Mandarin

Course outline

Edexcel (AS only) - offered in the Enrichment block)

Our AS Level Chinese is offered as an enrichment course which provides the advanced learners the opportunity to study Chinese up to AS level within two years. The enrichment course syllabus is based on contemporary topics which you will find useful for work, higher education and for personal use. It will give you a solid grounding in the language skills and knowledge of contemporary society.

The course covers two core themes which include Changes of Contemporary Chinese Society and Chinese Culture. In the first year, four major topic areas are taught for Theme 1 Contemporary Chinese Society: family structures and generation gap, family plan and aging problems, school life, job opportunity and balance between work and life.

In the second year, another four topics will be introduced for Theme 2 Chinese Culture: festivals, customs, films and TV, music and books. At the end of the two years’ study, students will sit EDEXCEL Level 3 Advanced Subsidiary GCE in Chinese, the AS level exam.

The course is examined over 4 core areas; Listening, speaking, reading and writing – 25% for each skills.

“Mandarin Chinese is such a unique language. I love writing the Mandarin characters because they offer you space to imagine the pictures hidden behind them. Moreover, learning Mandarin is exciting and opens up a window into other cultures and ways of thinking.”

“Learning without thinking begets ignorance. Thinking without learning is dangerous.”

- Confucius Lun Yu Chapter 2