Local Schools Lead Move to Mandarin                                 by Kristy Martin

Rotorua is leading the way in teaching Mandarin in schools, according to Otonga School principal Linda Woon.
Of the 2500 schools in New Zealand, 89 teach Mandarin and 11 of those are in Rotorua.
``Rotorua is up there for New Zealand,'' Mrs Woon said.
Rotorua's involvement with teaching Chinese was largely thanks to New Zealand Chinese Language Association president Laytee George, says Mrs Woon.
Her involvement teaching Chinese in Rotorua schools goes back about 20 years.
Mrs Woon said Mrs George originally got involved because she wanted her own daughter to learn the language. Mrs George helped write the Chinese syllabus for New Zealand schools and she was awarded the Hanban award for excellence in teaching from the Chinese Ministry of Education. Otonga teacher Lynne Armstrong said the idea of teaching Chinese to younger students was to give them prior knowledge of the language so it would easy for them to carry on at higher levels.
The children learned greetings and numbers and could have simple conversations in Chinese.
Mrs Armstrong, who lived in Shanghai for four years, said China was now an important part of the economy.
She also credited Mrs George with the growth in teaching Chinese in Rotorua schools.
Chinese language assistant Wei Wei Tan works with the children at Otonga school. ``I've been here a long time and want kids to learn Chinese.''
She said it was especially important now that China was progressing so quickly.
``It's good for their future.'' Max Durnberger, 11, said learning Chinese was fun. ``It's interesting to learn a new language.''
Max said he would probably carry on learning Chinese at intermediate school.
Prime Minister John Key has said he will be pushing to increase the number of schools teaching Mandarin. Last month China invested $250,000 to send Chinese language assistants to work in New Zealand primary and intermediate schools _ including one in Rotorua _ to promote Mandarin and introduce culture and history. Rotorua's Chinese language assistant is working her way around local schools. _ additional reporting APN

by Kristy Martin

Rotorua is at the forefront of Chinese language learning in schools thanks to the outstanding passion and devotion of Laytee George, whose years of involvement have now been recognised.
She has received the Hanban award for excellence in Chinese teaching from the Chinese Ministry of Education.
Of the 2500 schools in New Zealand, 89 teach Mandarin and 11 of those are in Rotorua. Mrs George, who was born in Malaysia, is credited with the growth of Chinese language learning in Rotorua schools.
She has been president of the New Zealand Chinese Language Association for the past six years, helped write the syllabus for Chinese learning in New Zealand and was part of a delegation to China last month with Education Minister Anne Tolley, to strengthen the education relationship between China and New Zealand.
Mrs George began advocating for Chinese learning in schools in the late 1990s, when she was approached by Waiariki Institute of Technology to write and teach a Chinese course for tourism students.
She said it was important for tourism students to learn how to ``receive'' Chinese tourists.
After five years, she realised she needed to start teaching Chinese to students from primary school level.
``I realised that it would make more sense to foster Chinese language learning at a much earlier age.''
She said children absorbed language at an optimum level from age 5.
Chinese learning in Rotorua schools blossomed after a meeting with Rotorua principals, Mrs George said.
Now, 11 years later, there are 11 schools in Rotorua teaching Chinese, including six primary schools. While it didn't happen overnight, Mrs George said she was thrilled there were people out there who shared her vision.
``The wider perception of teaching Chinese has changed.''

``It's important to meet the needs of every child learning the language and excite them about what language they can use.''
Chinese is Mrs George's main focus, but she is an advocate for all languages and said while New Zealand was a multicultural country, people did not interact with each other enough.
She is stepping down as president of the New Zealand Chinese Language Association at the end of the month. She plans to create a new set of resources for students including Chinese learning textbooks in a New Zealand context.