One of the first things I noticed in the classroom was the laptops.
Students walked in, picked one up, and immediately started doing their own things. Even after the teacher began teaching, many of them barely looked away from the screen. Some had earphones in.
Sometimes, the teacher’s voice felt like background noise.
At first, I wondered if Mandarin itself was part of the problem. For beginners who spoke English, it could feel very unfamiliar. Some students also did not seem to see much reason to learn it beyond the class or the next test.
Later, I learned something else.
Some students had actually wanted to take Spanish. The Spanish classes were full, so they were placed in Mandarin instead.
Suddenly, some of what I had been watching made more sense.
When Students Don’t Really Want to Learn What You’re Teaching
When it was my turn to teach, I experienced the same thing I had watched from the back of the classroom.
There were moments when almost nobody responded.
I would say a phrase and ask students to repeat it. Nothing.
I would try again. Still nothing.
It felt like I was talking to the air.
Honestly, it was annoying. I remember thinking:
Why was I even there?
Another moment stayed with me.
I gave students a simple worksheet where they could draw or write about themselves. I wanted to learn more about them, so they had quite a lot of freedom in what they could share.
One of the first questions I heard was:
“Is this graded?”
If it did not affect their grade, some students did not see much reason to do it.
Of course, that was not every student. Some were more interested in Mandarin, and some seemed curious about having someone from Taiwan in their classroom. But overall, I was teaching many students who were not particularly interested in what I was there to teach.
Understanding that did not make it less frustrating.
Changing What I Expected
I was only in their classroom for a short time. I was not going to suddenly make everyone interested in Mandarin.
So I started thinking differently about what I wanted from my time there.
I wanted Mandarin to feel a little less unfamiliar. Maybe they would try saying something they had never said before. Maybe something about Taiwan would make them curious enough to ask a question.
There were still classes where almost nobody seemed interested. But there were also small moments when someone joined in.
If someone left the classroom remembering one thing about Taiwan or one phrase they had learned, that already felt meaningful to me.
What Counts as Progress?
I still expected students to listen, try, and participate. Not choosing Mandarin did not mean they could do whatever they wanted.
I tried changing activities more often and bringing in videos and examples from Taiwan that might catch their attention. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn’t.
There were still students who barely looked away from their laptops.
But I started noticing the smaller reactions.
A student asking what stinky tofu tastes like is a very small thing. So is someone singing along or trying a Mandarin phrase.
For the short time I was there, that was enough.
I could give them a few reasons to look up.