Programs
Generalities.In both Perth and online, the Chinese program of the Centre is devoted to standard Mandarin Chinese as spoken and written in mainland China. It thus uses simplified Chinese characters developed in the 1950s and 1960s and now the norm in mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore, rather than the more traditional characters still used in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. It also uses the pinyin system of transcription (or transliteration) now in general use on the mainland for dictionary entries and computer keyboards, rather than such other systems as bopomofo.
Currently the Centre is specialising in programs for children and adolescents who are used to speaking Mandarin Chinese in their family settings. We would not rule out running classes for other learners of Chinese, whether adults or children, but since actively recruiting such students we are unlikely to find enough of them at a similar levels to make a class. However, we can arrange individual tuition for Mandarin learners of any sort.
It tends to be convenient to run classes during Australian public school terms, since families with children, at least, do not usually travel during those times. For classes in Perth this is straightforward, but for online classes the timing may require some negotiation, since school terms can vary from one Australian state to another. Usually school terms run for ten weeks, but sometimes a nine-week term alternates with an eleven-week one. To keep things simple we charge the same for a term of any length, since it averages out over the year.
We generally run face-to-face classes in ninety minutes sessions, with the option of pausing for a break in the middle if students desire. We generally run online classes in a session of two forty-minute segments, with a short break in between.
Those are typical practices, but we are also open to negotiating other arrangements that are mutually suitable to our students and us.
For Chinese background children we have been running two types of classes:
Chinese literacy. These classes help children who have been growing up speaking Mandarin master reading and writing the language, as well as to develop more educated spoken Mandarin. Typically our students have started with very limited Chinese literacy, if any at all, and over a number of terms they advance level by level. For this class we have found the Chinese Made Easy for Kids (Joint Publishing (H.K.)) series of textbooks and workbooks a useful resource to draw on selectively, considering that our students can already speak some Mandarin. We supplement this with Chinese children's stories from Youtube and specially designed Chinese card and bingo games. We have also made sure that more advanced students know how to write in Chinese on their computers.
HSK exam preparation. We have taught this for relatively advanced students to prepare them for the level 4 and 5 exams, using the series of HSK preparation textbooks and workbooks published by the Beijing Language and Culture University Press.
We often assign homework, since it helps student continue to learn on their own time, rather than depending entirely on class time. It is of course up to the student to decide whether or not to do the homework, but they face the danger of falling behind if they do not keep up with it. Language learning is something students must do themselves, however much support their teachers can give them.
Past programs for adult learners of Mandarin Chinese have been various. For beginners we have run classes that focused only on spoken Mandarin or on both the spoken and written language, and we have also run more advanced classes for learners who wanted to extend their university study of the language. For these classes we have found the Great Wall Chinese materials developed by the Office of Chinese Language Council International especially useful.