Dr. Haiyan Fan

What happens when twelve years of language teaching converge with cognitive science, information systems design and UX design?

Seeing a Familiar Language Differently

For Dr. Fan, those interdisciplinary lenses changed the way she saw her own native language.

After years of teaching English in China and Chinese in the United States, combined with interdisciplinary training in Applied Linguistics and Management Information Systems (M.A. and M.S. from the University of Arizona; Ph.D. from Texas A&M University), Dr. Fan came to see L2 language acquisition as more than immersion, comprehensible input, and repetition.

MetaChinese Institute grew from that perspective—helping L2 Chinese learners see this seemingly difficult language in a new light, while advancing research on how linguistic structure, prior knowledge, and cognitive readiness shape language acquisition and literacy development.

From Insight to Practice

Dr. Fan is a published author and the creator of Chinestory: Learning Chinese through Pictures and Stories, a teen adventure story that weaves the origin stories of 150 Chinese characters through visual storytelling.

Her 2019 TEDx talk, Learn Chinese in the 21st Century, presented the educational concept Grow a Language Tree, which received the 2019 iF Design Award in the Education category.

She later coached students to 1st Place in the U.S. National Chinese Speech Contest in 2023 and 2024 and received the 2023 U.S. Heartland China Association Teacher Award.

Bringing a New L2 Chinese Learning Experience to a Global Audience

Her work has also expanded to adult learners through The Great Courses, with a new 24-episode Mandarin Chinese series scheduled for release in 2027.

Pilot Lecture: Learning Mandarin Chinese—Numbers and Tones

Discover a new way to think about and experience language in Learning Mandarin Chinese: Numbers and Tones. Taught by Dr. Haiyan Fan of Haas Hall Academy, this lecture will introduce you to the sounds and structures of a tonal language whose roots go back more than 3,000 years.

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Selected Recognition & Media