Do you prefer monolingual or multilingual classrooms?

[Hofmann]

Do you prefer monolingual or multilingual classrooms? By monolingual, I mean the class always uses the target language. By multilingual, I mean the class can use languages other than the target language.

I personally prefer multilingual classrooms. Although it would be nice to be able to stay in the target language, certain things (e.g. explanations of complex subjects) are better accomplished in a language that the class already uses well, especially in beginning level classes, where the students can't understand much of the target language anyway.

[大肚男]

I agree with OP, that a multilingual class, where the learner's mother language is kept to a minimum, is optimal.

However, in real life more often than not going with a multilingual class ends up hindering the learning process.

An example of that is my ex-girlfriend only spoke Spanish, so she enrolled in an ESL class in a local adult education center, taught by a teacher who taught the English class in Spanish. After a whole year of classes, she can barely formulate basic sentences, and she did not have the confidence to speak English.

That is why, I would love to enroll in a Chinese class taught completely in Chinese. It might require more effort, but I'm sure that this effort would pay dividends in no time.

[rezaf]

I prefer monolingual classes even for beginner level but it requires a good methodology plus experienced and active teachers. More complicated subjects can be discussed later when the students have enough vocabulary to understand the teacher.

[WestTexas]

Dont' see any purpose to teaching beginner level classes in a monolingual setting. The idea of someone trying to explain how a 把 sentence works all in Chinese to students who have had only 1-2 semesters to study Chinese seems ridiculous to me. Furthermore, with classes taught entirely in the target language, students who are behind tend to get further behind, as they don't understand the explanations and examples.

Intermediate and advanced classes are ok tho.

[rezaf]

I started Chinese in a monolingual class and except for the first 3 or 4 days never had any big problems understanding the teacher. However the books had English translations and we had to use our electronic dictionaries all the time. As for 把 sentence, it was taught to us at the end of the first semester and people in the class didn’t seem to have any problems understanding it. That’s why I think classes should be taught in Chinese and the students should try to fill in the gaps themselves by using dictionaries, internet, forums, etc.

Edit: However I vaguely remember one of the teachers sometimes spoke in English which made the Korean students angry as they couldn't understand English and the school had to change her.

[jkhsu]

Most schools will teach beginner level Chinese in a multilingual setting and move to a more "Chinese only" environment during intermediate levels and beyond. I don't see any problem with that. Frankly, I am not sure how a class can be taught only in Chinese for people who don't know a single word in Chinese. How do you explain 你好 to someone who knows no Chinese using only Chinese?

Personally, I prefer multilingual settings, even for intermediate to advanced classes. I think it helps confirm complex explanations and translations. Sometimes a single English word can clarify a meaning. Plus, I want to know the English meanings associated with the Chinese words / phrases for translation purposes. While I have no plans to be a translator, I value being able to make associations between Chinese and English (and other languages). To me, that provides a deeper understanding of the language.

[rezaf]

Not everything needs to be explained. The students have pinyin and translations in their books and dictionaries.

[Meng Lelan]

Monolingual Chinese only starting with second year is what I prefer. That's why I chose Middlebury.

The beginners obviously have to start out in mostly multlingual.

[jkhsu]

I also want to add that the quality of the teacher's English and knowledge of Chinese language history is really important. For a beginner level class, I'd rather have a teacher who can explain various aspects of the Chinese language in plain English. That's why I always suggest people to start learning Chinese in their home countries and then go to China for the immersive experience when they've covered the beginner level. If the teacher is really poor in English, then I might just opt for monolingual classes instead.

[rezaf]

I don't know if it can be generalized but I had an amazing experience in my first year in a monolingual environment. By the end of the first semester half of the class had passed old HSK 3 or 4 and by the end of the first year half of the class had passed old HSK 6~8. The benefit of a monolingual class is that it teaches you self study as well. Learning process is not getting a direct answer every time you have a question but it is what you do on your own to get that answer. However obviously it shouldn't be too confusing for beginners but at least in my textbooks there were enough explanations in English that I had little problem following the teacher.

[muirm]

For beginning levels I think the optimal setup is a mixed-mode class where most of the time is spent doing monolingual drills/exercises, and a portion of the time is dedicated to lectures in the students' native language. You get the tough grammar points out of the way during the lecture, and the rest of the time is strictly spent practicing the foreign language. If you have too complex of a question to understand the answer, then it can wait until after class (or the lecture period). When I started studying Chinese my program was set up this way with 3 hours a day of monolingual classes, and 1 hour a day of lecture conducted in English. I thought it struck a good balance between immersion and efficient learning.

A year or two ago I signed up for an "Advanced" Mandarin class at a local community college hoping it would be good practice, or at least a place to meet other dedicated learners. The class turned out to be a complete joke where the teacher spoke 90% in English, and when she did say something in Chinese she would address the students' quizzical expressions with an immediate English translation. The students in that class couldn't speak a lick of Chinese after years in that school's program, and I blamed it on the teacher's unwillingness to commit the class to a Chinese environment. This is a rather extreme example, but I just wanted to demonstrate what a loosey-goosey multilingual class can de-evolve into over the years.

One more thing about how much this class sucked: I was shocked to learn the teacher had not even given the students Chinese names! I loved getting my Chinese name when I started learning. Not only is it fun to start calling the other students' by their Chinese names, but it also (to some degree) speeds up your exposure to Chinese names.

[Iriya]

By the end of the first semester half of the class had passed old HSK 3 or 4 and by the end of the first year half of the class had passed old HSK 6~8.

HSK 8 in just a year? That's gotta be bullshit.

[Hofmann]

So half the class fails it. And if you account for the class being located in Shanghai (rezaf's location), that isn't unreasonable.

[rezaf]

HSK 8 in just a year? That's gotta be bullshit.

I don't really like saying things that I can't prove. Two of them(one 8, one 7) are still here and both are fourth-year students of TCM. Since you live in Shanghai you may come to my university and talk to them yourself.

So half the class fails it.

The other half of the class were very unmotivated Korean students who were forced by their parents to study Chinese and would skip most of the classes. I don’t remember all of their results but some got 3 and some didn’t take the exam at that time.

[frank the tank]

I agree completely with Rezaf on this....I started from scratch in a monolingual class and it was no problem at all.

It probably depends on how well your teacher can teach but there are so many small things that you pick up subconsciously that you wouldnt learn in a multilingual class.

[jkhsu]

@rezaf: Was this a complete beginner's class from the start? Also, the ones who passed HSK 8, did they know already know some Chinese characters or had some background in Chinese? (i.e. Korean, Japanese, heritage Chinese...)

[xiaoxiaocao]

By the end of the first semester half of the class had passed old HSK 3 or 4 and by the end of the first year half of the class had passed old HSK 6~8

HSK 8 in just a year? That's gotta be bullshit.

@rezaf: Was this a complete beginner's class from the start? Also, the ones who passed HSK 8, did they know already know some Chinese characters or had some background in Chinese? (i.e. Korean, Japanese, heritage Chinese...)

We've had a few students get to that level in a year, it's certainly not impossible. Most recently we had a young man from France that came literally not knowing a word and got old HSK level 9 (or 10 can't remember) after 14 months. Obviously you have to be very dedicated, put in a lot of effort outside of class and study purely towards passing the test. Having great teachers also helps of course!

The people that I have seen really excel usually (not always!) have a couple of things in common -

Are studying for career advancement or work purposes.

Are very driven, extremely competitive individuals.

Approach Chinese ''scientifically'' keep databases, word-maps, learning data etc.

Are not easily discouraged or frustrated (stems from being competitive imo).

Are highly adaptable (situations, environment etc).

Sometimes (not always) spoke more than one language before beginning Chinese.

[imron]

We've had a few students get to that level in a year, it's certainly not impossible.

Out of curiosity, what approach monolingual/multilingual do you take with classes at your school and why?

[rezaf]

Yes it was a beginner class and the test was at the end of 初级B. Those who got 7 and 8 were all Korean and Vietnamese. Basically there was only 4 westerners in the class(including me and a Kazakh student). Two of us got 6 and the other two got 5. The Vietnamese girl who got 7 had joined us at the beginning of the second semester(初级B). She had only learned Chinese in pinyin for about 3 weeks and couldn’t read or write any characters also couldn’t speak or understand much. Altogether I don’t think those who got high scores had a significant advantage over the rest of us except for working hard and for comparison there were many other Koreans who were way behind them in everything. I remember that those Vietnamese students and the Koreans who got high scores would go to the Library everyday after the class and would study until about 10.

[roddy]

Bear in mind the old HSK didn't test speaking at all, and the need to write was limited to fill in the blank questions - I'd say it's entirely possible, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it. Similar topics have come up before.