CAIS Chinese Department provides a tailor-made program for Prep to Grade 12 students. The Chinese Studies teachers help students to set a strong Chinese language foundation on which to build up their linguistic skills and cultural awareness. The school provides opportunities for various activities to enhance classroom learning, such as Parent-Child Story Competition, Chinese Reading Month, Book Battle, Mid-Autumn Festival Lantern Riddles, Chinese Calligraphy Competition, Drama Performance, Chinese Fun Fair, Chinese Speech Festival, Chinese Debate Competition and more. The Chinese Department endeavors to cultivate CAIS students able to communicate with and serve the local community.

Please see Scope of the World Languages Program below for more information.

Entry Level Placement

Placement of students in the appropriate Chinese Studies section will be determined by the school’s professional teaching staff.

Requirements and Credits

• Chinese Studies is mandatory for Preparatory to Grade 6 students. 
• Grade 7 to 9 students can continue to take Chinese Studies or opt for other languages. 
• Chinese courses in Grades 10 to 12 are electives that count toward the Alberta Diploma. 
• Students in the International Baccalaureate Programme can select Chinese for their Group 2 requirement, or Chinese Language and Literature if wanting to pursue the IB Bilingual Diploma.
• Chinese Studies can also equip students for AP® Chinese Language and Culture.

Script

• Traditional script will be taught in native/near-native classes.
• Simplified script will be pursued as a teaching medium in non-native classes.

CAIS offers French and Spanish at the beginner and intermediate levels in grades 7-9. In grades 10-12, as the program grows, we will offer intermediate and IB Ab Initio and Language B. Please see Scope of the World Languages Program below for more information about the expanding course offerings in the coming years.