Schools offering Chinese Mandarin

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Would love to hear from anyone who knows of any schools (private or state, although that cld be rare) that offer Chinese Manadrin lessons as a core MFL subject or failing that, as extra curriculaum item? Preferably in the Herts, Cambs or Bucks regions or north London. With the economy in China / Asia booming ( and expected to continue to boom) and our own struggling economy in the EU, I am surprised that not more schools are offering Chinese. I really fail to see French or Latin or Greek being more important than Chinese for global business in the future. Why they are still on the curriculum i do not know. Controversial maybe - what do others think?

Interesting Copthall. Encouraging re: schools & final destination.

I know about the old stereotypes about those expats in Asia but increasingly it will become attractive I think. There's more competition for roles than ever previously & people are reluctant to leave. International schools have really raised their game & I think if things really get tough in UK & elsewhere in the West this popularity will increase.

Not read all replies so sorry if this has already been mentioned, but Hampton School in Middlesex offers it as a GCSE for boys who already excel in languages.

RGS Guildford offers it as an extra curricular subject - you pay for the lessons, I think, but boys can, privately, take it to GCSE via the school if they wish.

I know that there is a state school in Bath that offers chinese languages as an option.

I shall ask teacher friends where they recommend nearer to London, there are quite a few saturday schools around.

Aylesbury High school for girls is a grammar school which offers Mandarin as an extra subject, and you can do it to GCSE level.

i am a native Mandarin speaker. like others here i find it bizzare as only a minority state school offering mandarin subject, among those i have to highlight bohunt, it is probably unique in UK as the headteacher wants other lessons to be taught in mandarin too, to me this is a true bilingual school that one can ever dream of.

It is common mistake that most people perceive Mandarin as a language that cannot be learnt. In the past, I used to fetch my son to a Sunday Chinese school in Reading, I saw a white GCSE age girl speaking fluent Mandarin to a teacher. My friends are Mandarin subject teacher in grammar school in UK too. They said their students have no problem at all writing short essay in Chinese and many obtained great result in GCSE Mandarin too.

I believe it is down to the school to make the change. Those who claim Mandarin is too tough, no teacher available, not a useful language, less popular, not the right time, no resources, no demand from parents...etc are those who have no knowledge in this language at all. Mandarin is widely spoken in China, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. You can also find decent size Chinese speaking community in Japan, UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Germany.

Funnily enough our DS's school has just started a trial for a Mandarin after school club for year 9's with the intention of them carrying on into years 10 and 11, and ultimately taking GCSE in Summer 18. They're planning on it being two sessions per week in years 10 and 11, one lunchtime and one after school. Parents have to pay for the teacher, but the figures quoted are quite reasonable and akin to music (but of course depending upon numbers).

If popular and successful, the school say they'll introduce it as part of the normal curriculum in lower school and as a GCSE option instead of French, German or Spanish as the modern foreign language!

You probably need to think about whether it would suit your child:

Is their hearing good (e.g. musical) so they will be able to pick up the different tones, how do they find their primary school language?

Are they good at / interested in art/design/symbols for the characters

Can you see them as being interested in a career in languages/business where they might have a need to work in or travel to China

The grammar of Mandarin is surprisingly simple I think

Hi, my DC is interested in taking Mandarin at A Level. I know that relatively few schools (state and private) offer this option - but has anyone had a positive experience with a school offering this at A Level to non-native speakers? We are open to moving so location isn't a huge issue. Thanks.

This is a zombie thread @user1487797255 - it's probably better that you start your own, new thread.

DD's school (she has just left after 7 years there), a grammar in SE London (Newtead) does Mandarin and also Japanese, both as 'twilight' courses, off regular timetable but still popular with students. I know a student who ended up at Oxford doing oriental languages and now doing a PhD in the US. Great opportunity. The school offers an amazing range of languagers fot a state school, latin, French, German, Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese. They don;t apeart on the regular list of schools that offer it, not sure why.

I wouldn't get too hung up on learning Mandarin for economic reasons (unless the idea is they might live in China).

Technology is getting REALLY close to being able to do realtime voice translations. They can already replicate someone's voice realistically.

Thanks for the input, useful to know about Newstead. My DC will do Mandarin GCSE in June, v keen to continue at A Level & possibly further so wants to know which places offer good courses.