top of page
CN
TC
EN

The Mei Zhou Chinese School, affiliated with the Mei Zhou Chinese Education Foundation, is a non-profit educational organization registered in Irvine. The school's mission is "Humanity as the base, Chinese as the tool," aiming to nurture students who are proficient in Chinese and well-versed in Chinese historical and cultural knowledge, exhibiting both moral and academic excellence.

​

The school teaches traditional and simplified Chinese characters along with Pinyin. Classes are held every Saturday afternoon for three hours, using the "Mei Zhou Chinese" textbook specifically designed for students in the Americas. The textbook is rich in content, tailored to the life and academic levels of students of various grades, and incorporates both Chinese and Western cultural customs. It is one of the designated textbooks for public and private schools in the United States.

​

The school also offers Chinese teaching seminars to train teachers, provides multimedia teaching aids, and plans teaching programs, objectives, and course designs for different grades to ensure high-quality instruction and seamless transition between grades.

classes

Distinctive Features of Mei Zhou Chinese School

Our school boasts a stable administrative team, with the principal and academic affairs handled by the experienced team behind "Mei Zhou Chinese." Teacher training is led by the chief editor of "Mei Zhou Chinese," overseeing the entire school's curriculum to ensure high-quality instruction and seamless integration across grades. Our teacher team is well-coordinated, with teachers from all grades undergoing intensive training.

​

Our primary teaching material is the "Mei Zhou Chinese" textbook, a ground-level American textbook that meets U.S. foreign language teaching standards and integrates knowledge from various subjects with both Chinese and American cultures. (More details at mzchineseschool.com)

​

We employ a content-based, top-down approach to language learning, starting with picture book stories. This method is ancient, modern, engaging, and effective. "Mei Zhou Chinese" is designed based on this philosophy, with each volume, unit, or lesson incorporating sequential art stories to complement the text. Classes utilize developed animations, DVDs, PowerPoint presentations, classroom activities, and the internet to maximize effectiveness.

​

Our school teaches both traditional and simplified Chinese characters and combines classes: Both character types are prevalent in real life, and many schools now use combined classes to achieve the highest learning outcomes.

​

For younger students, our elementary classes use the "Mei Zhou Chinese" Pinyin teaching method, which helps prevent confusion with English pronunciation. By fourth grade, students learn to type in Chinese Pinyin on computers.

​

All grades at our school teach idioms and four-character phrases. Using a three-step teaching method integrated with the textbook content, students start learning 30–60 new idioms each year from kindergarten onwards.

​

Our school integrates teacher training with classroom teaching: In the second semester of each academic year, we offer 1–2 hours of physical or online teacher training sessions every Saturday afternoon. These sessions aim to promote Chinese language teaching and are open to both internal parents and external participants.

e.webp

TEAM

Xiao Nong Xu

President of the Board of Directors

of Mei Zhou Chinese School

​

  • Director of the Research Committee of the National Council of Associations of Chinese Language Schools (NCACLS)

  • Founding President of the NCACLS

  • Chief Editor of the "Mei Zhou Chinese Textbook"

  • Chief Editor of "Mei Zhou Chinese SAT & AP Comprehensive Review"

  • Chief Editor of "Practical Life Supplementary Teaching Materials"

  • Chief Editor of "Chinese Supplementary Teaching Materials"

  • General Convener of the National Chinese Idiom Competition

  • General Convener of the National SAT-II Chinese Simulation Test (1998—present)

  • Former President of the Southern California Chinese Schools Association

  • Founding Director of the Chinese Language Teachers Association, Southern California (CLTA-SC)

  • Former Director of the Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA) in the United States

  • General Convener of the Southern California STARTALK Program (2012)

  • Master's degree from the University of Missouri

  • 33 years of experience in Chinese language teaching and administration

Faculty

Professor Ruiqin Wei ,

Consultant of Chinese Language Schools in America

​

  • President of the Chinese Language Teachers Association of Southern California (CLTA-SC)

  • Professor and Chinese Department Director at Pasadena City College

  • Professor of Chinese at University of South California

  • Organizer of the 8th Global Chinese Online Education Conference (ICICE)

  • PhD in Educational Technology and Psychology from the University of Southern California, with numerous papers and publications

  • Host the Southern California Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK)

  • Served as the Chairman of the Teaching Committee of the Southern California Chinese School Association

  • Former principal of San Marino Chinese School

  • Participate in and help promote immersion
    Chinese teaching and bilingual teaching

Yali Li

American Chinese School Principal

and Academic Director

​

  • Editor of American Chinese

  • Chairman of the Education Research and Development Committee of the United Chinese Schools Association of America

  • Convener of the National Chinese Idiom Competition

  • Served as an executive committee member of the Southern California Chinese School Association.

  • Teacher who sets questions for various academic competitions in Southern California

  • Star-talk Instructor, U.S. Department of Defense

  • Served as a teacher in several Chinese schools in Southern California since 2001

  • Graduated from the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, National Chengchi University, Taiwan

  • Canisius College, New York, MBA

Faculty
Faculty

Kailin Zhu

American Chinese School, Vice President of Administration,

​

  • Currently a teacher at Pacific Academy Irvine

  • Served as an executive committee member of the Southern California Chinese School Association

  • Served as a member of the Teaching and Research Committee of the United Chinese Schools Association of America

  • Served as teacher, academic director, principal, and school committee member at Orange County Chinese School for nine years

  • Cal State University, Long Beach Master

Jin Xie ,

Vice Principal and Activities Director

of the American Chinese School

​

  • Member of the China Overseas Chinese Teachers Association

  • Director of the Southern California Cultural Association

  • Church 2007 to present

  • Media Person

Faculty
classes
bottom of page