In October 2014, CLCC were approached to set up two bespoke courses for groups of students on the MA/Msc Global Innovation Design (GID) programme, a double Masters run jointly between the Royal College of Art (RCA) and Imperial College London. Japanese for GID and Mandarin for GID were thus established and have run annually since.
The two language courses typically comprise eight 90-minute lessons during the Spring Term. The purpose of the Japanese course is to prepare around 10-12 students for their study abroad in Keio University, Tokyo, as part of their degree. The course trains them with survival Japanese for their daily life in Tokyo whilst studying abroad and gives some cultural introduction.
The Mandarin groups average around eight to ten students who will go on to study abroad at Tsinghua University, Beijing. The aims are the same as Japanese for GID and the main skills are speaking and listening (basic conversation), with some very basic reading skills introduced to help students to recognise some Mandarin signage.
By the end of their language programme, the students have gained valuable communication skills for their study abroad. This facilitates the second phase of their degree, based at an overseas partner institution and conducting immersive cultural design research. The language programmes' cultural introduction prepares the GID students to embrace the local expertise they will encounter and to and make the most of their global education experience.