Dulwich College International students showing Mandarin skills at CIIE 2018

At the opening of the China International Import Expo on Monday 5 November, President Xi Jinping, Duke of York HRH Prince Andrew, Secretary of State for International Trade Dr Liam Fox and Her Majesty’s Ambassador Dame Barbara Woodward watched a video that features three students from Dulwich College Shanghai Pudong. They brilliantly expressed their excitement for the expo in fluent Mandarin.

Mandarin has been an important part of the curriculum ever since Dulwich College International opened its first school in Shanghai in 2003, and we are proud of our track record - over 60% of our students have achieved perfect scores in IB Mandarin.

As part of professional development, all of our Mandarin teachers participate in a biannual DCI Mandarin Conference, and have been involved in developing our pioneering Mandarin curriculum, including our unique Wo Hui Mandarin programme for Mandarin C (Mandarin as a Foreign Language) students.

Wo Hui, meaning “I can”, is an innovative approach that at its core, recognises that learning to speak and write Mandarin are two distinct tasks. Wo Hui Mandarin uses a communicative approach that separates listening/speaking and reading/writing content, while utilising technology to enable student-centered learning and empowering students in what they can do with what they know.

Being proficient in an additional language, and having the confidence to use that language is just one of the ways that we prepare our students to Graduate Worldwise.