About Capital Mandarin – Chinese School in Beijing
Capital Mandarin – A Chinese School in Beijing!
At Capital Mandarin School, it is our passion to introduce you to Chinese culture while teaching you how to speak and read the People’s Republic of China’s official language: Mandarin Chinese, also known as Putonghua/普通话.
Core idea
Teacher Ma, our director, and her staff believe that language study is greatly enhanced by an understanding of the culture in which the language is spoken. The cosy traditional atmosphere at Gaobeidian Campus, the cherishing of traditional as well as innovative know-how and the particularities of the neighbourhood make Capital Mandarin, maybe not the biggest, but most certainly the most original Chinese School in Beijing.
Courses offered
Capital Mandarin School offers group or private lessons for people who want to learn Mandarin Chinese and who want to familiarize themselves with the land of the Dragon in a more comprehensive way. With an experienced and enthusiastic Chinese teacher at the steering wheel, it is not hard to realize that the whole School is constructed around the staff and students commitment to learning, maintaining, or improving Mandarin skills.
Locations
Our Chinese School can be found in the tradition-oriented Gaobeidian village, where our campus is located, part of the new district that is dedicated to Chinese culture.
History
Capital Mandarin was founded in 2006 and has, as did China, changed a great deal ever since its first lessons. In order for you to understand who we are, we compiled a short overview about the development of the school.
| Year | Events |
| 2006 | – May: Capital Mandarin School was founded (Guomao Shuma 01 Building). – The first students were foreigners working for locally-based companies (Expats). – Classes typically took place on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, or Tuesdays and Thursdays, or externally arranged one-on-one private classes. – All teachers were part-time teachers. – Teachers received part-time teacher training (1 month). |
| 2007 | – Opened a Capital Mandarin School branch in Guangming. – Most of the students were Japanese. |
| 2008 | – Beijing Olympics: Visa application delays because of visitor limits as a consequence of the Games in combination with declining demand due to the world economic crisis. Result: the number of students coming to Beijing to study declined. – Capital Mandarin School innovated and developed a Chinese summer camp concept and started to search for clients globally. – At the end of the year, a Chinese summer camp website was launched. |
| 2009 | – Over 30 students participated in our Chinese summer camp, laying the foundations for the organisation of future summer camps. – At the end of the year, the Chinese summer camp concept was revisited. Children attending afternoon culture classes were split into two groups, aged 5-11 and 12-16 and the schedule was adapted to the needs and levels of the new class structure. |
| 2010 | – A branch opened in Xiangjiang Garden. – April: Teacher training was revised and made more thorough to become adequate for the Chinese Summer Camp’s extended size (Chinese classes, culture classes, excursions, character-building). – Over 150 students participated in our Chinese summer camp. |
| 2011 | – Over 200 students participated in our Chinese summer camp. – Courses began to cater to foreign students (as opposed to only locals). – Courses were mostly intensive Chinese classes held from Mondays to Fridays. – Part-time teachers were replaced with more professional full-time teachers. Each teacher receives our specific School education by our Director Ma and the head teachers. They can familiarise themselves with our own teaching materials. – Started developing a full PPT Chinese culture course curriculum. – Russian university professors visited Capital Mandarin School to discuss Chinese teaching methods. |
| 2012 | – Started investing in the construction of a very own Campus at Gaobeidian Cultural Village. – Xiangjiang Garden branch closed, Guomao enlarged and investment to Gaobedian increased. – With the closing of Xiangjiang, places were limited：100 selected students participated in our Chinese summer camp. – Completed HSK (Level 1 to 3) writing workbooks. – The Institut Chinois de Genève／Chinese Institute of Geneva Foundation became a partner of Capital Mandarin School. – Launched a Facebook page and profile to connect with students from all over the World (Check & Like: Capital Mandarin School) |
| 2013 | – Completed HSK (Level 1 to 3) Chinese characters practice workbooks and HSK Level 4 writing textbook. – The intensive Chinese course became the primary course of Capital Mandarin School. – In the same year, PPT-based courses were developed, in a move beyond traditional teaching methods. – Again, more than 100 students participated in Capital Mandarin School’s Chinese summer camp. – The Handtrade Mandarin Chinese Agency in Castellon, Spain became our partner for the Hispanic (Spain + South America) market. |
| 2014 | – June: Gaobeidian campus was completed & opened for business. – Launched a new Study Tour program. – The Gaobeidian campus became Capital Mandarin School’s cultural center, hosting many foreign agency visits. – CMS became an HSK Internet-based testing center. – Teachers now started to globally implement the new PPTs materials while teaching (General Speaking Course and Chinese Characters Course). – October: The Capital Mandarin School website was updated, remastered and is now as elegant as ever. |
| 2015 | June: Hard Opening of Gaobeidian Campus: Continuous increasing of capacity, perfecting processes and enabling the best study experience possible in Beijing |
