Experience China Course 2013

Experience China 1

Applications for 2013 are now closed.

The Experience China Course is a three-week immersive course that equips UK qualified teachers with basic knowledge of Chinese language to begin teaching beginner-level Chinese in their schools upon their return to the UK. It also serves as a catalyst for the introduction of Chinese in their schools or supports any existing Chinese teaching in their schools. All applicants for the course need to provide a strong rationale for why they want to take the course and how they plan to develop their own Chinese and the provision of Chinese in their school. Applications must be supported by the school leadership.

Who should apply?
Primary or secondary teachers looking to teach beginners’ level Mandarin Chinese in their schools.

How to apply
To apply for this year’s course, please fill in the online application form following the link above. The application deadline is Friday 19 April 2013.

How much will it cost?
Participants will cover their own airfare, visa costs and travel insurance. All other course costs are generously covered by Hanban.

Annual China-based training course

The first course took place at Beijing Normal University (BNU) from 18 July to 5 August 2011 with 17 participants and the 2^nd course took place at Beijing Normal University and Shanghai East China Normal University (ECNU) from 16 July to 3 August 2012 with 48 participants. Altogether, 65 teachers have taken part in the course and had an amazing experience in China since 2011.

Format of the course

The course in China comprises of 30 hours’ tuition each week (30 hours x 3 weeks). Tuition focuses on developing participants’ pronunciation, speaking and listening skills; participants also cover some reading and writing of Chinese characters. There are lectures on Chinese culture. Participants can lalso enjoy a number of cultural activities and excursions arranged by the organisers.

At the end of the course, participants should be able to teach beginner-level Chinese in their UK schools. They are also expected to continue with formal Chinese language studies for at least one year upon return to the UK.

Certificates are issued to all participants upon their successful completion of the three-week course in China.

Topics covered in the course

Topics covered included: origins/history of Chinese language; Chinese characters; pinyin and tones; basic greetings and introductions; numbers; family; food and drink; other topics related to daily life; using a dictionary.

By the end of the course, all participants are able to:

understand key words and phrases that fall within the above topics
talk about the above topics
use simple phrases/sentences
recognise some simple Chinese characters
write some basic Chinese characters
have a basic knowledge of Chinese language
have a good foundation to lead to further study of the language
be able to look up simple words in the dictionary
have an understanding of how to teach Chinese as a foreign language.

Partnership with Beijing Normal University (BNU) and East China Normal University (ECNU)

The IOE Confucius Institute works in successful partnership with BNU and ECNU, both of which contribute generous staff time, support and resources for the running of the Experience China course.

BNU and ECNU provide the highest quality of training for the teachers. They both serve as national bases for teaching Chinese as a second language and have made great efforts to expand their programmes for international students. With their strong reputation for pedagogical expertise, they both are ideal partners for this course.

Evaluation and impact

Participants hold a variety of roles in primary and secondary schools and all are in a good position to promote Chinese in their schools. Many have started the teaching in their school and some are continuing with the study of the language. Some are also willing to return to China for further study.

All participants are required to provide feedback.

Experience China 2