Pupils set out to add Chinese language to their knowledge

Students at Belmont Grosvenor School, at Swarcliffe Hall in Birstwith, near Harrogate, are being taught Mandarin alongside more traditional languages including French and Spanish.

And to celebrate Chinese New Year, the pupils welcomed in the Year of the Rabbit in traditional style, wearing Chinese clothes and enjoying an Oriental lunch.

The Mandarin club is being run by the school’s languages co-ordinator Anne Hodson, who is teaching a small number of pupils from years three to six at the co-educational prep school a basic grasp of Chinese.

Mrs Hodson spent six years living in Hong Kong, and is now studying Mandarin herself at night school.

She said: “I am teaching the basics – greetings, numbers, days of the week. We are trying out simple phrases and learning about how the characters are formed. We are also learning about China, and a little bit about their culture.

“The pupils are picking up the language skills very well and are enjoying their lessons.”

Twenty per cent of the world’s population live in China and the country has the fastest-growing economy in the world.

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