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Dear Mandarin Teachers,
 
I'm so glad this topic "Mission Impossible" has come up. As a matter of fact, someone I know dearly (lives near London area) is been challenged by thier Head of Modern Languages about the time taken for pupils to achieve GCSE Chinese for grade A in one year!!!
 
The Head said if their Japanese teacher has claimed and achieved that a small group of high achievers year 11 students (non-Japanese backgrround) took Japanesse in one year (2 hours a week after school activity) and got their GCSE all grade A, so why cannot the Chinese teachers offer the same package. The Japanese teacher also claimed that there is a shortcut to achieve that, i.e. teach them a lot of exam skills and memorising wordlists and do loads and loads of past papers. I told them that the Japanese has a lot of "loan words" similar to the Western languages, therefore can be picked up by English speakers quicker than picking up the Chinese/characters.
 
Would any of you have other insights and stronger points - my friend doesn't want to push or cram in the students too much but the school wants to use "one year for GCSE Chinese" as a selling point. Please help!!! Thank you.
 
Kind regards,
 
Sophia

george zhiyuzhao <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
in my school plan, my students who are british students without any chinese knowledge are going to take GCSE within two years. time is not enough but still possible having good result in two years.
 
so, be confident.
 
george

> Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2007 09:56:04 +0000
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Mission Impossible?
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
> I would say it depends very much on the students' ability, commitment
> and timetabled hours as to how possible it is for them to achieve good
> grades at GCSE. If they have no Chinese background, but are committed
> and willing to put in a lot of effort independently, reviewing
> characters regularly, then it is not impossible for them to do well at
> this level.
>
> We teach all non-Chinese pupils at KLB School from Y7 to Y13. The
> students opt to take the language and are generally very enthusiastic
> and willing to learn. Mandarin shares the same curriculum time (10%) as
> all of the other languages - 4 hours a fortnight in Y7, 5 hours in Y8,
> 6 hours in Y11.
>
> Our experience has shown that with 5 years of lessons, very able and
> committed pupils can achieve the higher grades, and less well committed
> pupils achieve lower grades, in line with the amount of effort they put
> in.
>
> Michelle
>
> ----Original Message----
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Date: 29-Nov-2007 08:18
> To:
> Subj: Re: Mission Impossible?
>
>
>
>
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> I have five non-native students taking
> GCSE in 2004 after three years from year 9 &#8211; year 11 and four
> achieved A*,
> one was one percent from A*. I have twelve students going to take GCSE
> this
> coming summer and I expect them to do very well. The students have two
> and half
> hours of lesson time each week and it should be enough to bring anyone
> non-natives to GCSE level, in my opinion. We use GCSE for Chinese.
> We are a little too negative ourselves,
> sometimes!
>
> Yan
>
>
>
>
>
> From:
> Mandarin Chinese Teaching
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of ru lan
> Sent: 2007年11月28日 22:07
> To:
> [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Mission Impossible?
>
>
> Hello Everyone,
>
> My school is planning to introduce Mandarin up to GCSE level. I was
> asked if
> I could take Year 9 pupils from beginner's level to GCSE in 3 to 3.5
> years. My initial response is it will be very difficult and it might
> be
> impossible even the kids are very bright (a selective school with very
> outstanding GCSE and A Level results). At the moment I am
> investigating if this
> is a difficult mission but achievable, or simply an impossible
> mission.
>
> As far as I know, it normally takes around 4 to 5 years to take
> beginners
> to GCSE level. Kids from a Chinese background can take
> shorter time while non-native speakers will take longer. Definitely,
> I will get more teaching hours (at least 4 lessons per week) and
> select
> students based on their language capability, enthusiasm and study
> skills. I
> will also try to keep the class size to around 10.
>
> Could you please voice your opinion?
>
> I would also like to know how GCSE Mandarin is taught in your school
> in terms
> of years taken, number of lessons, selection of students, class size,
> text
> books etc.
>
> Thank you for your help!
>
> Lan Ru
>
>
>
>
>
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> Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL50 3EP
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> ..............................................................................................................................
> Michelle Tate
> Head of Oriental Languages
> Katharine Lady Berkeley's School
> Wotton-under-Edge
> Glos. GL12 8RB
>
> Tel: 01453-842227
> Email: [log in to unmask]
> ..


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