On the 2nd and 5th of July the English department had a special visit from Mrs Li, a Mandarin teacher from the University of Kent. Year 8 students have been studying an autobiography called Chinese Cinderella this term. The narrative explores the story of Adeline Yen Mah, a young girl who faced many obstacles in her life, however she overcame these with her dedication and love of education.

Throughout the autobiography it states the importance of the Chinese language, especially the pictorial symbols, this lead to the idea of getting a specialist in to teach the girls about aspects of the Chinese language. This included: names, tones, numbers, Chinese food, Chinese characters and most importantly, Mrs Li went through Adeline’s family tree.

The students found this immensely interesting, with some even wanting to continue this on at university! Some of the students wanted to write reviews about their experience. This is what they had to say…

Grace Year 8: “I enjoyed the lesson greatly because it was something different. It was actually made super easy to understand how to speak Chinese. I loved the audience interaction and it has made me want to study Mandarin in the future, either at A level or university.”

Lillie Year 8: “This Mandarin lesson was great and enjoyable. I loved every second of it from learning the dialect and numbers to the characters and even the family history. The teacher was amazing and broke down the basics into sizeable and understandable chunks. I would love to take more lessons like this in the future as it was very educational and fun. Thank you so much for the lovely experience.”

Vasa Year 8: “The Mandarin lesson was amazing. It was exciting to relearn the numbers and family members in Chinese. I loved learning about the past and how she could break it down to make it easier to understand.”

We would like to express our gratitude towards Mrs Li for visiting the school and sharing her expertise. Zàijiàn (再见).