."