Meet Your Teacher: Haonan Wang 老师 lǎo shī

My name is Haonan Wang, and I am a Mandarin teacher from China. Alongside teaching Mandarin, I also work as a drama teacher and director, and my theatre background strongly shapes how I approach teaching. I love using drama and storytelling as tools to help children experience Mandarin rather than just study it. In my classroom, learning is designed to feel relaxed, energetic, and full of imagination, because I believe language becomes meaningful when it is connected to real situations and stories. Instead of focusing only on grammar and vocabulary, I enjoy exploring language with my students and growing alongside them, as I see teaching as a shared journey rather than a one-way process. Mandarin is a deeply rich and layered language, shaped by thousands of years of culture and history, and I hope my students not only learn how to speak it, but also develop curiosity, confidence, and a genuine connection to the culture behind it.