Wo Hui Mandarin helps you to learn Chinese in a way that builds your confidence in the face of the unknown. Chinese is not just a different language but a different kind of language. Mandarin is not just the world’s most spoken language; it’s humanity’s most popular medium of thought, so it helps us to discover new perspectives and connections. The language is not just a code to translate what we already know; they are doorways to other undiscovered worlds. Just like how we talk about “doorways of languages” in the Chinese language, learning a new language allows us to see things we were not able to discern before and grants us the courage and power to navigate the unknown. Let Mandarin Chinese empower us to face whatever unknowns may lie before us with ever-growing confidence.
Today’s everchanging world urges us to re-examine the way our education system currently operates. To obtain the innovative solutions necessary to tackle the problems we are facing, we need new solutions and plans. It is thus vital that we teach our students how to think creatively, broaden their horizons and expand their cognitive universes. This will help them understand different cultures and thinking processes, things that auto-translation applications cannot decode.
With globalisation, our relationship with one another is no longer simply interconnected, but interdependent. Professor Zhao Yong, from the University of Kansas’ School of Education believes in order to thrive in a globalised society, we need to learn to work together with people from different cultural backgrounds. Under such circumstances, the development of our “Culture Quotient” becomes extremely critical, and the key to success lies in understanding those who are different from us and the ability to think from their perspectives. Our culture quotient impacts our intercultural competence and determines how well we adapt under different cultural settings. Learning Chinese is a great starting point to build up our culture quotient and re-orientate ourselves towards the “other”. Language deeply influences the way we think and make decisions, when we learn a new language, we also benefit from gaining a more nuanced interpretation of the world.
We are at the dawn of a new digital age where technology threatens to discount our self-identity and make our jobs redundant. Yet, technology should not exist to dehumanise us. On the contrary, technology possesses the ability to liberate us from the mechanical, in turn allowing us to invest more time and resources in building meaningful human connections. Wo Hui’s web platform gives learners agency and frees teachers to invest more in their relationship with their students, so that they can provide them with frequent personalised feedback and help them to grow in confidence through applying their knowledge and skills in a variety of contexts which call for higher order thinking.
Pedagogy
Whilst “hello” is the most useful thing to learn to say first, 你好(“hello”) is not as easy to write as 一，二，三(“one, two, three”). So we allow students to focus on one new thing at a time and efficiently progress spoken and written language in parallel but independently of each other.
Wo Hui Pilot
We have launched Wo Hui “Pilot”, a free web-based teaching and learning platform for teachers. “Pilot” supports Mandarin as a Foreign Language acquisition from complete beginner to GCSE/iGCSE/IB B Standard level. From completing the first three stages of “Pilot”, learners would be able to achieve an equivalent of HSK3 or Common European Framework of Reference for Languages B1 level. The platform has clear goals for learners, satisfying their need to independently complete the studying of basic knowledge. This includes exercises of all forms, which not only improves the learning experience, but also reduces the amount of time teachers spend on preparing lessons.
If you wish to learn more about Wo Hui “Pilot”, please register at http://pilot.wohui.co/.
About Us
“Wo Hui” is an integrated community comprising of curriculum, platform and resources for teaching and learning Mandarin Chinese. “Wo Hui” is Mandarin Chinese for “I can”, because we believe that when we reimagine, reorient and rehumanise, we can face whatever unknowns lie before us with confidence.