Modern Languages Blog

This competition is supported by the HSBC Global Education Programme and organised by the British Council to support and promote the teaching of Chinese as a modern foreign language in UK schools.

Regional heats will be held in London and Newcastle in mid December 2009 and successful competitors will be invited to the competition final at the British Museum in March 2010. The winning prize is a trip to Beijing in April 2010.

Interested schools should complete the online registration form at https://survey.britishcouncil.org/wix/p9070429.aspx by Friday 23 October 2009. 

More information on the competition and the judging criteria can be found on the British Council website: http://www.britishcouncil.org/schoolpartnerships-chinese-speaking-competition.htm

This month is the 60th Anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Throughout Oct and Nov the transformation of China will be celebrated by a varied programme of events organised or sponsored by the Confucius Institute for Scotland.

http://www.confuciusinstitute.ac.uk/

British Council Scotland has introduced a new induction day for the latest group of Chinese language assistants arriving to work in Scottish schools.

http://www.britishcouncil.org/scotland-learning-language-assistants-china-induction

From the creative studio director of the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony, a Chinese multi-media adaptation of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’.

This unique interactive production features 18 Chinese performers, music, dancing and martial arts, fused with online computer gaming and video technology, in a visually spectacular performance…but who is controlling the fates… ?

Ten nights: 14-23 August, 7.00pm

Three matinees: 16, 22 & 23 August, 2.30pm

Tickets: £12 (£10); Preview 14 August £6

For more information please visit http://www.confuciusinstitute.ac.uk/BFA/

To book please call 0131 651 1292 or book online through Edinburgh Fringe Box Office

or University Festivals Box Office

The first probationer teachers expected to achieve full registration in Chinese Mandarin were celebrated at an event hosted by the General Teaching Council for Scotland on 19 June.

China has the third largest economy in the world and Scotland’s pupils are being encouraged to learn Chinese Mandarin so they can compete in the rapidly changing business world. The language is one of the top three spoken around the globe and the teaching of it in schools is becoming increasingly popular.

The Scotsman: Milestone as Scotland gets first teachers of Chinese

GTCS article: Congratulations – award for first teachers registered to teach Mandarin 

In association with the Confucius Institute and other bodies, the Scottish Centre for Chinese studies is presenting a lecture on Chinese literature.
Below is some information about the lecture:

Date: Tuesday 28 April
Time: 5.15 – 6.30 pm
Location: Lecture Theatre, Hugh Robson Building 10-15, George Square, Edinburgh

Speaker: HAN Dong, Chinese poet and novelist
Topic: New Words, New Roads: Chinese Literature in the World Followed by panel discussion with translators of contemporary Chinese literature.

Download more information PDF file: Han Dong talk

This lecture is FREE. You are very welcome to attend should you be interested in China, literature or translation studies.

The Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) is looking for advice from teachers about how Chinese language, history and culture can be more widely taught to children and young people in the UK.
To share your views please complete the following survey:

https://surveycenter.pwc.com/se.ashx?s=1A7312042DDA0B32

The TESS reports: Online may be the way ahead to assess pupils’ learning in Mandarin, says Christine Pollock, executive director of learning and leisure at North Lanarkshire Council.

Read the full article online at http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6009436?

Hillhead High School has been chosen as the location of Glasgow’s first Confucius Classroom, part of a network of similar units at secondaries across Scotland.

The Confucius Classroom will give pupils lessons in Chinese language and culture and will also be used to organise trips to China and develop links with Chinese people living in Scotland. Although Hillhead High is the location of the new hub, the intention is to provide a facility that other schools and communities in Glasgow will be able to use.

The initiative is being delivered as a partnership between Glasgow City Council, Learning and Teaching Scotland and the Hanban – the organisation in China with responsibility for the promotion of Chinese language and culture.

www.LTScotland.org.uk/news/2009/educational/february/news_tcm4535374.asp?strReferringChannel=ltscotland

The Scottish Government has announced that a group of Scottish pupils will undergo a Chinese immersion course this summer on a two and half week visit to China. A total of 51 pupils and nine teachers will have the chance to learn Chinese and gain first-hand experience of Chinese culture.

The study visit is being organised by Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) and the British Council, alongside the Hanban in China – the Office of Chinese Language Council International.

Read more from the Scottish Government news.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2009/02/20104349