Learning Chinese through this medium helps you learn more about the Chinese culture and tradition, as well as learn new and useful vocabulary words. By watching movies and taking notes, students are learning more than they ever thought imaginable.
At my school, Chinese III students watched Zhang Yimou’s film The Road Home (我的父亲母亲), which emphasized the importance of tradition and family in Chinese culture. The movie starts when Sun Honglei finds out about the death of his father, Luo Changyu, a beloved teacher from the village. His mother, Zhao Di insists that his body is carried back to the village along the road from the city, but she is told there aren’t enough able-bodied men to carry out such a physically demanding task. She is distraught, and begins to tell Sun the story of how she and his father fell in love.
Luo first came to the village from the city to become a teacher, and Zhao immediately was enamored by him. She cooked for him, and went to the school every day to hear him teaching the students. When Luo is summoned to return back to the city, Zhao is overcome with sadness, and waits every day in the cold for him to return on the main road. Upon hearing how upset Zhao is that he has not returned, Luo sneaks back to the village, and Zhao is happy again.
After hearing the story of his parents’ love, Sun recognizes the importance of the road, and agrees that a traditional burial is necessary so his father’s spirit will always be able to find his way home. In the end, Luo’s students come back home to carry the coffin, and Sun teaches at his father’s school, using his father’s handwritten book.
This film was very touching and informational. The themes of the movie are all important to Chinese culture, and the film showed many important traditions from Chinese culture.