Mr. Ian Wollman joined the language department this year as a new Chinese teacher. Before coming to Choate, Mr. Wollman taught Chinese at Phillips Academy Andover for two years. After finishing his teaching fellowship program at Andover, Choate stood out to him from the very first day of his interviews. Having a chance to teach a class once at Choate, Mr. Wollman said, “I enjoyed having and talking to enthusiastic, hardworking, and good Chinese speakers sharing their opinions freely.” Mr. Wollman is currently teaching three Chinese classes at Choate.
Mr. Wollman started learning Chinese for the first time in a class taken in high school and found it interesting and challenging, as it did not resemble English in any way, and the grammar was simple to learn. From then on, his interest in Chinese grew. The benefits from speaking the language attracted him to learn even more. Mr. Wollman considers the process of learning a language essential as it forces people to empathize with people from different cultures, which helps to unlock new perspectives in viewing the world.
Mr. Wollman said, “The students I teach ask interesting and complex questions about China, Chinese language, and Chinese culture, prompting me to think about the language in new ways and learn more about the aspects of Chinese that students are curious about.” In his time at Choate, Mr. Wollman said, “I hope to continue to gain fresh understandings of Chinese through the students’ curiosity and eagerness for knowledge.”
