Moving beyond language skills

Tianjin shifts priority from linguistic studies to encouraging creative and innovative thinking

Foreign language schools are shifting their mission from cultivating language expertise to preparing well-rounded students, versed in foreign languages and culture.

Tianjin Foreign Languages School, launched in 1964 as one of the first batch of foreign language schools under the supervision of then premier Zhou Enlai, is focusing more on the comprehensive skills of students than the mastery of languages alone, in an attempt to foster greater expertise and the development of open and tolerant mindsets.