Welcome 欢迎

Extracurricular Activities

NC Chinese Speech and Writing Contests

Collaboration with Universities

"Knowing Chinese is such a great skill to have. The development of the world, the involvement with China, and business... if that's what you are interested in, its a really good gateway to get you into those interns and jobs in college."

Elli Adams 18'

"(Chinese at DA) is incredibly immersive and incredibly cool."

Lillia Larson 18'

"Learning Chinese opens up a whole new world that is large and interesting, and has a rich culture that not a lot of Americans are familiar with. It is something that I have come to appreciate a lot more since taking Chinese."

Kenan Ulku-Steiner 18'

"I don't think there are many other languages like it (Chinese), it's challenging but it's exciting and it's fun." "I really enjoy coming to Chinese class every day. Since 7th grade, it's always been a good time." "It's really useful. There are so many people in this world that speak Chinese, very few Americans that do. So it's a useful tool to have." "It's a really unique opportunity at DA."

Madison Dunk 17'

"Learning different ways to vocalize yourself and to speak are very cool." "People should take Chinese at DA because it provides a challenge, but it's a kind of a fun challenge."

Safiya Gallaghan 17'

"I think the DA Chinese program is fantastic." "Your Chinese class is like a little family within the school, it's a class period where you are completely comfortable." "It's good to start now when we are younger than wait for college or after college when it's just going to get so much harder."

Olivia Hall 17'

"Taking Chinese has opened me up to a new culture that I wouldn't have felt a part of if I had taken another language." "Between calligraphy days and drinking tea in class, the hands-on aspect of the class has really made taking Chinese enjoyable."

Nikki Inocencio 17'

Mr. John Adams

Mr. John Adams (Ai Laoshi) 艾仁平老师

Middle School
Joined in 2017
A Wake Forest University graduate, Adams studied at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and earned a master’s degree in teaching Chinese as a foreign language from Middlebury College. He has taught Chinese language and social studies at Westchester Country Day School and Summit School, and spent two years as a missionary in Taiwan. Adams joined DA in 2017 and has been teaching all grades in the Middle School.

Mrs. Zhengjie Guo

Mrs. Zhengjie Guo (“Guo Laoshi”) 郭正洁老师

Middle School and Upper School
Join in 2022
Guo Laoshi joined DA in Spring 2022 and teach both middle and Upper school. She holds a B.A. from Tsinghua  University, and M.A. in the University of Saint Joseph in Connecticut. She has taught Chinese more than ten years in multiple lower, middle and high school programs in US. She also is a College Board Chinese AP teacher,  a certified instructor at the University of Connecticut Early College Experience program, and Johns Hopkins.

Ms. Bonnie Wang

Ms. Bonnie C.-M. Wang (“Wong” Laoshi) 王春夢老师

Upper School
Joined in 2015
Wang is the Teacher of the Year in 2019 awarded by Foreign Language Association of North Carolina. She holds a B.A. in psychology from Portland State University, a B.A. in English from Northeast Normal University in Changchun, China, and an M.A. in Linguistics from UNC-Chapel Hill. She has taught Chinese at UNC-Chapel Hill and Princeton in Beijing Program.

Schedule a classroom visit with us!

Upper School Chinese Classroom:

Hock Center Upper Level, Room 820A

3601 Ridge Road, Durham, NC 27705

Middle School Chinese Classroom:

Arts and World Languages Building, Room 2122

3116 Academy Road, Durham, NC, 27707