Tsinghua International School (THIS) is one of the many international schools in Beijing. Like most other schools, Tsinghua has its own sense of school spirit and culture and a big part of that is internationalism.

Despite Tsinghua’s reputation as a division of the local high school attached Tsinghua University, many people accuse Tsinghua of being more tri-national, as the student body is primarily made up of American, Canadian, and Chinese nationals. While most of the students at THIS are one of the three, what’s makes Tsinghua as “international” as any other school, is its faculty. THIS faculty is comprised of teachers from the US, Canada, China, Japan, Greece, Hungary, Finland, Mexico, France, in addition to many more countries. These educators offer an array of vibrant languages, cultures, knowledge, and teaching styles. Every teacher brings pieces of different education styles to our school, forming an education system that is, in the most fundamental sense, international. A diverse student body and faculty is what defines Tsinghua as “international” rather than “Tsinghua American.”

In terms of curriculum, THIS offers American Advanced Placement (AP) courses, but does not strictly follow the American curriculum. While fostering advanced programs in language arts, social studies, and science, Tsinghua keeps up a rigorous Chinese course at the same level, if not higher, than its local school counterpart. This combination of native-level English and Chinese raises its students to be bilingual in a way that many international schools around the world strive to achieve. We are able to understand both modern and classic literature and ancient Chinese poems at a deeper level than most bi-cultural people as Tsinghua teaches these courses throughout its secondary school Chinese course. It is through examining classic poets from Shakespeare to Li Bi that Tsinghua students are truly bilingual, surely a quality which will aid us in our further studies.

While most bilingual students have a good grasp of language, Singaporean studies show that it is more difficult for their bilingual students to understand the essence of classical literature and ancient Chinese poems in one of the two languages. Steven Owen, a famous East Asian studies professor at Harvard, has written several works about Tang dynasty literature. He says:  “The understanding of [any]classical literature serves great purpose in the early years before launching into a professional career; [school]is the best time to become more worldly, knowledgeable people.”

On the outside, THIS may seem to be a “99 percent Asian school,” as people have been known to say, but inside the walls of Tsinghua is an energetic mix of cultures from different countries, shaping the future of global citizens that will become leaders on a global stage.

Rhea Jiang is a junior at Tsinghua International School, an international campus affiliated with Tsinghua High School. He is the co-editor-in-chief for the school newspaper, the Spartan Times, and co-president of the debate club. Through her blog posts, Rhea hopes to share her unique thoughts and experiences at Tsinghua International School.

The beijingkids student correspondent program gives high school students with an interest in writing and journalism a resource for guidance, feedback, and real-life training. If you are a student interested in becoming a beijingkids student correspondent, or you know a student who is, please contact yvetteferrari@beijing-kids.com 

Expat kids in Beijing kids have some conspicuous and concrete advantages over their homeland peers when it comes to becoming proficient in putonghua. Many international families have a multicultural heritage and may speak two or more languages a day between home, school, and the street. In many cases, kids here also have the advantage of attending school with friends who are native speakers of the languages they are studying.

Benefits of Speaking Another Language
The benefits of bilingualism and multilingualism are extensive and well known. Speaking another language prepares kids for life in the global community. English is still the lingua franca of the international business community, but increasingly, this hegemony is being challenged. More and more, thriving in our rapidly shrinking world means communicating effectively with others in their local language.

Bilingualism has far reaching effects on cognition as well as language. Bilingual kids react quicker and can exclude irrelevant information faster than their monolingual peers. Makes sense, since they must extract, sort and categorize meaning from sound more frequently. They can also multitask more effectively, because they are used to juggling input from two or more language systems, and these skills come into play even away from linguistic tasks.

Find two previous and comprehensive beijingkids articles on bilingualism/multilingualism here and here.

Benefits of Speaking One Language
This fantastic infographic by technovatetranslations.com compares the many benefits of bilingualism vs monolingualism in one visual. It also reveals a couple of instances where monolingualism can be a benefit. Monolingual children have a larger vocabulary and people with a single language are faster at choosing le mot juste.

Photo courtesy of edenpictures at Flickr.com

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting the colorful campus of one of Beijing’s newest schools, the Springboard International Bilingual School in Shunyi.

Located not too far from the well-known Roma roundabout, Springboard offers kindergarten through 6th grade in a 75% English, 25% Chinese bilingual environment.

Wide, brightly-lit hallways are a hallmark of the school’s design

The facilities are impressive. The newly renovated building sports brightly-colored classrooms designed for no more than 15 students per class flanked by large common areas that are dotted with toys on the first floor and well-stocked bookshelves on the second.

The football pitch and track allow for plenty of space to run around

Behind the school there’s a large football pitch and basketball courts, plus indoor play areas, a ballet studio, and art studio and a library in an adjoining building.

Springboard’s preschool class catches some shut-eye after lunch

One class of pre-school students started at Springboard this year but the full student body doesn’t arrive until August 22. The school has already started filling up with registrations from students from Japan, China, Canada, the Philippines, Serbia, South Africa, Mozambique and Hong Kong.

The front of the school is impressively green, featuring old-growth trees and a huge garden where students and teachers have planted an array of vegetables and fruits

Overseen by a Western principal with extensive experience overseas and in China, Springboard represents a growing trend in Beijing’s educational market: locally owned schools with hybrid western and Chinese teaching and management, featuring prices that tend to be lower than the purely international schools and an admissions policy that allows local children to enroll as well.

Springboard’s annual tuition for grades 1 through 6 is RMB 90,000 annually, whereas many international schools charge in the range of RMB 150,000 and up.

Well-stocked bookshelves line the second floor

All classes at Springboard are taught in English with the exception of Math and Mandarin language, which are both taught in Chinese.

Those interested in finding out a bit more about Springboard prior to the start of their first semester on Aug 22 can visit their recently launched website here.

 Photos by Ron Wu