Language & Culture Instruction Video Series
Project Info
Audience: Entry-level Chinese learners and people who are interested in Chinese culture.
Responsibilities: Instructional Design, eLearning Development, Graphic Design, Video Edit
Tools Used: Adobe Premiere, Adobe Express, Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo, iThoughtsX, Bitmoji, PowerPoint
Year: 2020
Overview
This language and culture instruction video series How to order Chinese food like a boss aims to introduce Chinese food culture to Chinese learners and culture lovers, as well as provide a chance for them to learn certain entry-level Chinese vocabulary and expressions. The series contains five videos that cover the cooking styles of Chinese food, the 10 most common herbs and spices used in Chinese dishes, the rules of ordering Chinese dishes, and how to order food in Chinese.
As a Chinese instructor, I received many questions about Chinese food, such as “What are those in this dish? Can I eat them?” or “Is this dish for one person, or should we share it together?” I’m glad my students bring those questions to me because when it comes to studying a second language, it’s not just learning the words and pronunciations but also embracing the culture behind the language. Therefore, I designed and developed this self-learning video series to elaborate on the Chinese food culture and manner.
Problem & Solutions
I conducted a questionnaire for my students to collect data regarding their interests and confusion on Chinese food-related topics. According to the results, herbs and species in Chinese food and how to order Chinese food are the top 2 most popular topics.
I used a mindmap tool, iThoughtsX, to design and arrange video content. To add more color to the videos, I designed a logo and thumbnails for videos by Affinity Designer and a series of animation characters by the Bitmoji App. I developed web pages by Adobe Express and slides by PowerPoint to present the e-learning content. Then I recorded my lectures and edited the videos by Adobe Premiere Pro. An attractive food topic instruction can’t be without fascinating pictures, so I also used Affinity Photo to edit graphics. After finishing the final touch on the videos, I published them on Youtube.
