Mandarin
This subject allows students to develop the ability to communicate with Chinese native speakers in both speech and writing.
Students will study across a variety of contexts relevant to their age and interests and will also develop a greater awareness of Chinese-speaking communities, cultures and countries. You will need to develop and use your knowledge and understanding of Chinese grammar progressively through your course of study.
What will you study?
- You will study the key language for each topic as follows:
Theme 1:
Identity and Culture
Topic 1
Me, my family and friends
Topic 2
Technology in everyday life
Topic 3
Free-time activities
Topic 4
Customs and festivals in Chinese speaking countries and communities
Theme 2:
Local, national, international and global areas of interest
Topic 1
Home, town, neighbourhood, and region
Topic 2
Social issues
Topic 3
Global issues
Topic 4
Travel and Tourism
Theme 3:
Current and future studies and employment
Topic 1
My studies
Topic 2
My life at school/college
Topic 3
Education Post 16
Topic 4
Job, career choice and ambitions
2. You will study key grammar/structures as follows:
- Nouns
- Measure words
- Adjectives/stative verbs
- Exclamation and interjections
- comparatives
- Adverbs
- Pronouns
- Verbs
- Preposition/co-verbs
- Interrogatives
- Location
- Conjunctions
- Number, quality, dates and time
3. You will also develop skills of a great linguist throughout the course such as
- Speaking Spontaneity
- Techniques in role play
- Techniques in translation
- Listening skills
- Reading skills
- Approaching Authentic material
How will you be assessed?
The assessment will consist of four exam papers one skill each: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Each paper is allocated with 25% of the overall weighting. Students will be assessed on how well they have achieved the following objectives:
- Listening – understand and respond to different types of spoken language.
- Speaking – Communicating and interacting effectively in speech for a variety of purposes
- Reading – understand and respond to different types of written language.
- Writing – Communicating effectively in writing for a variety of purposes
What qualities do I need to be successful in the subject?
A successful Mandarin learner is someone who
- is not afraid of making mistakes;
- can recognise patterns and not get caught up in rules;
- plays an active role in-class activities and language-learning activities outside class;
- listens to and speaks Mandarin as much as they can!;
- devotes extra time to memorise and write Chinese characters by heart.
What future opportunities can I have with this subject?
Learning Mandarin will allow you to communicate with over one billion Mandarin speakers. It will open up new job opportunities everywhere and help you to gain a competitive advantage, especially in the business world. By having a good command of Mandarin, you will enjoy movies, TV shows, music and literature authentically and form a stronger relationship with your co-workers and friends. By studying Mandarin at GCSE level, you will be able to further study it at A-level and degree level and have access into one of the richest civilisations in the world.
Who should I contact for further information?
Contact Mr Chen (l.chen@kwschool.co.uk) for further information.
