Achievement & Equality Team
Information on China and the Mandarin Language
Arise, ye who refuse to be slaves!
With our flesh and blood, let us build our new Great Wall
The Chinese nation faces its greatest danger
From each one the urgent call for action comes forth
National Anthem of China
CHINA AT A GLANCE
Location – East Asia
Neighbours – Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Laos, Nepal, North Korea, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Vietnam
Size – 3,696,100 sq miles
Population – 1,321,290,000 (1st)
Life Expectancy – 72 male, 75 female
Capital – Bejing
Currency – Yuan
Website – English.gov.cn
Potted History
One of the world’s earliest civilisations, dating back thousands of years. Qin Shi Huang became first emperor of a unified China in 221BC.A succession of dynasties ended with the creation of the Republic of China in 1912.
The Chinese Communist Party founded the People’s Republic of China in 1949 after defeating the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) in the civil war.
Population Mix
Han 92%, 55 minority ethnic groups 8%
Religious makeup
Buddhist 8%, Christian 3%, Muslim 1%. Most of the population does not have any religious affiliation.
Main Languages
Mandarin, Cantonese, Gan, Hakka, Hui, Jin, Min, Ping, Wu, Xiang
Living Icons
Zhang Yimou (filmmaker), Gao Xingian (writer) Zhang Yining (table tennis)
The Nottinghamshire Context
Nottinghamshire has a well-established Chinese community, settled during the nineteenth century and developed since then. Many local Chinese communities provide supplementary and community educational opportunities.
Some families come to Nottinghamshire because parents are studying at one of the universities. These families will often stay between 1-3 years and most parents will be fluent in English. Within Nottinghamshire most of these families will be based in the Broxtowe and Rushcliffe areas due to the proximity of the universities.
In Nottinghamshire there are a number of Chinese organisations including:
- Nottinghamshire Chinese Welfare Association, 61B Mansfield Road, NottinghamNG1 3FN, Contact Mrs Liz Hampton 0115 950 7888. Advice and information, housing assistance, raising the profile of the Chinese community, promoting Chinese culture, leisure activities, home visiting schemes.
- Cantonese language classes are held at AldermanWhiteSchool and LanguageCollege. Chilwell Lane, Bramcote, Beeston, Nottingham, NG9 2DU. Tel: (0115) 917 0424.
Education in China
China has adopted a nine-year compulsory schooling system, which means all children are required to attend school for at least nine years. Students have to complete both the primary school program and the junior middle-school program. Higher education is only for those students who have passed examinations of all levels. Students must pass the entrance examination for senior middle schools or middle-level technical schools. After two, three or four years, they have to go through national college entrance examination for admission to universities.
Pre-school Education; Children aged from 3 to 6 will attend kindergartens near their neighbourhoods, where they learn the basics of the native language and subjects. They play games, dance, sing and act. Children are taught from the early years the values of Truth, Kindness and Beauty. Chinese take education very seriously since they know that a person's personality is developed in early childhood.
The primary school education lasts six years. Pupils are required to take a variety of subjects such as Chinese language, fundamental mathematics and moral education. They also take part in sports and extra-curriculum activities. Foreign languages such as English are optional courses in the senior year of primary education
High school education has two parts, 3-year junior high school program and senior high school. From junior high school, students begin to learn a variety of science subjects such as chemistry, physics and biology and other subjects such as history, geography, and foreign languages. Physical education is enthusiastically encouraged
Senior high school education is a continuation of junior high school. Students take up specific subjects in either science or humanity subjects. There are many test, examinations and competitions throughout the education system.
Information about the Chinese (Mandarin) Language
Chinese is spoken by more people than any other language in the world. Since estimates of the current population of China are only approximate, figures for the number of speakers of Chinese are approximate. An educated guess would be about 1.1 billion in the Republic of China, to which must be added another 20 million in Taiwan, 7 million in Thailand, 5 million in Hong Kong, 5 million in Malaysia , 1 6 million in Singapore, one million in Vietnam, and smaller numbers in other countries including the United States.
Though Chinese has many dialects, Mandarin, based on the pronunciation of Beijing, is considered the standard and is spoken by about two-thirds of the population. Chinese is written with thousands of distinctive characters called ideographs which have no relation to the sound of a word. In a large dictionary there are 40-50,000 characters, while the telegraphic codebook contains nearly 10,000. A Chinese child learns about 2,000 characters by the time he/she is ten, but it takes two or three times as many to be able to read a newspaper or novel. A Chinese type-writer may have 5,400 characters. The number of strokes required to draw a Chinese character can be as high as 33.
Mandarin is spoken in south-western China. When taken as a separate language, as is often done in academic literature, the Mandarin dialects have more speakers than any other language.
There are approximately 1,700 possible syllables in Mandarin, which compares with over 8,000 in English. As a result, there are many homophones - syllables which sound the same but mean different things. These are distinguished in written Chinese by using different characters for each one. Not all the following characters are pronounced with the same tone, so to Chinese ears they sound different. To Western ears however they all sound the same. These syllables can be distinguished in speech from the context and because most of them usually appear in combination with other syllables.
Here is an example of Chinese (Mandarin) text.
Sample text in Chinese
Hànyŭ pīnyīn transliteration
Rénrén shēng ér zìyóu, zài zūnyán hé quánlì shàng yīlǜ píngdĕng. Tāmen fùyŏu lĭxìng hé liángxīn, bìng yīng yĭ xiōngdì guānxì de jīngshén hùxiāng duìdài.
Translation
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood
Words and Phrases
ENGLISH / MANDARINhello / ni hao
how are you? / ni hao ma?
have you eaten yet? / ni chi fan mei you?
good morning / zao an
good night / wan an
goodbye / zai jian
thanks / xie xie
you're welcome / huan ying ni
excuse me / qing yuan liang
my name is... / wo de ming zi shi...
what is your name? / ni de ming zi shi shen me?
what is your name? / ni jiao shen me ming zi?
do you speak English? / ni hui shuo yingyu ma?
I’m from England / wo shi cong ying guo lai de
where is/are...? / ...zai na li?
welcome / huan ying
here / zhe li
there / na li
who? / shei?
what? / shen me?
when? / shen me shi hou I climb every week
where? / na li?
why? / wei shen me?
how? / zen yang...?
how much? / duo shao?
want / xiang yao
do you like it? / ni xi huan ma?
be careful! / xiao xin!
I don't understand / wo bu ming bai
please speak more slowly / máfan nĭ jiǎng màn yīdiǎn
please write it down / máfan nǐ xiě xià lai
do you speak Mandarin? / nǐ huìbúhuì jiǎng pŭtōnghuà?
yes, a little / huì, yīdiǎndiǎn
excuse me / qǐngwén
how much is this? / zhège duōshǎo qián?
sorry / duìbùqǐ
thank you / xie xie ni
response (you're welcome) / bú yòng xiè
how do you say ... in mandarin? / yong pu tong hua zen me shuo?
one / yi
two / er
three / san
four / si
five / wu
six / liu
seven / qi
eight / ba
nine / jiu
ten / shi
grey / huīsè
silver / yínsè
beige / hui zong se
white / báisè
red / hóngsè
orange / chéngsè
gold / jīnsè
yellow / huángsè
green / lǜsè
sky blue / tiānlán se
navy blue / zang qing se
blue / lánsè
azure / hai lan se
pink / fěnhóngsè
purple / zǐsè
brown / zōngsè
black / hēisè
Head Teacher / xiao jiang
student / xue sheng
parents / fu mu
school / xue xiao
register / deng ji
lesson / ke
break / xiu xi
lunch hour / wu can shi jian
class / ban ji
class mates / tong xue
tutor / jiao shi
year (age group) / nian (nian zu)
book(s) / shu
pen / bi
pencil / qian bi
homework / jia ting zuo ye
family / jia ting
parents / fu mu
siblings / xiong di jie mei
brother / xiong di
sister / jie mei
mother / mu qin
father / fu qin
grandparents / wai gong wai po, ye ye nai nai
grandmother / wai po, nai nai
grandfather / wai gong, ye ye
relatives / qin qi
feelings / gan shou
feeling low / qing xu di luo
feeling homesick / xiang jia
happy / gao xing
lonely / gu du
missing home / xiang jia
sad / shang xin
read / yue du
write / xie
speak / jiang
listen / ting
Do you understand? / ni ming bai ma?
is something bothering you? / ni jue de hen fan ma?
would you like to talk to me in private? / ni xi wang si xia he wo tan hua ma?
I can ask for an interpreter / wo ke yi yao qiu yi ge kou yi zhe
Useful guidance is available from:
New Arrivals Excellence Programme Guidance
(2007) Ref 00650 – 2007BKT- EN
This resource is for primary and secondary schools and contains guidance on admission and developing classroom practice.
A language in common: assessing English as an additional language
QCA (2000) (QCA/00/584).
This document sets out steps used in assessment of EAL, linked to English National Curriculum levels. It provides guidance and exemplifications.
Aiming High: guidance on supporting the education of asylum seeking and refugee children (DfES 0287 – 2004)
This guidance helps explain the value of an inclusive ethos and curriculum to all pupils.
Aiming High: meeting the needs of newly arrived learners of EAL
(DfES 1381 -2005)
Information on working with newly arrived isolated EAL pupils in settings that have little or no access to EAL support.
Excellence and enjoyment: learning and teaching for bilingual children in the primary years (DfES 0013 – 2006PCK- EN)
Key Stage 3 National Strategy: Access and engagement in English:teaching pupils for whom English is an additional language (DfES 0609 – 2002)
Publications/Catalogues
MUNDI Tel: 0115 8546418
Mundi
Global Education Centre
Foxhall Lodge
Foxhall Road
Nottingham
NG7 6LH
(under construction/Aug 2010)
Mundi loan resources to schools in Nottinghamshire free for up to half a term
e-mail:
GRANT AND CUTLERTel: (44) 020 7734 2012
55-57 Great Marlborough Street,
London'
England
W1F 7AY
Web:
A one-stop shop for foreign language resources including language-learning material, reference books, technical dictionaries, literature, history, politics etc.
MILET PUBLISHINGTel +44 20 7603 5477
6 North End Parade
London W14 0SJ
England
Web:
Milet publish dual language texts and picture dictionaries.
TRENTHAM BOOKSTel: +44 (0) 1782 745567
Westview House,734 London Road,
Stoke on Trent,
UKST4 5NP Web:
Trentham publishes 'a wide range of titles plus seven professional journals, mainly in the field of education and social policy.'
WORLD LANGUAGETel: (800)900-8803
2130 Sawtelle Blvd.
Suite 304A
Los Angeles,
CA 90025 USA
Web:
MANTRA LINGUATel: 0044 (0)208 44 55 123
Global House
303 Ballards Lane
London
N12 8NP
UK
Web:
Mantra Lingua creative learning resources Audio CDs, Big Books, e-books, fun tales, folk tales, friezes, games, language learning, packs posters, story props, toys videos and so on.
Classroom Resources are available from:
Interactive video clips showing children teaching their home languages.
The following website translates words, phrases and short paragraphs from English to Chinese available at
The Dingle Granby Toxteth Education Action Zone website; Useful letters for parents translated into Chinese available at:
DLTK's Crafts for Kids features a variety images that can be used for creating pupils own subject-specific dictionaries.
Activities for ESL Students can be adapted for EAL pupils in primary and secondary schools. Has bilingual quizzes in large number of languages, available at;
Omniglot writing systems and languages of the world available at
EMA Online resource base for teachers has been developed by Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester LAs with funding from the DfES, available at
Racist bullying, Advice designed for schools to dip in and out as appropriate for them and offers discussion topics and activities to stimulate debate and spark activity involving everyone in the school community, available at;
Teachernet states that a successful home–school relationship can be a key element in making a school stronger and more effective. In particular, it can make a real difference to groups of underachieving pupils and their families, available at
Nottinghamshire Achievement & Equality Team