Learn Like King’s Bangkok by Shuang Tan: Head of Mandarin

Learn Like King’s Bangkok by Shuang Tan: Head of Mandarin

King’s College International School Bangkok believes our 3 pillars - Academic Excellence, Co-curricular Programme, and Pastoral Care System - can strengthen and pave the way for all of our students’ futures. For academic excellence, it cannot be denied that teachers are the key to success, so we always select the best people to work with us and the children. 

Shuang Tan, Head of Mandarin at King’s Bangkok, graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language and an MA in Education. Having taught Mandarin internationally for 14 years, she has taken on the duty of leading the department and teaching almost every student in school how to speak, listen to, read and write in the second most widely spoken language in the world. A few weeks ago, she pioneered extremely successful Chinese New Year celebrations and continues to teach us all about Chinese culture and customs. We recently interviewed her about her teaching journey, how she plans to develop strong Mandarin communicators and how she integrates the school’s values into each of her lessons. 

 

1. What is your teaching philosophy and how does this tie into your proudest moments as a teacher?

My teaching philosophy is to focus on building students’ independent study habits, problem solving and thinking skills. While I have been teaching for 14 years, I would say that my proudest moment is always seeing a student finding their passion, being more confident and realising their potential.

 

2. Why did you decide to teach Mandarin? What is your favourite thing about the subject? How do you pass on the passion you have for the subject to your students?

Chinese is my mother tongue and it is a beautiful language which has been used for thousands of years. It is full of wisdom and a carrier of culture. I aspire to spread wisdom and culture to people in other countries. My favourite thing about the subject is it trains one’s mind and fosters thinking skills.

 

3.What are the benefits of learning Mandarin and, more widely, modern foreign languages? What kind of job prospects can it lead to? How does it change one’s thinking (i.e. better critical thinking? etc.)

Countless reasons attract one to learn Chinese, which is already spoken by over 1.2 billion native speakers. This most widely spoken language can benefit both your personal life and professional career greatly. Foreign language skills, especially Chinese, can bring a sense of accomplishment to the learner, and it is possible to have access to many new opportunities. 

 

Learning a second language, especially Chinese, is intellectually challenging and beneficial for your cognitive development. Your brain will get to“workout” during your learning, and this process will improve your attention span and ability to memorise things. 

Through the whole natural procedure of analysing, processing new linguistic structures and identifying the best techniques to master the grammar and pattern, your brain will develop its smart way of automatic expression. That is the key stage that can help you build up confidence, creativity, and multi-tasking abilities.  

 

The Chinese language is widely spoken, not only in China, but also in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Brunei, the Philippines, Mongolia, and generally across the world. Therefore, if you’re going to further your study or run a new business in these countries and areas, it would be beneficial to converse in their language. 

 

4. If there are children who dislike Mandarin, how would you change their attitude towards it and develop them into strong Mandarin speakers?

I would find out where the problem comes from and then create a learning experience which makes the student feel confident and successful. Students are encouraged to use the target language in class. On top of that, a variety of class activities promoting speaking abilities are implemented in lessons throughout the year. 

 

5. Mandarin, and modern foreign languages in general, are notoriously difficult to learn and master as they often require a different set of skills to other subjects. How do you aim to make the process of learning it interesting and manageable for students at all levels?

Most modern foreign languages have similar features and so, to master any requires focusing for a long period of time and a great amount of effort. Students' interests, voices and opinions are taken into consideration when lessons are planned and taught. In addition, our lessons are differentiated, so there are a variety of stations and levels of activity that we provide to engage students at various proficiency levels.

 

6. What is the difference between studying Mandarin in international schools like King’s Bangkok and studying Mandarin in Thai-Chinese schools? And the difference between studying Mandarin in our school and hiring a tutor or Chinese laoshi to teach at home? Chinese is taught as a foreign language at King’s Bangkok and we created our curriculum in line with the National Curriculum. Every Mandarin teacher at King’s Bangkok is well-experienced and qualified in China or the UK, and we ensure that our teaching approaches are evidence-based and student-centred.

 

7. At what age are students at King’s Bangkok first exposed to Mandarin? Why do you think it is good to start so early?

Students in Reception, at the age of 5 years old, begin to learn Mandarin. Learning a foreign language at an early age has benefits including: boosting problem-solving and listening skills, in addition to improving memory, concentration, and the ability to multitask. Children who are exposed early to other languages also display more positive attitudes to the cultures associated with those languages. 

 

8. King’s Bangkok is a community centred around kindness. We also uphold the values of good manners and wisdom. What do these values mean to you? How do you instil these values in your students?

To me, kindness is best described by my favourite quote: Confucius said “己所不欲，勿施于人。” (do not do to others what you would not have them do to you). Kindness also means to accept mistakes and differences among people while maintaining good manners and attitudes. Wisdom is the ability to apply relevant knowledge in an insightful way, especially to different situations from that in which the knowledge was gained.

 

The importance of these values and high expectations are communicated with students in class. Students are encouraged and reminded about them frequently and moreover, are then rewarded for demonstrating the values in and out of the classroom.

Shuang is a leader that our students respect and admire for her embodiment of our core values of kindness, good manners and wisdom. She works with students of all ages to create a positive and productive experience in which they increase their understanding of the complexities of Mandarin week-on-week. King’s Bangkok believes that her integration of Mandarin into school life is central to fostering a strong community among our students and staff. Thanks to her, we are regularly exposed to the rich cultures and traditions of China, and her clear commitment to and passion for sharing her mother tongue with every single member of the King’s Bangkok family are clear indicators of her great heart, which will take our students further.