Chinese at 

Scoresby

Learning language, history and culture

This year, the Junior School students have been learning the foundations of Chinese language and culture with Mr Patrick Dempsey and Ms Cynthia Fan. 

Students have been developing the building blocks for making sentences, holding conversations and exploring the rich lives of Chinese people in both the modern day and in ancient history. Through games, role-playing, orals, essays and all kinds of exercises, students have been able to grow not only as language learners but as citizens of the world. 

While remote learning presented the school with a new set of challenges, the students from years 7-9 have done a wonderful job in learning to understand and communicate with phrases in Chinese, both in their booklets and through their Webexes. They have created their own strategies for writing characters, implemented that in different exercises, and used those skills to make their own sentences. 

With China’s history and culture, the students at Scoresby Secondary College have thrown themselves into Chinese myths, legends, notable figures and historical events. This has ranged from projects on the Terracotta Warriors and the Great Wall, to discussions and reports on regional Chinese cuisine and tea. Just recently, Year 7 students were given the task of presenting their learned knowledge of dragons, and had gone above and beyond in their presentations.

It has been such a pleasure working with the Scoresby Junior School students, as they have shown such enthusiasm in facing challenges and learning new things. Well done to you all!

Mr Patrick Dempsey

Chinese & English teacher