Modern approaches to preparing school students for Chinese language olympiads: problems and prospects for improvement

Article in Elibrary

Received: 07/08/2026

Accepted: 10/16/2026

Published: 10/30/2026

Keywords: Chinese language; All-Russian Olympiad for School Students; Olympiad preparation; teaching methodology; intercultural competence

Available in the on-line version with: 30.10.2026

To cite this article

Aleksandra A. Sergeeva Modern approaches to preparing school students for Chinese language olympiads: problems and prospects for improvement. // Lomonosov Oriental Studies Journal. 2026. Vol. 70. N 3,70 p.161-168 https://doi.org/10.55959/MSU0320-8095-13-70-3-11.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribiution - NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Aleksandra A. Sergeeva (Lomonosov Moscow State University)

Abstract

The article presents the author’s experience of preparing school students for the All-Russian Olympiad in Chinese through work with the Moscow team and Olympiad classes at the Centre for Pedagogical Mastery. It discusses challenges in teaching language and culture, the development of intercultural competence, and age-specific approaches to learning. The teaching materials “China: History and Modernity” and “Russia: History and Modernity” are described alongside ways of using authentic texts, videos and infographics. Sample tasks address vocabulary development, the matching of sociocultural concepts, and the evaluation of the truth of statements. Particular attention is paid to reasoned oral expression, discussion formats and teamwork. The contribution documents methodological work in school-level Chinese studies and links between Olympiad preparation and university-level education in Oriental studies.