Course: Foundation Mandarin Chinese
This course builds on Beginner's Chinese and aims to prepare students for further study at the senior level
When:
Full Year
Subject Area(s)
Mandarin Chinese
Foundation level. For learners who have had some experience in learning Mandarin Chinese
The students will
- learn five topics in a school year: food, shopping, school life, travel, and health
- learn to use the internet resources to study Chinese
- learn to type Chinese characters
- learn Chinese customs and culture
- practice Chinese calligraphy and painting (optional)
Requirements
Online access
School and/or personal computers will need to be able to produce text in Chinese
Assessment
Students will be assessed at the end of each topic in listening, reading and writing. By the end of the year, students will make an one-minute speech in Chinese introducing themselves.A closed book exam will also be held in November to test students’ listening, reading and writing ability.
About the Teacher
Wei Mao
Wei Mao has been teaching second language (both Chinese and English) for more than fifteen years. In New Zealand she has taught Chinese at different language proficiency levels and learners from a wide variety of educational contexts including primary, secondary and tertiary institutions. For the last two years she has also been teaching online Chinese for NetNZ. As a second language teaching major, she completed her BA in English education in China, next a graduate diploma in second language teaching at the University of Otago and then an MA in Applied Linguistics (second language teaching) at Victory University of Wellington. Currently she is also completing her Phd research project on intercultural language education in New Zealand. She is very excited to offer the online intercultural course for secondary learners in New Zealand. Ms Mao’s hobbies include salsa dancing, hiking, cooking with her family and friends in her spare time.