Chinese language special
Chinese language assistants
There were four Chinese foreign language assistants in Scotland in 2005-6, the first time Chinese language assistants featured in Scottish schools. Lingwei in East Lothian’s Dunbar Grammar School offers her perspective, while Anna Zeng reveals her experiences with Chinese teaching at George Heriot’s School, Edinburgh. You can find out even more about their experiences in our foreign language assistants section.
Anna
In these two video interviews, Anna explains that language learning starts with culture when it comes to Mandarin Chinese. She also explains the differences between the various Chinese dialects, the system of learning Chinese and the reasons why Mandarin is a good choice of language for young learners.
Find out more about the Chinese language in this entry on Wikipedia, the free, editable encyclopaedia.
| Chinese teaching | |
|---|---|
| Description | Anna talks about her teaching methods for introducing students to the Chinese language and culture. |
| Duration | 2 minutes 47 seconds |
| Windows version |  Windows Media video: Chinese language special - Chinese teaching |
| Mac version |  QuickTime movie: Chinese language special - Chinese teaching |
| Transcript | Transcript for Chinese language special video - Chinese teaching |
| Chinese - why Mandarin? | |
|---|---|
| Description | Anna explains the reasons why Mandarin is a good choice of language for young learners. |
| Duration | 2 minutes 48 seconds |
| Windows version | Windows Media video: Chinese language special - Why teach Mandarin? |
| Mac version | QuickTime movie: Chinese language special - Why teach Mandarin? |
| Transcript | Transcript for Chinese language special video - Why teach Mandarin? |
Lingwei
Lingwei talks about the three teaching highlights from her enjoyable year in Dunbar Grammar School. From working with home economics students to make Chinese spring rolls, to teaching calligraphy, her ideas could provide a fascinating introduction to Chinese for any languages class.
| Chinese teaching - three highlights | |
|---|---|
| Description | Lingwei talks about three highlights of her time teaching Chinese. |
| Duration | 3 minutes 12 seconds |
| Windows version | Windows Media video: Chinese language special - Three highlights of teaching Chinese |
| Mac version | QuickTime movie: Chinese language special - Three highlights of teaching Chinese |
| Transcript | Transcript for Chinese language special video - 3 highlights of teaching Chinese |
Chinese calligraphy and quizzes
Meryl James, Perth and Kinross, has kindly provided this introductory guide to Chinese calligraphy. She has also created a pair of Chinese culture quizzes to help get your cultural elements off to a good start (answers in the MFLE forums).
Word file: The art of Chinese calligraphy (1.6 MB)