Godolphin and Latymer Mandarin requirement year 7?

[SamPoodle123]

Hello. I am just curious why is it required to take Mandarin year 7? I can understand as having it as an option, but wondering why it would be required for all to take? Why not let the students select what two languages they take from the start instead of allowing it year 8? My dd is waiting to find out if she gets offered a spot there.

I'm sure a lot of Taiwanese / Singaporean / Hongkong / Malaysian / China / American / European Chinese people feel offended by the above message.

A lot people live outside China (including Taiwan) speak and study Chinese.

Not claiming you a racist at all, you have your right to make the informed choice.

I just stating what other people might think.

My daughter does Mandarin and French at the moment at primary. At the secondary she is most likely to go to, 4 classes take French and German from Y7 and have the option to take one or both to GCSE, the other class just do Mandarin. No option to pick up a second language, its just Mandarin. I'm really hoping she is not put in the Mandarin class.

Now I'm worried about someone will write to my DC's school with petition to stop teaching the Russian language. 😓

My daughter is also learning Russian at the moment.
Unsure why you view it as a 'fruitless endeavour.' All Slavic origin languages are similar, so the words themselves may be similar in Polish/Slovakian/Czech etc. Bulgaria also uses the Cyrillic alphabet. Much great literature was written in Russian; Dostoyevsky, Chekhov. The culture and history are fascinating.
It's not all about a holiday or exchange visit!

My dd really enjoys mandarin despite never having done it before! She’s now picked to do it for GCSE as well as her other language (french). It is completely different to any other subject and has a different skill set. I think that may be why it is mandatory? It’s also becoming more and more useful in society so may help in the future? I know that my dd would never had picked it if it was an option but now loves it! In Y7 it’s quite laid back and relaxed so no need to worry if it isn’t your thing!

@Londonmummy202 thanks for your feedback. That is good to know and glad to hear your dd loves it :)

For GL it’s a bit odd that you can’t choose a language and stick to it all the way through. As for complete bilingualism it takes years to master the written part aspect of a language and there should be the option for students being tested in a second language and have different sets as they do for for math and English. Not wait until gsces