Testimonials

Comments from Teachers Who have used the Action Language Learning in their Classrooms

活力语言培训中心的教材是非常有趣的学中文的活动方案。学生很感兴趣，而且能积极的参与活动。通过唱唱跳跳这种活跃的方式来学中文，会有意想不到的效果。从一首歌曲里，你可以举一反三，变成很多种类似的活动。甚至可以让学生自己创编歌曲，他们可喜欢了。快来试试吧！你会爱上它的! Zhou Cai Yuan, Chinese Language Teacher, Centennial School District, Minnesota

As a Chinese language teacher, I always look for ways to improve my teaching, to make it more interesting, fun and meaningful. I am so thankful that Action Language Learning provides our Chinese teachers with these wonderful teaching and learning tools – Action Language Songs. Read more

When I was first exposed to Action Language Learning’s Musical Mandarin songs in a workshop at the 2010 National Chinese Language Conference in Washington D.C., I was so attracted by the beautiful but easy to sing songs and accompanying fun movements, that I immediately ordered four sets for all of our Chinese classes. As the school year started in the fall of 2010, I played the songs at the beginning and end of all of my classes at the middle and high school. Even though, at first, they did not completely understand the meaning of what they were singing, my students loved to hear the songs. Then later when students came to class, the first thing they would ask me to do is play the songs for them. Since the students hear the songs and do the movements every day over and over, they now understand the meaning. It is such a fun activity for my students. So my classes start with joyful song and this creates a Chinese speaking environment that my students love.

Some of my high school students are a bit shy and self-conscious about speaking Chinese, but hearing the music and singing the songs every day helps them break through this. Now when they come to class, they automatically sing and enjoy the songs.

I also find these songs can serve as a tool to assess students listening skills. When I taught a lesson about seeing the doctor and understanding parts of the body, I used the lyrics of a song on the CD to assess whether my students could point to the body part when they heard the instruction.

On another occasion, I used the song “请进Come In, Please” to demonstrate to my students what politeness means in Chinese culture. Without little explanation and simply by acting out the movements in the song, my students were able to understand the essence of politeness in Chinese culture.

I enjoy all the songs on the CD and I know that I can use with confidence all of these songs to help bring my teaching to life and help the students learn in a way that is fun and enjoyable. Thank you Action Language learning. I look forward to the next CD.
                                                  
Shannon Jin
Chinese teacher, Chaska Middle School/Chaska High School, Chaska, Minnesota.

Comments from the Confucius Institute at the University of Minnesota Workshop, “Music as a Tool for Creating Mandarin Classes”, May, 2011

“This was a really helpful and fun presentation about learning Chinese via music! All the songs presented today are creative and easy to learn” Yinglu Wang, XinXing Academy, 2nd grade immersion Chinese teacher

“This is a very effective method of teaching Chinese because music is a great tool to communicate and interest learners. The songs are simple, easy to learn but fun”. Kaishan Kong, Instructor of Chinese, University of Wisconsin, River Falls.       

“Learning through songs is a way to motivate and excite students…that is what Action Language Learning is all about. ” Tzu-Hsuan (Sophie) Kuan, 6th grade Mandarin teacher, Lake Middle School, Woodbury, MN.

“These songs bring language and culture alive”, Yueh Dianne Norton, Bemidji State University, MN. student teacher

Comment from the CAIS Chinese Education Conference, San Francisco, Calif., April 2010

“In my 20 years of teaching the Chinese language, I have found that keeping students motivated is the greatest challenge. To maintain students’ interest in studying, teachers must use various strategies and multiple activities. I was excited to find Lisa Li’s Action Language Learning songs at the recent CAIS Institute Chinese Education Conference in San Francisco. Lisa does a great job of combining songs with physical activities to teach students Chinese language and culture which will keep them motivated. I have searched for songs in the past, but never found anything as fully encompassing or as fun as Lisa's Action Language program. I wholeheartedly recommend using Action Language songs for your class." Tien Whyte, Chinese Language Teacher, Gilkey International Middle School, Portland Oregon.

Comment from the April, 2010 Asia Society National Chinese Language Conference in Washington, D.C.

“Lisa Li Urbonya is changing the way we think about Mandarin education in the US. Lisa and Dalian’s presentation was a jubilant celebration of Chinese culture and values. Participants had a blast learning greetings, actions and even body parts through a version of Chinese twister! I wish I learned these songs growing up learning Chinese and cannot wait to share this with my daughter and public school children throughout Brooklyn!”
Sharon Ng, Area Director, Lango Mandarin, Brooklyn, New York

Comment from the Startalk-DePaul University workshop for Chinese language teachers, February 2010

“Lisa Li did a wonderful job presenting at the workshop ‘Active Methods for Teaching Chinese.’ I learned a great deal and plan to use what I learned in my classroom. I feel that I have much more to offer my students after taking this workshop. In addition, I plan to purchase the Tang Dynasty Poetry CD. I cannot wait until the other songs are published. I feel very lucky to have come across these teaching methods."
Wang Wei Fang, Chinese Language Instructor, Highland Park High School, Highland Park, Illinois

Comment from the 2010 Wisconsin Council for the Social Studies & International Education Conference's Great Lakes Conference, March 2010

I met Lisa at the Wisconsin Council’s 2010 International Education and Social Studies Annual Conference where she gave a talk on the cultural differences between Chinese and Americans. As a Chinese who has lived in China and the U.S., I can tell that Lisa has deep understanding of these two great but very different cultures. This deep understanding comes from her long time living experiences in China, and also from her passion and love of the Chinese culture and people. Lisa is talented in communicating in a fun and relaxing way and it was effortless for her to engage the audience during the whole presentation. I strongly recommend her workshops and seminars about Chinese language and culture, and her comparisons between China and the U.S. I think a variety of audiences (students, teachers, administrators, company executives and employees, etc.) would appreciate and enjoy Lisa’s presentations.  

Yang Zhang, Director of Institutional Research, Edgewood College

Comments from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Critical Language Fellows K-12 Chinese language teacher training institute

“It was fantastic. I have not seen anyone else as creative as Lisa Li. I especially enjoyed the songs she composed that combined the language and culture together…If you have not found an effective way in teaching Chinese, if you wonder how you can stay in the target language from the beginning during class instruction, if you are puzzled how to teach culture through language, you must come to an Action Language Learning presentation.”
Lu Hai Yun, Chinese Language and Culture Instructor, University School of Milwaukee

“I’ve always believed in learning language through music. This is just further evidence of the power of learning unconsciously and learning with fun activities. I support your presentations and musical education teaching method. It works for you and me and will work for everyone who wants to learn a second language.”
Xu Chen Special Education Teacher/ Weekend School Chinese Language Teacher. Washington Park High, Racine, Wisconsin

Comments about "Active Methods for Language Teachers" course presented to Ho-Chunk language instructors

“The explanation and practical use of methods made learning this technique exciting and stimulating. I look forward to employing what I learned here in my own classes and can’t wait to see the reaction of my students. Excellent class!”
Henning Garvin, Program Administrator, Ho-Chunk Language Program

Comments about "Differentiation of Instruction for Language Learners" workshop

"Lisa was very respectful of our needs as a department and spontaneously modified the emphasis of the workshop to optimize our time spent. She demonstrated excellent knowledge of her content as a language instructor and as a master of differentiated curriculum."
Laurie, K-12 world language instructor

"Learning how to differentiate a world language to my students was very hands-on as we learned some of the Chinese language. I was put into the shoes of a beginning world language student again! Lisa was very thorough and flexible."
Janet Bull, Spanish teacher, West Bend, Wisconsin

Comment about workshops for ESL Instructors

"My teacher-trainees were excited to learn fun, interactive techniques that they can use when teaching kids English all over the world."
Renee Lajcak, Program Director, Midwest Teacher Training Program

Comments from two-day “Chinese Language Activities in the Classroom” workshop

“I really learned a great deal from this class. This was the first time I have been exposed to the Chinese language and it was an extremely positive experience. The music and movement made learning fun.”
Kelly Frodel, Middle School Teacher, Janesville, Wisconsin.

“Li Laoshi provides very practical activities that I can use in my Chinese classroom! These activities can help students learn the language in a fun way!”
Yiyi Gallant, Chinese Teacher, School District of Janesville, Wisconsin

“The songs we learned in class were awesome. There is currently nothing comparable out on the market. I will absolutely buy them when they become published and I encourage all of my colleagues to do the same.”
Aaron Bray, President of Wisconsin Association of Chinese Language Teachers, Chinese Language Instructor, Sheybogan Falls School District

Comments about the Action Language Learning method

“Singing the songs made it easy to review the words over and over. The songs nicely embody the rhythm of Chinese, so that by the time we sung the songs many times, we could produce basic grammatical structures and build on them. Having the recitations of the words helped tremendously in learning the tones. The songs are so much fun-they also teach a variety of musical genres and grammatical constructions."
Dr. Nora Cate Schaeffer, Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

"I had a great experience with my first Chinese language session with Lisa Urbonya. She made it fun and easy to learn. The activities, including singing and moving, made it fun and easy to remember the new words and phrases. The session gave me confidence that learning Chinese is easier than I previously thought."
Gisso Welsh, Service Account Manger, CDW Berbee

“Li Laoshi has a great integrative approach to language. Actually using the language is the best way to achieve comfort and fluency. Through music, drawings, movement and games, I had a real feeling for which words I need in everyday life.”
Joann, International Hospitality Student

Comments about Consulting Services and/or the workshop “What Americans Can Learn from the Chinese Educational System”

"I encourage administrators of all levels to consider participation in this professional development opportunity for their continual growth.  For me, it provided a deeper root system for the direction that I believe for my school, while at the same time provided wider wings for me to grow and expand upon the goals, support and belief that I have to move my students and staff forward in years to come." 
Karen Jones, Principal, Park Elementary School, Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District, Middleton, Wisconsin

“Lisa Li Urbonya is a celebrated professional with real experience working as an educator in China. She is adept at helping educators create strong linkages between the American and Chinese education system. Her experiences bring practical possibilities for American schools to consider. I attended Lisa's presentation and it sparked the creation of an International Education Study Team. Lisa has served as a consultant to our study team and has led our learning in powerful ways. Formal recommendations have been made to form a team to investigate the feasibility of a full-immersion K-12 world language program, to expand the 6-12 world language program to include Mandarin Chinese, and to investigate the feasibility of an International Education Academy at the high school. Tanya Kotlowski, Director of Instructional Services, Kettle Moraine School District, Wales, Wisconsin

American educators have so much to learn from the rest of the world. Lisa Urbonya will give you some insight into the Chinese Educational System from a personal perspective that will keep your interest and get you thinking about what changes your school will need to make. There are many aspects of our educational system that help our students become well rounded students. Learning from around the world will help you enhance your offerings and your insights. Ms. Urbonya will challenge your notions, add to your insights, and push you towards excellence. I have personally attended her workshops and come away with new information each time. In addition, I have had her work with our World Language instructors to push them towards meeting multiple needs in a classroom. Lisa Urbonya involves her learners and pushes you to open your minds.
Maryjane Burdge, Retired Assistant Superintendent of Instruction, West Bend School District, West Bend, Wisconsin