  J.L. and C.L. are two of my Mandarin students with Cantonese background and years attending Chinese school.
What a joy this brother-sister team is to teach! With all the discipline of a model student, I never need to deal with attention or behavioral issues during class sessions. The challenge for teen language learners seems to be keeping them interested and guiding them to fully utilize their vocabulary, sentence structure, and creativity.
Some of the recent assignments I have come up with are: Create a skit between a teenage boy trying to solicit information about another girl from the girl's school friend. Conduct internet search of unfamiliar phrases/expressions. Bring a favorite music CD and introduce it to an audience (updated version of Show-and-Tell). Watch a Chinese movie and provide verbal summary. Read a comic strip and comment on its style and humor. Now how is that for a healthy dose of homework? 
