A day of inspiration for students from Harrogate Grammar School

Year 13 students from Harrogate Grammar School visited the University of Leeds to put some of their Mandarin learning into practice with Business Confucius Institute (BCI) teachers.

The six students, who are about to take GCSE Mandarin alongside their A-levels, have been learning Chinese as an extracurricular option since Year 8. Harrogate Grammar School is a Confucius Classroom affiliated with the BCI.

The group enjoyed a programme including:

• A presentation from BCI Intern Simona about the experience of studying Chinese at University.
• A Mandarin lesson introducing various Chinese foods and vocabulary related to eating out.
• Chinese lunch at a local restaurant to try traditional Chinese dishes and order food in Mandarin.
• A visit to the Chinese supermarket.

Their Mandarin teacher Richard Barnard said:

Thank you to the BCI for giving students this opportunity to interact in Chinese and have a fun day using Mandarin ahead of their A-level exam period. I hope this is something we can repeat in the future!

Two of the students plan to study Mandarin Chinese at University. The others intend to look out for ways they can continue learning Mandarin alongside their degree, similar to the Mandarin Discovery Modules and Confucius Institute Chinese courses that are available here at the University of Leeds.

BCI Chinese Director Zhang Xiaofeng welcomed the group and wished them well in their Mandarin studies. The students left our offices with Chinese papercut booklets that she presented to them as a memento, as well as their haul of White Rabbit sweets from the Chinese supermarket and, we hope, a boost of motivation and enthusiasm for learning Mandarin.