British Mandarin learners benefit from China trips

The education section of the Chinese embassy in the United Kingdom hosted a reception recently in London for students in the Mandarin Excellence Program, or MEP, to celebrate the completion of their summer study trips to China.

Starting in 2016, the MEP, which is funded by the UK Department for Education, has been delivered through state secondary schools in England with support from the British Council and the University College London Institute of Education, or UCL IOE.

The study trip in China is a key component of MEP. This summer, more than 1,300 students and teachers from 60 secondary schools across England traveled to China for an 11-day visit, with groups hosted by 18 universities across 11 cities.

Kuang Jianjiang, counselor at the Chinese embassy in the UK, said the MEP has "produced impressive results". From modest beginnings with fewer than 400 students across 14 schools, this year sees the MEP mark its 10th anniversary, having put more than 18,000 students on the path to fluency in Mandarin, he said.

China and the UK have a 54-year history of student exchanges, with MEP's immersive trips standing out as a leading example, Kuang said. Through on-the-ground experience, more than 10,000 MEP participants and teachers have gained an authentic, multidimensional and well-rounded understanding of China.

Neil Lawson, the Department for Education's MEP lead, also highlighted how the trips bring Chinese language learning to life beyond the classroom.

"The MEP itself … is about developing confidence, broadening horizons and building understanding between people and cultures," he said. "We want the study trip to bring that ambition to life. It gives students the opportunity to use Mandarin in real-life situations, to experience China's history, culture and society at first hand, and to form friendships and memories that should last well beyond the visit itself. These are experiences you can't get from a textbook."

Fiona Iglesias, head of UK schools at the British Council, pointed to MEP's wider significance in a fast-changing geopolitical and economic environment.

"At a time when the world around us is becoming increasingly complex and uncertain, this is important so that the UK can work with other countries in education, science and research, the arts, diplomacy and trade," she said. "Working with China will only become more important as the world seeks to solve enormous challenges … and the MEP students are the young people who have the opportunity to be at the front of that engagement."

Matt Schofield, head of operations at the Center for Chinese Language Education at UCL IOE, noted that the phrase "life-changing" appeared repeatedly in the MEP evaluation reports.

"The strongest impacts were not only linguistic but also personal," he said. "It's great to hear that the students who participated reported a significantly greater understanding of Chinese culture, increased confidence in speaking Mandarin in real-life situations, stronger motivation to continue learning the language, and a greater desire to travel and engage with the wide world … Many teachers who were visiting China for the first time reported similar experiences and described having their own preconceptions transformed."

At the reception, students eagerly shared their fresh summer memories, the new buzzwords they had learned from their Chinese peers, and how they had tried to haggle over prices in local markets.

A student reflecting on a visit to Dalian said, "At that moment, I couldn't feel our differences. Instead, I felt our common ground. We were equally friendly and kind."

Students from Queen Mary's Grammar School in Walsall, England, who visited Shanghai, said the trip had strengthened their motivation to continue learning Mandarin. "This trip has given our Mandarin learning journey a tremendous boost and we are determined to keep learning and improving," they said.

They added that the experience captured the essence of cultural exchange: "Learning from each other, sharing experiences and building friendships between Britain and China."

Liao Enli contributed to this story