“I want to share with you something,” a past student of Chinese teacher Hongling Zhang said at his house party commemorating his move away from St. Louis to be a politician. “My first Chinese teacher is also here.”
The student, now working in Washington, D.C. and using his Chinese skills professionally, recognized Zhang at the going-away party (which the former Missouri Governor also attended) for starting his journey.
“I feel that’s quite [the] honor,” Zhang said.
Having learned English since middle school in China, Zhang moved to the United States in 1993 for college.
“My English was not very good [when] I came here. I pretty much didn’t understand anything because Americans speak so fast,” Zhang said. “I majored [in] creative writing at WashU, in the English department. Before that, I had gone to Fontbonne, [where] I majored [in] English too.”
Before teaching, Zhang worked as a writer and translator. She originally did not plan to become a teacher.
“In China, I majored in law and political science. I think originally, I want[ed] to be a journalist. I [might] still do that, after [I] retire,” Zhang said. “I published four translated books: two in English, two in Chinese. I haven’t published a book of my writing yet. But, I [have] published a lot of articles, both in Chinese and English.”
When she learned MICDS was starting a Chinese program in 2006, Zhang seized the opportunity and sent in her resume.
During a parent-teacher conference for her son at Clayton High School, Zhang met Principal Dan Gutchewsky. When they spoke, he mentioned his interest in hiring her to teach at Clayton High School.
“They went to MICDS to observe my class, so that’s why he invited me. I mean, I love Clayton. My son went to Clayton, and I know Clayton very well,” Zhang said.
Zhang took a group of 17 students to China in 2016.
“It’s very helpful, because they got to see China with their own eyes. Those students were very outgoing [and] they tried to communicate with Chinese people. They were able to place the [cultural] content and the language they learned in class in the real setting,” Zhang said. “[It] definitely left a deep impression on them.”
Sophomore Henry Dong has taken Chinese III and is currently enrolled in Chinese IV with Zhang, and likes her as a teacher and person.
“Ms. Zhang is able to challenge us individually while also keeping it relaxed [and] on pace. It’s a very well-planned class,” Dong said.
Dong believes Zhang had the biggest impact on his growth because of how understanding and accommodating she is toward students.
“It’s definitely helpful to have a teacher who’s a native speaker. She’s been teaching for so long that she understands everyone really well. [She] knows how to help you and she’s very willing to adjust her curriculum in order to best accommodate you,” Dong said.
Several of Dong’s experiences with Zhang involve her trying to make activities more engaging for students.
“[She’ll be] explaining a word and she’ll go off on a funny little tangent. Or we’re working on a skit and she’s helping us personally—editing the script, trying to make it funnier [and] more engaging,” Dong said.
Dong thinks the world needs more teachers like Zhang and hopes that she will continue to help Chinese students in her retirement.
“She’s a wonderful teacher,” Dong said.
Fellow Chinese teacher Patrick Mullen is a good friend of Zhang’s and a colleague.
“Prior to [teaching in Clayton], I [had] never taught Chinese before. So there was so much I learned from her [about the] structure [of a] Chinese class. What are some of the difficulties kids are going to face? What are my students trying to accomplish?” Mullen said. “Because at the beginning, I taught little kids. So [I] worked with her a lot about how to best prepare them for what Chinese would look like at CHS.”
Mullen believes he can always learn something from her about the language.
“I respect her [as the] senior Chinese teacher, and she’s a native speaker, which is a different consideration for language teachers. When you teach a foreign language, native speakers have a different perspective on the language. There’s a lot to learn from a native speaker when you’re teaching,” Mullen said.
Zhang has inspired Mullen to push his students further in their learning capabilities and not to be afraid of having high expectations.
“She inspired me not to baby students, to not project my fears and weaknesses about the Chinese language onto my students,” Mullen said. “So [she] changed my instinctive approach to teaching [and] motivated me to have much higher expectations for my students. She’s changed what I take for granted about what students can do [and] made me realize they’re capable of a lot more than I might have initially thought.”
After her retirement, Mullen will miss Zhang as a friend and her ability to empathize about shared teaching experiences.
“She’s my friend in a lot of ways. All language teachers have a lot in common, but there’s like seven Spanish teachers and [for Chinese teachers,] there’s only me in Hongling in the whole district. So only we understand the struggles in regards to the language,” Mullen said.
Mullen shared that he will miss his chats with Hongling.
“I’ll miss her friendship and her empathy with the struggles. I’m gonna miss [having] somebody who absolutely understands what you’re going through,” Mullen said.
Zhang is proud of her past students’ growth and ability to use the skills she taught them in the real world. After her retirement, Zhang plans to spend some time traveling worldwide.
“I like to travel. For instance, when I go to Asia, I would like to stay there for a few months. I was not able to do that when I was teaching, because you didn’t have that much time,” Zhang said. “I’m going to Vietnam and Cambodia in December.”
Zhang does not plan to become a full-time journalist in the future, but she hopes to continue working as a freelance journalist and writing.
“I don’t think I will become a real journalist, but I have been working for Chinese Media—it’s based in Singapore. I did some interviews, wrote a film review, and some articles for them. I think [I’ll] be [a] freelance journalist or writer for them.”
Mullen’s final message to Zhang is: 张老师再见！我们都爱你！(Goodbye, Ms. Zhang! We all love you!).
“She’s so compassionate and such a kind teacher. I think students feel that about her too—that she’s always ready to help and has a kind way of interacting with colleagues and teachers, and I’m gonna miss that,” Mullen said. “I wish her the best in this new part of her life where she really gets to focus on doing something that she really loves. I know she was teaching, but I think she’s looking forward to getting out of the classroom and focusing more on art and literature.”
Zhang’s favorite part of teaching is interacting with the students, a feeling she has developed throughout her career.
“Sometimes, when I [am] reluctant to teach, I feel a little bit overwhelmed by things going on. But as soon as you come to class, you have the interaction with students, their energy, their curiosity and their fun-seeking spirits can cheer you up,” Zhang said.
