All boys. All boarding. Grades 9-12.
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Calligrapher Visits Chinese Language Classes
On November 16, a calligrapher from China visited Woodberry’s Chinese language classes, giving the boys an introduction to this ancient art, as well as practice interacting with a non-English speaker.
Mr. Fang Tao, a retired educator, painter, and calligrapher who lives in Shenzhen, China, was visiting Orange and agreed to spend a Saturday morning with Dr. Patrick McAloon’s students of Chinese.
Mr. Fang first gave each student a calligraphy brush and a reusable calligraphy practice sheet that allows learners to write Chinese characters with water instead of ink. After practicing writing their Chinese names for half an hour, each boy was given a sheet of Chinese calligraphy paper (often called “rice paper,” it is actually made from mulberry tree bark) and calligraphy ink with which to write their names indelibly.
Calligraphy practice helped the boys work on writing their Chinese characters in the proper way, as well as experience first hand how mental and muscle discipline is trained through the practice process. The speed of stroke writing, the direction of stroke travel, and the pressure the writer puts on the page through the brush all combine to produce different styles.
This was the boys’ first opportunity this year to interact with a fluent speaker of Chinese who does not also speak English. The boys had to rely on the Chinese they had learned, as well as body language, to understand what was going on, just as they will need to do when they enter a Chinese language-only environment.
Mr. Fang was impressed by how quickly the boys’ character writing improved in the space of just one class period.
Following the classes, students Briggs Dubuque and Richard Kinzinger chose to join Mr. Fang and his wife in the dining hall for lunch and enjoyed practicing their Chinese, including the important skill of circumlocution — using words in the target language that you do know to express those you do not. They shared information about where they are from, what classes they are taking, what plans they had for the following Sunday, and why they came to Woodberry.
Woodberry Forest School is an exceptional private school community for high school boys in grades nine through twelve. It is one of the top boarding schools in the United States and one of the only all-boys, all-boarding schools in the country.
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