Lincoln Heights students take on Mandarin at East College Prep

Lincoln Heights - - On a recent morning, the sounds of Mandarin echoed through Huiling Zhong’s classroom.

Her students spoke aloud and wrote in Chinese characters, Pinyin—the Romanized system that represents the sounds of Mandarin—and English.

Some students in Zhong’s Mandarin II class at Ednovate East College Prep say Mandarin isn’t especially difficult but requires precision. A misplaced tone or pen stroke can change a word’s meaning.

In such cases, “you have to fix it and re-do it,” said junior Isabella Corona, 16, of Lincoln Heights, recalling Zhong’s guidance on errors.

Zhong, now in her third year at East College Prep, previously taught at Pasadena City College, where most students came from Mandarin-speaking homes. At East College Prep, nearly all her students arrive wit