Mother Tongue Languages department

Explore the Mother Tongue Languages Department's courses and the Chinese Language Elective Programme, designed to nurture bilingual talent and deepen students' command of Chinese language and culture.

Last updated 31 July 2026

The Chinese Department runs the Chinese Language Elective Programme and Mother tongue courses

Chinese Language Elective Programme

Introduced by the Ministry of Education in 1990, the Chinese Language Elective Programme (CLEP) focuses on nurturing the language talent of students who have an aptitude for the Chinese language so that they can attain a high level of proficiency and enhance their understanding of Chinese literature. The programme also aims to develop academically able students to become effectively bilingual so as to better serve the needs of our nation.

The duration of the programme is two years. All CLEP-JC students must offer H2 Chinese Language & Literature (H2CLL) at A level. The students will have the option to go beyond offering H2CLL by attending H3CLL lessons as a non-examinable subject. They can subsequently offer H3 CLL as an examinable subject if they wish to do so.

The programme encourages students to cultivate a deeper interest in Chinese Language and culture, and provides a wide range of enrichment activities such as literary lecture series, camp, immersion trips (PRC or Taiwan), editing and publishing of literary works, internships and school- based projects to enhance the students' learning.

To qualify for the programme, students must obtain at the GCE 'O' Level examination the following grades: