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The story behind New Concept Mandarin is interesting because it has roots in a linguistic research and teaching program led by the institute's founder and CEO, Fu Xianling, at the Griffith University of Queensland in Australia.
In 1986, Fu Xianling was invited to Australia as a guest of the Australian Government to help teach Australians to become Chinese teachers.
With 10 years university teaching experience and a master's degree in applied linguistics from Wuhan in China's Hubei Province, Fu Xianling arrived in Australia when the country, under the leadership of Prime Minister Bob Hawke, recognized the importance of China as an emerging trade partner and the long-term need to understand Chinese language and culture. As a lecturer at Griffith University, Fu Xianling helped develop the first computer based program to help teach Chinese, and focused on a teaching method that taught adults a second-language in the same way that Chinese children learn to speak, read, listen and write from a young age. According to comparative test results supplied by the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington DC, Fu Xianling's innovative teaching methods, helped "westerners" learn Chinese "three times faster" than other standard teachin methods.
After spending 5 years in Australia, Fu was faced with a tough decision - to stay on and enjoy the easy-going Australian lifestyle or accept a new challenge in Hong Kong and China, where he had been encouraged to establish a Mandarin language training institute to meet the need to provide international businesses with Mandarin language skills in anticipation of the international community's closer economic ties with Mainland China.
Fu Xianling accepted that challenge and opened the first Mandarin language centers focusing on providing Mandarin skills for the expatriate business sector. New Concept Mandarin is widely known as the leading Mandarin language training institute, with centers throughout China and the region, and an extensive range of teaching programs, online courses and interactive learning tools.
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