Overview of Mandarin Curriculum

The Chinese Language curriculum has adopted the Chinese Made Easy books for Grades 1-12.   This series is widely used in international schools and has been reviewed very favorably.  Students in Mandarin classes are divided in 3 skill levels – beginning, intermediate and advanced.  This grouping helps students to acquire the language at a faster rate.  Instruction is comprehensive and includes all 4 modalities of learning – speaking, listening, reading, and writing.   These modalities are emphasized at different times in the language acquisition process.  The goal in high school is that Mandarin students would be able to successfully pass a standardized language test such as HSK (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi or The Chinese Proficiency Test) or AP (Advanced Placement Chinese Language).

Language Level

Teaching materials

Focus on

Teaching areas

 

 

Beginning Level

Grade 1-3: Chinese Made Easy ( For kids)

Grade 4-12: Chinese Made Easy ( For adult)

 

Listening

Speaking
  • Listening: Students can understand when other people are speaking
  • Speaking: Students can communicate with others in Chinese effectively
  • Reading: Pinyin , Chinese characters and short passages
  • Writing: Writes strokes , Chinese characters and short composition

 

 

Intermediate Level

Grade 1-3: Chinese Made Easy ( For kids)

Grade 4-12: Chinese Made Easy ( For adult)

 

Speaking

Reading
  • Listening: Students can understand when other people are speaking
  • Speaking: Students can communicate with others in Chinese effectively
  • Reading: Recognizes more Chinese characters and understands longer passages
  • Writing: Writes more Chinese characters and longer compositions

 

 

 

Advanced Level

Grade 1-3: Chinese Made Easy ( For kids)/ Yu Wen)

Grade 4-12: Chinese Made Easy ( For adult)

 

Reading

Writing
  • Listening: Students can understand when other people are speaking
  • Speaking: Students can communicate with others in Chinese effectively
  • Reading: Recognizes a large number of Chinese characters and understands more complicated passages
  • Writing: Writes a large number of Chinese characters and more complex writing tasks