2021 Annual IOE CI Chinese Teaching Conference

This year, Mandarin Matrix is excited to be able to participate in the Annual IOE CI Chinese Teaching Conference. Aisling Quinn, who will be leading the Mandarin matrix exhibition of teaching materials and resources, joined us for a short interview.

Aisling Quinn has worked with Mandarin Matrix from genesis to adolescence and is the Chief Operating Officer. As a mother with three children learning Mandarin, she focuses the development lens, demanding that traditional teaching methods be more interactive and compelling. Aisling has a BA in Consumer Science and she brings a scientific approach to both the product and human capital employed on three continents.

Hi Aisling, can you tell us a bit about Mandarin Matrix and this event?

We are delighted to be able to participate in this outstanding event hosted by the IOE CI (Institute of Education Confucius Institute). The CI’s contribution to the Mandarin teaching industry has been overwhelmingly positive, their work has had a real impact all across England for Mandarin learning students. We wanted to use this opportunity to showcase Mandarin Matrix materials in the exhibition. I am glad to be able to be present at this exhibition in order to showcase our materials and take part in this event!

What kind of resources does Mandarin Matrix provide?

I’m glad you asked that! Mandarin Matrix offers an Online Classroom that has a curriculum that is very easy to access. I’ve always valued interactive material and think that it is an important part of motivating students to learn. The Online Classroom option we provide is a great way to learn Chinese in a manageable way. It is so interactive and engaging and helps keep students’ attention. The new speech recognition and writing function have been a real boost and give students immediate feedback so they self correct these areas to improve their Chinese learning journey.

Learn more about how Mandarin Matrix’s Online Classroom can help your child here

This year’s conference theme is “Teaching Resilience,” how important is this theme for you at Mandarin Matrix?

The theme of “Teaching Resilience” is especially important to us here at Mandarin Matrix. Trying to ease the burden of teachers worldwide through providing teaching materials is one of our biggest goals. Helping teachers be able to spend less time preparing class activities in order to maximise time spent on more important tasks. Teachers can customise learning opportunities for students in order to maximise effectiveness, which I feel is a great way to personalise curriculum to fit students’ needs and skillset!

What resources will Mandarin Matrix be showcasing during the event?

We recently added a brand-new audio analysis feature, which provides our students with an interactive environment to better help them on their learning journey. This new audio analysis feature immediately analyses and gives feedback on the pronunciation of students. We think that this new feature is extremely helpful and can give students insight into which areas of their pronunciation need to be fine-tuned.

Another feature that we will be showcasing is the enhanced character writing feature. This also happens to be a new feature to our Online Classroom that will help students improve their writing of Chinese characters. Many students find learning a new form of writing difficult, this new program will give visual guidance and character stroke order information to students. Enabling them to improve both of these skills!

The 18th Annual Chinese Teaching Conference will take place on Saturday 11th September 2021 at the UCL Institute of Education, University College London.

Please click here to see the 2021 Conference Programme