Mandarin - Breaking News English Lesson

UK leader tells schools - teach Mandarin, not French (10th December, 2014)

The Reading / Listening - Level 4

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron has said British schools should teach Mandarin instead of French or German. He will double the number of students studying Chinese in the UK to 400,000 by 2016. He will also give extra money to schools that teach Mandarin. Mr Cameron said: "I want Britain linked up to the world's fast-growing economies, and that includes our young people learning the languages to seal tomorrow's business deals."

Mr Cameron explained that by the time children leave school, China will be the world's largest economy, so he wants to change from French and German to Mandarin. The British Council and the Chinese office for teaching Mandarin as a foreign language will double the number of Chinese language assistants in the UK. The British Council said Mandarin is one of the top five most important languages for British children to study for their future job hunting.

Try the same news story at these levels:

Level 5 or Level 6

Sources

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2518549/David-Cameron-Pupils-ditch-French-German-study-Mandarin-instead.html
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/056eb1da-5ccd-11e3-81bd-00144feabdc0.html
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/uk/david-cameron-ditch-french-and-german-for-mandarin-lessons-29811883.html

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

The Activities

MATCHING

PARAGRAPH ONE:

1.	teach Mandarin	a.	that teach Mandarin
2.	double the	b.	in the UK
3.	studying Chinese	c.	business deals
4.	give extra money to schools	d.	growing economies
5.	linked up to the world's fast-	e.	instead of French
6.	seal tomorrow's	f.	number of students

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ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

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PARAGRAPH TWO:

1.	by the time	a.	economy
2.	the world's largest	b.	as a foreign language
3.	teaching Mandarin	c.	job hunting
4.	language	d.	children leave school
5.	one of the top five most	e.	assistants
6.	study for their future	f.	important languages

LISTEN AND FILL IN THE GAPS

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (1) ___________________ should teach Mandarin instead of French or German. He (2) ___________________ of students studying Chinese in the UK to 400,000 by 2016. He will also give (3) ___________________ that teach Mandarin. Mr Cameron said: "I want Britain (4) ___________________ world's fast-growing economies, and that (5) ___________________ learning the languages to seal (6) ___________________."

Mr Cameron explained (7) ___________________ children leave school, China will be the world's (8) ___________________, so he wants to change from French and German to Mandarin. The British Council and the Chinese office for teaching Mandarin (9) ___________________ will double the number of Chinese (10) ___________________ in the UK. The British Council said Mandarin is (11) ___________________ five most important languages for British children to study for their (12) ___________________.

MANDARIN SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about Mandarin in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.

Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

WRITE QUESTIONS & ASK YOUR PARTNER(S)

Student A: Do not show these to your speaking partner(s).

a)	________________________________________________________
b)	________________________________________________________
c)	________________________________________________________
d)	________________________________________________________
e)	________________________________________________________
f)	________________________________________________________
g)	________________________________________________________
h)	________________________________________________________

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Student B: Do not show these to your speaking partner(s).

a)	________________________________________________________
b)	________________________________________________________
c)	________________________________________________________
d)	________________________________________________________
e)	________________________________________________________
f)	________________________________________________________
g)	________________________________________________________
h)	________________________________________________________

FREE WRITING

Write about Mandarin for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner's paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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UK leader tells schools - teach Mandarin, not French (10th December, 2014)

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