Chinese Language Courses – Marco Polo

Marco Polo is the Chinese language program designed to help students speak, read, write and learn Chinese language, culture, and history. XIS Chinese faculty are university trained and native Chinese speakers. All students at XIS receive instruction in Marco Polo classes. Students are grouped appropriately by grade level and ability. Grades 9 -12 grades earn one academic credit each year of Chinese language.

 

Marco Polo Advancement Tests occur yearly at the same time as High School Credit by Examination (CBE) exams.  During specific times in both 1st and 2nd Semester, the Marco Polo Department will announce Marco Polo Advancement opportunities to see if students are ready to move up a class. This only applies with the current and potential next teacher’s recommendation to take the Advancement Test.  The Marco Polo Department reserves the right to deny access to advancement due to:

  • Low score in class
  • Behavioral issues (including, but not limited to, disinterest and disrespect towards the teacher and/or content)
  • Administration disapproval of advancement

  

Marco Polo Advancement Requirements:

Students may advance out of the Marco Polo program providing they meet the following requirements:

  • Make a formal request to the Marco Polo Lead Teacher and XIS Administration.
  • All costs related to advancement will be the responsibility of the student & family.

 

Elementary¥100/test
Middle School ¥100/test
High School*¥250/test

*9th Grade CBE 

  • Semester 1 ¥100/ MS Marco Polo content is different from HS Marco Polo content
  • Semester 2 ¥250/ HS Marco Polo content

Marco Polo Standards

PreK - 2nd Grade

Primary 

Able to understand basic communication      

 

No background in formal Chinese studies.  Able to communicate basic information such as name and age   

  

Unable to read or only able to recognize simple words and characters 

 

Intermediate 

 

Able to understand the teacher’s instructions, requirements and brief dialogue with short sentences  

  

Able to communicate basic information more fluently, as well as use simple language to express their ideas  

  

Able to recognize the 50-100 most commonly used Chinese characters.   

  

Has basic knowledge of Chinese characters, including strokes, stroke sequence, radicals, etc. 

 

Advanced 

Either Chinese is the native language or language ability is close to that of a native speaker  

  

Able to understand teacher’s instructions or class content when spoken at normal or fast speed 

  

Able to communicate in Chinese in fluently   

 

Able to use advanced vocabulary to logically and fluently speak in paragraph form (This includes but is not limited to textbook topics).     

  

Able to read Chinese and write simple Chinese characters. 

 

According to age and condition of students, XIS teacher will decide whether or not to teach Chinese writing.  

3rd-8th Grade

Level 1

 

Able to understand basic communication      

 

No background in formal Chinese studies.  Able to communicate basic information such as name and age     

  

Unable to read or only able to recognize simple words and characters 

 

 

Unable to write or only could write simple and single Chinese character. 

 

 

 

Level 2 

 

Able to understand the teacher’s instructions, requirements and brief dialogue with short sentences 

 

  

Able to fluently introduce themselves and communicate about simple topics   

  

Proficient at reading pinyin     

 

Able to recognize 150 high frequency words.   

Has basic knowledge of Chinese characters, including strokes, stroke order, radicals, etc.   

  

Able to write Chinese characters using correct stroke order 

 

Level 3 

 

Able to understand the teacher’s instructions and requirements. Able to understand dialogues with compound sentences and/or a conversation about a general topic containing simple complex sentences 

 

Able to speak fluently about nature, hobbies, food, etc. Occasional use of complex sentences when speaking.   

  

Able to recognize approximately 300 high frequency words   

 

Able to independently read books in the library that are classified as “150-word” books   

  

Able to independently write paragraphs containing approximately 100 words  

  

Have a basic understanding of Chinese festivals and customs 

 

Level 4 

 

Able to understand the tasks of level 4-related  dialogue or speech 

  

Able to speak fluently about community life, health, school life, etc. Able to use complex sentence structures and able to describe complex scenarios. Emerging ability to speak in paragraphs or segments      

Able to recognize approximately 600 high frequency words 

Able to independently read books in the library classified as “300-word books”  

  

Able to independently write paragraphs of approximately 150 words   

  

Able to understand cultural diversity and compare own culture with Chinese culture 

 

Level 5  

 

Able to understand the tasks of dialogue and speech related to level 5 topics 

Able to understand dialogue or speech involving cultural factors   

  

Able to fluently discuss life style, learning methods, interpersonal relationships, and other topics. Able to use complex sentence structures to carry on a conversation and describe events in more detail. Able to fully and logically express personal opinions. 

  

Able to recognize approximately 1500 high frequency words 

 

Able to independently read books in the library classified as “500-words books”   

  

Able to independently write paragraphs containing approximately 300 words  

  

Able to understand the cultural connotations of idioms, stories, and allusions commonly used in Chinese 

 

Level 6 

 

Have background in the Chinese education system  

  

Able to understand the relevant topics related to social etiquette, science and technology, literature, art, sports, philosophy, history, politics and economics.     

  

Able to communicate fluently using advanced vocabulary and a variety of sentence structures to express personal opinions, have discussions and debate. Able to make impromptu speeches. Able to fully, logically, fluently, correctly, and appropriately express thoughts and opinions with substantial content. Able to use rhetorical devices to enhance oral expression  

  

Able to recognize approximately 2500 high frequency words 

  

Able to independently read a variety of high-level books belonging to different literary genres   

  

Able to write using a variety of styles with correct format, expression and rich literary 

Able to analyze the article appreciation.   

  

Familiar with Chinese culture