Chinese (Mandarin)

Our teachers are native speakers, brilliant Educators and are amazing at connecting with, and inspiring their students.

Pre-schooler Mandarin

Lots of songs, rhymes, puppet play, play-doh, origami (to get the fingers nimble ready for writing characters when they’re older) and water paint calligraphy. Lots and lots of active games – jumping/hopping, hiding/seeking and touching/feeling things. Our pre-schooler programs are very ‘hands on’ and include many sensory elements to get the children engaged and speaking Chinese naturally. We explicitly teach the following topics using our play-based methodology;
Where is China; Basic Greetings; Numbers 1-20; Colours; eating and drinking; fruits, common animals (farm and zoo animals); body parts & clothing; the outdoors & environment; weather; transport; and movement/actions.

We explore many of the cultural elements of China including panda bears, Chinese Dragons and Lions, Chinese New Year, the Harvest Moon Festival, the Chinese Horoscope/Years, Chinese Foods, Chinese Masks & Fans and what Christmas and Easter is like for children living in China.

Primary Mandarin Beginner

We begin the pinyin alphabet and learning the correct tones when the children get into Prep. Our 2-year rolling beginner’s program includes  (but is not limited to): Basic Greetings; Numbers 1-100; Colours; Food, drinks & eating; Fruits; Vegetables; common animals; farm and zoo animals; body parts & clothing; the outdoors & environment; weather; transport; sport and movement.

The children learn about the different regions of China and explore many of the cultural elements and celebrations/festivals including;  Pandas, Chinese Dragons and Lions, Chinese New Year, the Harvest Moon Festival, the Chinese Horoscope/Years, Chinese Foods, Chinese Masks & Fans and what Christmas and Easter is like for children living in China.

Primary Mandarin Intermediate

Once children have mastered their pinyin alphabet and can read pinyin, they progress into our intermediate classes. They continue to consolidate their pinyin, tones and core vocab. We also extend their core vocab topics adding more words and phrases.

This level develops many of the foundational sentence patterns and  develops reading and written fluency. They begin to rote learn their characters. They consolidate their learning with numeracy with additional numbers to 1000, using applied processes in time, basic maths (+ – / x) and money. The children often use multiple formats for learning and presenting their achievements in drama or tech applications.

Primary Mandarin Advanced

Children must be either fluent in basic Mandarin or have already done 5 years+ learning conversational Mandarin. Building fluency in reading, writing and speaking Mandarin. Preparation for Secondary level certificate Chinese/VCE subjects.

Chinese maths; Chinese writing activities; Chinese conversational games. Tutors can assist with school-based work/homework in these groups as well.