eWrite Chinese - Parents and Teachers

About us

Over 20 years of experience teaching Chinese in the U.S.
Our staff are either native Chinese or Chinese-English bilingual
Passionate about Chinese language and culture, and teaching Chinese
Has a large question bank
Headquartered in Austin, Texas

My kids have only studied Chinese at home. Will their Chinese improve by taking your class?

Yes. Your kids have built a solid foundation while studying Chinese with you. Their next step should be to systematically practice regularly to hone their reading and writing skills. eWriteChinese has a strong emphasizes on developing both reading and writing. As regular schoolwork gets more demanding, they will have less tiem to study Chinese with you. You can depend on eWrite to continue their Chinese education, and improve their reading and writing skills.

My child has only studied Chinese for three years and has no Chinese essay writing experience. Is it too early to enroll in eWriteChinese?

It should not be too early for her. Studying Chinese is something that starting early leads to benefiting early; what she learns in class should be reinforced with practice in order for her to digest and absorb as her own knowledge. Our beginner level classes have shorter essays to read, and gradually increasing in difficulty, to encourage the student to steadily improve. We have a student who started eWrite Chinese as a nine-year-old, and has improved rapidly in the past year. (see Danna Li’s “I Love My Sister”)

My kids attended Weekend Chinese school for several years. Can they join the program?

Yes. After your child has studies some Chinese for a few years, he or she will have built knowledge of vocabulary and sentence structure. Now they will need to use these skills to read and write. While the program will be an evaluation for how well your child has mastered this knowledge, it will also strengthen their abilities by continuing to read and write.

I want my children to speak Mandarin before they start with reading and writing. Is this a good idea?

It's not ideal to separate learning spoken Chinese from the reading and writing aspect of the language. We know students who have studied Chinese for six or seven years, but struggle to read anything without pinyin and take several hours to write one or two sentences. This is because they didn't practice reading and writing, a process that refreshes and reinforces the material they study in class. Our program guides students to practice reading and writing in Chinese, perfectly complementing their work to learn how to speak Mandarin.

My child began learning Chinese in elementary school but stopped after starting high school. Will eWrite Chinese help my student pass the AP Chinese exam next year?

Yes. We have two systems designed for this scenario.

If her Chinese knowledge is at the AP level, she can enroll into the AP preparation classes. She will need to get a copy of AP Chinese Language and Culture Simulated Tests by CLERC Publishing or Strive for a 5 by Cheng & Tsui, and we will set up tutoring and homework for her
If she needs pratice to work up to the AP level, we recommend for her to sign up for one or two semesters of eWriteChinese to familiarize herself with reading; typing in Chinese, and take a semester of AP preparation class. The eWrite Chinese program is designed to develop skills needed to do well on the AP exam

You recommended two AP practice books. Are both required? Which is better?

If your child’s Chinese level is relatively advance, then both are not required.

AP Chinese Language and Culture Simulated Tests by CLERC Publishing has 8 practice tests of equal difficulty, arranged just as an AP test would
Strive for a 5 by Cheng & Tsui has progressively more difficult material, arranged by subject matter

If your child is almost ready to take the AP Chinese test, he or she should use AP Chinese Language and Culture Simulated Tests; otherwise Strive for a 5 will help your child build up to the necessary level.

My family only speaks English. My son studied Chinese for three years in school. Is he ready to take the eWriteChinese program?

Yes. If your child knows at least 300 common Chinese characters and understands basec sentence structure, then he is ready to begin our program. We designed the program to progressively increase in difficulty, training our students step by step to improve their reading comprehension and writing skills.

My child is very busy, involved in many extracurricular activities afterschool. I want to use the summer to focus on learning Chinese, is eWriteChinese a good fit for one summer?

Yes. If your child studies Chinese with eWrite for two or three consecutive summers, his or her Chinese skills will improve significantly.

Do's and Don'ts

Parent's Do's	Parent's Don'ts
Before registering, talk to your child about the eWrite Chinese website, its program, and advise your child to pick a class.	If your child does not understand or is not interested in, taking the eWrite Chinese program, please do not force them to register for a class.
Two days before an assignment is due, you should remind your child once or twice. If the due date needs to be extended, encourage your child to write an email to the grader.	Do not constantly nag your child to turn in their assignment. If the due date needs to be extended, please allow the child to contact the grader directly instead of requesting an extension in their place.
When your child asks you questions about the homework, you should answer them enthusiastically, directly, and clearly.	Do not give away answers in the homework, since the students must develop personal study habits which can only be acheived if they answer the questions themselves.
If you find that the homework is far too challenging or simple for your child, please contact the teacher in a timely manner so we can adjust your child’s lesson plans as soon as possible.	If you find that the homework is far too challenging or simple for your child, please do not complain or wait to contact the teacher. This will make it easier for us to adjust your child’s lesson plans as soon as possible.
When your child is doing reading exercises, encourage them to print the essay out and use either a dictionary or online tools to look up unfamiliar terms, and keep the printed copy in a binder to use as review.	Please do not allow your child to simply copy the essay into an online translating tool. This will strongly impact the development of their reading skills.
While your child is doing writing exercises, encourage them to write their essay based on the given sample outline, section by section, and allow them to look up unfamiliar terms if necessary.	Do not allow your student to translate a previously written English essay to turn in for homework. This will hinder their progress.
After your child has finished with their assignment and is ready to turn it in, remind them to check over their work to make any corrections.	Please do not check your child’s work for them. If the student answers incorrectly, the teacher will provide constructive feedback to help them learn. The development of individual critical reading and writing skills are more important than the score they receive.
When students are attaching visual supplements to their essay, they can use their own images, or they can ask you to help take a picture. If they want to, they can also draw their own illustrations.	Please do not use any material (images or writing) downloaded online without prior permission. Use of materials without permission is plagiarism and is a violation of copyright law!
After the teacher finishes grading the homework, read over the teacher’s corrections and comments with your child. If there is anything that he or she does not understand, explain it to them. If the score is low, help your child understand what can be improved.	Do not just look at the scores and ignore the teacher’s corrections and comments. Please do not chide the student if the scores are low; encourage them to do better next time.
If your child has spare time, encourage them to finish and turn in their work early and nurture their active interest in learning.	If your child is under stress and is busy, don’t force him or her. Instead, contact the teacher to extend the due date. Please do not disrupt their learning in school.