Hatching Dragons "immersive learning" experience not only includes Chinese language lessons, but an introduction to everything China, including its culture. (Photo : The Telegraph)
Some British children are proving to have a linguistic advantage of their peers, according to a report by China Daily. While other children learn French or Spanish, some parents have opted for their children to learn Chinese.
It all happens at Hatching Dragons, Britain's first English-Mandarin nursery.
Children enrolled in the nursery are taught Chinese and English nursery rhymes, as well as number games played with Roman numerals and Chinese characters. A child is paired with two workers, one fluent in English and the other in Mandarin.
To add to the nursery's immersive learning experience, an article by The Telegraph also states that food traditionally served in China are also offered to the children.
Hatching Dragons' "immersive learning" experience not only includes Chinese language lessons, but an introduction to everything China, including its culture.
"The nursery's English-speaking staff play, sing and talk with the children in English, while its Chinese staff do so in Mandarin," said Cenn John, founder of Hatching Dragons, in an interview with The Telegraph.
Like the children enrolled at his nursery, Cenn was exposed to Chinese language and culture in his earlier years. He took up Mandarin at university and went to work in China as a political and education consultant.
Cenn's main motive in establishing the English-Mandarin nursery is to introduce his 3-year-old son to the Chinese language and culture.
"I wanted my own boy to be fluent enough at an early age to be able to sustain that in later years," said Cenn. "It's also a way of helping to break down prejudice to different cultures, in this case Chinese, by learning about them through song and language. I want to help children be globally confident and capable in a changing world."
Nursing at Hatching Dragons costs $532.8 a month for 10 hours a week. For a fulltime care of 50 hours, tuition averages at $2,283 per month. Children from low-income facilities are welcome to join the nursery through an "affordability scheme" subsidized by the Corporation of London.
