Head of Oriental Studies - Mrs V Allen

Chinese is offered as a second language which students can start in Year 8.   Chinese started at Torquay Boys' Grammar School in September 2006. 

Currently there are 2 groups in Years 8 and 9 and 35 students out of 50 have opted to take Chinese to GCSE so there are 2 groups in Year 10. 

Chinese is also offered to Sixth Form students doing International Baccalaureate (IB) at Ab Initio level (no previous knowledge of the language required).

What will we be doing?

• There are many different Chinese dialects in mainland China alone. We shall be studying Mandarin Chinese which is taught in all schools across mainland China including Hong Kong.
• Basic communication in Chinese including everyday situations such as asking and answering questions regarding personal information; counting and use of counters in Chinese; situation-based role plays covering shopping, travel, and leisure.
• Covering the basics of the Chinese written language, historically and structurally; learning how to read and write basic Chinese characters in the simplified form as used in

mainland China and how to recognise examples of the traditional form; how to use a dictionary.

• Learning about daily life through our partner school in China and deepening understanding through a study of Chinese tradition, culture and festivals here in the UK

Why is it important to learn Chinese?

• China is the most highly populated country in the world with 1.28 billion people. Since the late 1990s, it is also the fastest growing consumer economy.
• Mandarin Chinese is spoken by 885 million speakers. The remainder of China's population speak dialects such as Wu (Shanghai dialect) and Yue (Cantonese dialect). Yet relatively few people outside of China speak the language.
• It is an ideal language to learn for a future career: for example, in the spheres of trade and finance, it will be vital to have some understanding of Chinese business matters and language. Companies such as HSBC are already training their UK employees how to use basic business Chinese. In travel and tourism, not only are there many groups visiting China but also many Chinese groups travelling to Europe and, in particular, the UK.

Possible visits and exchanges

• The British Council runs an annual summer immersion course in conjunction with the University of National Minorities, Beijing. This is a three week programme comprising of language lessons each morning and cultural activities and visits in the afternoon. There are events at the weekends and an opportunity to visit a Chinese family for a day. Place are limited to 16 students and three teachers from each school.
• A link is being established with Jiaxing University, China.
• In the future there may be the possibility of a traditional exchange with this school similar to those conducted with European schools.

How students at TBGS benefit?

• Taking a course is a great opportunity to learn a language which is completely alien to your own. It is also a great opportunity to work outside of the familiar.
• Talking Chinese can actually improve your mental power by learning how to arrange your thought into alternative patterns.
• Taking Chinese gives opportunities to sample aspects of culture, society, literature and history potentially leading to in-depth studies
• Chinese has its rewards. There are no tenses, no agreements or declensions as in European languages. Once you have learnt the character for a verb, it can apply to the first second or third person, can be singular or plural, can be the past, present or future tense without changing the verb.
• Chinese is perfect for gifted and talented students as a means of stretching their abilities and horizons. It also looks great on university applications, regardless of the main subject applied for.
• There is nowhere else in Devon, Somerset and Cornwall where an 11-18 year old pupil could study Chinese as part of a daytime school curriculum.
• With David Blunkett's visit to China in 2000 as Education Minister, he promised that the government would support the teaching and learning of Mandarin Chinese in the UK. Since then, the number of state schools offering Mandarin Chinese has tripled through programmes offered by the British Council, Specialist Schools Trust and HSBC. The summer immersion course as described above is part of this programme.