As an international school located in Southern China, international mandarin language education is an important part of CIS‘s holistic curriculum. Mastering a second language gives our students the chance to appreciate different cultures and represent themselves with confidence in the global community.
Teaching Hours
Grade | Hours |
Early Childhood Education | 2 class per week 40mins per class |
Kindergarten to Grade 9 | 5 classes per week 40mins per class |
Grade 10-12 | 5 classes per week 80mins per day |
Differentiated Learning Outcomes
The learning goals of our Mandarin Curriculum focus on both cultural understanding and language skills. Based on students’ levels, the CIS mandarin classes are divided by native-speaker and non-native speaker classes.
General Goals for Native Classes
· Discover the beauty of Chinese language culture
· Build up Chinese culture identity
· Be an active learner of Chinese language
· Represent Chinese culture in global community
General Goals for Non-native Classes
· Discover the beauty of Chinese language culture
· Cultivate interest and love in learning the language
· Learn to appreciate Chinese culture and literature
· Integrate into local culture
Mandarin Classes in Early Years
Our Mandarin classes in ECE share the same focus on play-based learning. Students are able to:
· Develop listening and speaking skills by sharing ideas, stories and rhymes
· Share understandings of ideas and information about people, places or things that are real or imaginary
· Contribute to discussions by asking questions and speaking in sentences that contain complete ideas
· Recognize Chinese alphabets and simple Chinese characters
In our PreK-4 classes, students listened to and shared the story “Wolf”, and made their own wolf masks!
K-9 Mandarin Curriculum
In alignment with the IB PYP, Elementary students learn Chinese language skills and develop cultural understanding in their Units of Inquiry. In Grades 1-6, students are able to:
· Explore transdisciplinary themes and Chinese culture
· Read and write sight characters, use language reference books and apply language skills in daily communication
· Develop listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing and presenting skills
· Foster a love for reading and master basic reading methods
· Focus on connection with real world problems and issues, to inspire sustainable actions
In Grade 1-9, 25% of curriculum content focuses on traditional poetry.
Meanwhile, students in Junior High focus on in-depth language and cultural learning. In Grades 7-9, students are able to:
· Learn to read, understand and write essay/report/novel/explanatory context etc.
· Research and discuss global and Chinese cultural issues
· Develop critical thinking and presentation skills, as promote imagination and creativity
· Learn about drama in Chinese culture
· Distinguish and understand both fiction and non-fiction contexts, and explore and establish their own understanding about the connections within history, both current and future
CIS also has various choices of Chinese Culture Art-in-Residence programs, including calligraphy and Chinese painting taught by masters in Chinese traditional arts.
High School: Advantages of Learning our Host Country’s Language
Mandarin is optional in the Alberta High School Curriculum and is counted as 5 credits in each course level. With a strong foundation of language learning, some CIS High School students take this Chinese language curriculum all the way to -30 (highest level in Grade 12). As international applicants to universities around the world, our students benefit from having strong language credit courses on their transcript, showcasing not only their skills in languages but also their multi-cultural understanding of the global community.
Our Mandarin team organizes and put together cultural activities and annual celebrations for students to enjoy the beauty of Chinese culture. Check out our annual CNY ‘Back to School’ celebration soon!
Our All-Star Mandarin Teaching Team
CIS Mandarin team is a team of professional and caring teachers, all with Master’s degrees from prestigious universities, majoring in Chinese Language Teaching for both native and international learners. They possess strong skills to differentiate language teaching and learning. They are also active communicators of culture who constantly seek to ensure students build an international mindset whilst appreciating Chinese culture.
CIS uses People's Education Press Textbooks and Easy Steps to Chinese as native and non-native mandarin textbooks.
If you want to learn more about our Mandarin curriculum or our Chinese After School Activities (ASAs), call us today and book an appointment for an in-person chat. We’d love to show you around our traditional Chinese classrooms, tell you about our CIS language curriculum outcomes and show you some of our students’ projects!
