Oak Hill School is proud to have offered the Mandarin Chinese program to the students since September 2006. Our Mandarin classes teach students basic Chinese vocabulary, Chinese characters, Pinyin, grammar, sentences, and phrases. We teach our students to listen, talk, read, write, and type in the Chinese language. The classes offer a way for students to learn to speak, read and write Chinese while exploring the art and culture of China. Our activity-based curriculum enables students to acquire practical communication skills and experience the joy of learning another language.
For the Lower School Mandarin Chinese classes, we organize teaching and learning materials based on the needs and characteristics of students, with the goal of making the classes more interactive than just “teaching books”. The materials use Pinyin, Chinese characters, and English together with an emphasis on learning communication skills. The classes cover many topics in real life. Lessons are organized around themes such as family, food, and animals via class instruction and through songs, rhymes, calligraphy, stories, and games. Students study the Chinese language in small, hands-on classes.
Language strategies help students to meet the challenge of the unfamiliar. By rising to stiff linguistic challenges the student gains confidence as he or she discovers an entire new world both in language and in self. The Chinese language is a unique language, and the Chinese culture is one of the oldest and richest cultures in the world. We strongly believe that learning the Chinese language will enrich the Oak Hill experience of the children and guide them along the path of becoming world citizens and lifelong learners.