Translating Into Mandarin & Cantonese

Teaching in the city always offers the opportunity to work with diverse age and cultural populations. I use large laminated signs in English for the 19 movements and one pose, and a separate poster for the Six Healing Sounds. Pointing to where we are helps with the beginners.

In San Francisco I teach two outreach programs through City College. Since the Excelsior District has an older Asian population, we need a Mandarin and Cantonese translator for about eight regular students. I am surprised at how diverse the group is, and their love for T’ai Chi Chih seems universal. Many of them have a T’ai Chi Ch’uan background from growing up in China, but they are relieved by the simplicity of TCC and the effects of the Chi.

Mentors from the college come over to the Community Center to help with the seniors. As I teach TCC, the need for demonstration is more important than the use of words. When I do use words like softness, continuity, circularity, and weight shift, Janet Yeong (our mentor/student translator) is quick to describe what I am saying while I keep moving. We move in a circle most of the time, and it is exciting that after a year, we are now moving as one.

The Excelsior class is the high point of my week. Although I teach TCC after having taught six hours of music that day, I leave the class with new energy. We sit with our feet on the floor and focus on the soles of the feet after the practice, and students leave with big smiles on their faces. Soon we will need no words.