Chinese for Beginners - Twice Weekly

Course Times & Enrolment

This course is currently unavailable.

Course Summary

PLEASE NOTE: When online enrolment is closed, you can still book this course directly via the Confucius Institute for Scotland.

Website: http://www.confuciusinstitute.ac.uk/

Tel: +44 (0) 131 662 2180

Email: info@confuciusinstitute.ac.uk

This course for complete beginners of Chinese, is an introduction to the Chinese pronunciation and writing systems. Basic listening and speaking skills are emphasized along with the study of pinyin, the official Romanisation system for Standard Chinese (普通话, Pŭtōnghuà, literally ‘common speech’) in mainland China. On completion of this 5-week intensive course (two 2-hour classes per week), students will be able to:

Have a basic knowledge of Chinese language;
Be able to use basic grammatical and sentence structures to introduce oneself and to engage in simple conversations;
Have basic knowledge of Chinese names, some traditional custom and family structures.

Course Details

Pre-requisites for enrolment

This course is for complete beginners with little or no knowledge of Mandarin Chinese.

Content of Course

Pinyin – the official Romanisation system for Standard Chinese in mainland China;
Vocabulary and expressions regarding speaking about one’s name, nationality, language skills and family;
Expressions regarding stating one’s wishes;
A brief introduction to Chinese writing system;
Numbers.

Teaching method(s)

The course is tutorial based with a combination of joint class activities and group work. Supplementary material is prepared by the teacher. In order to fully benefit from the course and to achieve the learning outcomes, students are expected to spend 1-2 hours per week on revision and homework.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students should be able to:

have a good command of about 120 Chinese characters
be familiar with basic grammar and sentence structures that can be used in every-day conversations and to express events related to the present.
have an understanding of China and its customs and ways of life.

Sources

Core Readings

WU, Zhongwei. (2010) Contemporary Chinese for Beginners. Beijing: Sinolingua.

Web Sources

www.chinesecio.com

Queries

If you have questions regarding the course or enrolment, please contact COL Reception at Paterson's Land by email COL@ed.ac.uk or by phone 0131 650 4400.

Student support

If you have a disability, learning difficulty or health condition which may affect your studies, please let us know by ticking the 'specific support needs' box on your course application form. This will allow us to make appropriate adjustments in advance and in accordance with your rights under the Equality Act 2010. For more information please visit the Student Support section of our website.