Oak Hill School is proud to have offered the Mandarin Chinese program to the students since September 2006. Our Mandarin classes teach students basic Chinese vocabulary, Chinese characters, Pinyin, grammar, sentences, and phrases. We teach our students to listen, talk, read, write and type in the Chinese language. The classes offer a way for students to learn to speak, read and write Chinese while exploring the art and culture of China. Our activity-based curriculum enables students to acquire practical communication skills and experience the joy of learning another language.
For the Lower School Mandarin Chinese classes, we organize teaching and learning materials based on the needs and characteristics of students, with the goal of making the classes more interactive than just “teaching books”. The materials use Pinyin, Chinese characters and English together with an emphasis on learning communication skills. The classes cover many topics in real life. Lessons are organized around themes such as family, food, and animals via class instruction and through songs, rhymes, calligraphy, stories, and games. Students study the Chinese language in small, hands-on classes.
For the Upper school Mandarin Chinese classes, we continue to teach the students Chinese vocabulary, phrases, pinyin, characters, grammar, and sentences. Students have also developed skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing Mandarin Chinese while exploring the art and culture of China. The basic textbook for this course is Learning Chinese With Me. The teaching materials are organized around thematic units that are essential to daily communication. The students have learnt the vocabulary related to the theme, the grammar and expressions they need to communicate about the theme. All students are expected to be able to use Mandarin Chinese to communicate in various aspects of life. Language is part of culture, and it represents and reflects the worldviews and customs held by the people of a culture. The Upper School Mandarin class students create and nurture respect and love through achieving comprehension of another language.
We currently offer two levels of Mandarin class for the Upper school students. Additional Mandarin Chinese courses will be offered at Oak Hill to accommodate student needs so that, eventually, students in the current 7th grade class and students following them can continue Mandarin studies through to the Mandarin Advanced Placement (AP) test.
Language strategies help students to meet the challenge of the unfamiliar. By rising to stiff linguistic challenges the student gains confidence as he or she discovers an entire new world both in language and in self. The Chinese language is a unique language, and the Chinese culture is one of the oldest and richest cultures in the world. We strongly believe that learning the Chinese language will enrich the Oak Hill experience of the children and guide them along the path of becoming world citizens and life long learners.
