Student Spotlight: Yan Deng

• Tell us about yourself! Where are you from? What did you do before joining the LTS program? Do you have any hobbies?

My name is Yan Deng and I come from Lanzhou, which is the capital city of northwest China’s Gansu province. The city is not very big, but there are still 2 million people who live there. My favorite food is Lanzhou beef noodles, which is a very famous food in China. Before I came to the U.S.A, I already got my bachelor’s degree at a Chinese university. My major was Chinese Education. I wanted to know about different cultures and to learn different languages, so I decided to study abroad. In 2011, I came to the University of Oregon, and my major was Educational Foundations. In class, I learned a lot about American teaching methods. Outside of class, I tried to learn more about American culture, such as how American students celebrate holidays, how they work on campus, and how they chat with their friends at cafes.

I have been in Eugene for 5 years. Eugene is a small, quiet and beautiful city, and I love living here. While I was an undergraduate student at UO, I volunteered at an American elementary school for two years. I noticed there were a lot of differences between American elementary schools and Chinese elementary schools. I have been a Chinese tutor for one-and-a-half years at UO, and I liked the job so I am still doing it now. I love to encourage American students to know more about China and to learn Chinese. I think we could all learn from each other.

Hobbies? I like swimming and reading. My favorite books are the Harry Potter series. Sometimes I like to watch American TV shows, such as CSI and Criminal Minds. To be honest, I get scared by some of the plots.

• Tell us about Talking with Ducks. What is that experience like for you?

For me, I like the TWD class because I can learn a lot about teaching. The most important part is how the team members help each other. For example, I was a leader in week 2. I had to make sure my pronunciation was correct, and the rules of my game had to be clear. Since I am an international student, I have to worry about these things. To be honest, I wrote down every sentence of my lesson plan, and I read them to my team members, Devon and George. They helped me to edit my lesson plan. I was so glad they were so patient with me. No one loafs around on the job!

In Thursday’s class, when students came in , we didn’t feel nervous because we were ready. But there were still some situations that I hadn’t thought of before. Thus, we needed to help each other. For example, I didn’t realize students would still sit a big circle after I separated them into different groups. I didn’t know how to solve the problem, but George quickly jumped in and gave more explanation to solve the problem. When students were playing the game, I forgot to explain the game time limit, but Devon was on it. How about the other LTS Ducks? Yes, they all did very well. Sue and Maude were very creative in their groups, letting their group members use the envelopes (which were just materials from my activity) in the game. Joliene, Reeya and Juli built a great and comfortable environment for their group members to practice English. Laura, the professor of the TWD class, made sure everything was going very well. Because of this teamwork, I love the class and I enjoy every minute of it!

• Tell us about the Chinese Club!

The Chinese Club is held at the Edison Elementary School, and is one of the after school clubs. In our club, we have 11 students who come from different grades. The goal of the club is to encourage students to learn about Chinese culture as well as some simple Chinese characters. We tried to build a real language environment to help students learn Chinese. Last week, our topic was “daily life in Beijing.” We created some class activities to help students know the real Beijing, such as visiting the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City, and eating Beijing duck.

• What are you most excited to learn or do in the LTS program?

I am so excited to learn a lot of different teaching methods in LTS program. We discuss issues in class, and we solve problems together. When I am studying in every class, I know I am coming closer step-by-step to my dream. Even though I have a very full schedule, I know my friends and I are always a team. I will be brave and I will keep swimming, just like Dory! Ha ha~