The challenge of Chinese

Poly’s Mandarin courses develop multiple skills
The students who choose to learn Mandarin Chinese in the Middle and Upper Schools’ World Languages programs access a unique challenge: While acquiring new vocabulary and sentence structures, they must begin to recognize and write Chinese characters, as well as adapt to unfamiliar pronunciation technique. “Learning Mandarin is like taking up two languages,” Upper School Chinese teacher Lois Chung says. “Everything is new in both visual and auditory ways.”

Students may begin Mandarin instruction in sixth grade at Poly, and the offering continues through the AP level in the Upper School. Courses progress through basic listening and speaking skills along with vocabulary taught with both characters and the phonetic system of Pinyin. Ultimately the program builds students’ fluid conversation about everyday culture or literature and the effective use of characters without phonetic translation.

Chung explains a full immersion in Chinese language and culture is most effective in growing students’ overall capacity for Mandarin. Strong support from the Poly community creates these immersion opportunities outside the classroom, whether on campus or abroad. School-wide Chinese New Year celebrations entail Mandarin student-led presentations in drama or martial arts, and Poly’s Global Initiatives Program helps connect students with travel opportunities to China.

“We have a lot of goals,” Chung says of enriching Mandarin instruction at Poly. From acquiring Chinese instruments and costumes to offering a language immersion summer program in China and Taiwan, she sees beneficial impact in the future. “The Poly community’s growing support for the Mandarin program allows us to bring even better learning opportunities to the students.”
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