COURSES

No prior knowledge

Topics:

• Introduction to Mandarin
• Mandarin pronunciation and the Pinyin phonetic alphabet
• Formal and informal greetings and leave-taking
• Name, nationality, job and age
• Introducing yourself and others
• Family and friends
• Numbers
• Asking the time
• Daily activities
• Day and date
• Making suggestions

Grammar:

• Yes/no questions
• This is/that is
• Have/not have
• Question words: ‘shenme’, ‘ne’, ‘ba’, ‘shei’
• Topic + comment structure
• ‘… hao ma?’

Outcomes:

You will be able to:

• Greet people formally and informally
• Introduce yourself and others
• Discuss and gather personal information about jobs, nationalities and age
• Discuss family members and marital status
• Ask the time and date
• Describe daily activities
• Make suggestions
• Particle ‘le’

No prior knowledge

Topics:

• Revision of Mandarin pronunciation and the Pinyin phonetic alphabet
• Revision of numbers
• Revision of other key topics from Mandarin 1
• Locations
• Giving directions
• Monetary units
• Measure words
• Shopping
• Changing buses
• Money exchange
• Phone calls
• Past experiences

Grammar:

• Affirmative-negative questions
• Location and direction words
• More question words: where, how, why, etc
• Measure words
• More on particle ‘le’
• Reduplication of verbs
• Modal verbs ‘xiang’, ‘yao’, ‘keyi’
• Modal verb ‘hui’
• Ordinal numbers
• Sentences with ‘gei’
• Verbs with the result complement (1)
• Past experiences: verb + ‘guo’

Outcomes:

You will be able to:

• Describe locations and give directions
• Handle monetary units and express different currencies
• Go shopping
• Arrange to go out for various activities
• Talk about clothes, sizes, colour and prices
• Travel by bus
• Exchange money
• Make phone calls

Mandarin 1 & 2 or 30-40 hours of prior study

Topics:

• Reinforcing Mandarin pronunciation and the Pinyin phonetic alphabet
• Revision of measure words
• Revision of money, prices, size and colours
• Weather and climate
• Leisure and sports
• Picking up people from the airport
• Food and drink
• Inviting people to events
• Declining an invitation
• Persuasion
• Apologies, running late and being absent
• Borrowing and lending things
• Character study

Grammar:

• Questions of choice: or
• Verbs with the directional complement (1)
• ‘Shi … de’ structure
• ‘Yao … le’
• Prepositional phrases
• Not at all: ‘yi … ye bu’
• Asking for permission and responding
• The modal verb can
• Continuous and future tenses
• Adverbs ‘hai’ and ‘zai’
• Adverbs ‘cai’ and ‘jiu’
• Verbs with the result complement (2)
• ‘Shi bu shi’

Outcomes:

You will be able to:

• Discuss the weather and climate
• Issue an invitation and decline an invitation politely
• Talk about sports and leisure
• Express different concepts of ‘can’
• Order food and drinks
• Apologise
• Read 20 characters

Mandarin 3 or 50-60 hours of prior study

Topics:

• Character revision
• Review expressing past experiences
• Revision of all question words
• Praising and responding
• Making strong suggestions
• Making comparisons
• More about the weather
• More on sports and leisure
• Language learning
• Travel experiences
• Buying air and train tickets
• Character study

Grammar:

• Both … and: ‘you … you’
• Rhetorical questions
• Verbs with the potential complement (1)
• Past and perfect tenses
• Comparisons with ‘bi’
• If: ‘yaoshi’
• ‘Ba’ sentences
• Chinese proverbs
• Complex sentences
• More on adverbs
• Verbs with the duration complement (1)
• As soon as … then …: ‘yi … jiu’

Outcomes:

You will be able to:

• Offer congratulations on various occasions
• Make comparisons
• Discuss language learning
• Discuss travel experiences
• Give travel advice
• Buy air and train tickets
• Read 50-60 characters

Mandarin 4 or 60-80 hours of prior study. Knowledge of 50-60 characters

Topics:

• Character revision
• Revision of complex sentences
• Booking a hotel room
• Seeing a doctor (1)
• Comforting people
• Seeing people off at a train station or railway
• Shipment of luggage
• Bon voyage
• Helping people to make arrangements
• More Chinese proverbs
• Character study

Grammar:

• Reduplication of adjectives
• More on ‘ba’ sentences
• More on complex sentences
• More adverbs
• More measure words
• Verbs with the result complement (3)
• Passive voice: ‘bei’
• Verbs with the duration complement (2)
• Verbs with the potential complement (2)
• ‘yi … jiu …’
• the more …, the more …
• the adjective ‘getting’: ‘yue lai yue’
• continuation and progression of an action: ‘zhe’

Outcomes:

You will be able to:

• Book a hotel room
• See a doctor
• Comfort people
• See people off at a train station or airport
• Ship luggage
• Use more Chinese proverbs
• Read 100-150 characters

Mandarin 5 or 100 hours of prior study.

Knowledge of 100-150 characters

Topics:

• Your experience learning Mandarin
• Travel experiences in China
• Organizing a travel itinerary
• Travel advice
• Chinese culture
• Seeing a doctor (2)
• Health and exercise
• Chinese food
• Organizing a party
• Comparing Chinese and Western food
• Character study

Grammar:

• Verb + object + verb + ‘de’ (得) + complement
• ‘Lian … ye …’ (连 …也 …)
• ‘Duoshao’ (多少) versus ‘ji’ (几)
• ‘Shi … de’ (是 … 的) to indicate the past
• The comparative using ‘bi’ (比)
• While: ‘yibian … yibian …’ (一边 … 一边 …)
• Verb with complement ‘wan’ (完)
• Using ‘de … bing’ (得 … 病) to describe health problems
• ‘More’ + verb: ‘duo’ (多) + verb
• ‘Shenme’ (什么) used in negative sentences and as an indefinite pronoun
• ‘Bingqie’ (并且) versus ‘he’ (和)
• ‘Ba’ (把)
• ‘Or’: ‘haishi’ (还是) versus ‘huozhe’ (或者)

Outcomes:

You will be able to:

• Discuss your Chinese language learning experience
• Discuss travel experiences and organize an itinerary
• Give and ask for directions
• Use public transport
• Talk about health conditions and see a doctor
• Plan a leisure activity
• Discuss the difference between Chinese food and Western food
• Read 150-200 characters

Mandarin 6 or 120 hours of prior study

Knowledge of 150-200 characters

Topics:

• Celebrating Chinese New Year
• Personal interests and hobbies
• Chinese literature
• Sports and games
• Primary school education in China
• University life in China
• Studying overseas
• Looking for jobs
• Aspirations and careers
• Character study

Grammar:

• Adverbs: ‘cai’ (才) versus ‘jiu’ (就)
• Chinese couplets (春联)
• Plural ‘-men’ (们)
• 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac
• ‘Since’: ‘zicong … yilai’ (自从 … 以来)
• More on verbs with the result complement or the potential complement
• ‘Yixie’ (一些) versus ‘youxie’ (有些)
• More on particle ‘le’ (了)
• Comparing and contrasting
• ‘However’: ‘er’ (而) or ‘danshi’ (但是)
• Topic-comment sentence structure
• The passive voice
• Conditional sentences (‘If … ‘)

Outcomes:

You will be able to:

• Convey Chinese New Year greetings
• Discuss personal interests and hobbies
• Discuss education in China
• Discuss overseas study experiences
• Discuss aspirations and career paths
• Read at least 300 characters

Mandarin 7 or 120-150 hours of prior study

Knowledge of 300 characters

Topics:

• Public transport
• Environmental issues
• Computers and the internet
• New technology and the information revolution
• Marriage as a social issue
• Child rearing
• Lifestyle changes in China
• The Open Door Policy and reform in China
• Urban and country life in China
• China’s economic growth (1)
• Character study

Grammar:

• Formal passive voice marker ‘bei’ (被)
• ‘Dei’ (得): have to and its negative form
• Informal passive voice markers: 让，叫，给…
• More on end of sentence particle ‘le’ (了)
• ‘Not only … but also …’ (不但 … 而且 …)
• 在 … 上
• 学 versus 学会
• ‘De’ (得) before a verbal phrase or clause
• 宁愿 … 也 …
• 凑合
• 无论 … 还是 …, 不管… 还是 …
• More on 把 sentences
• 虽然 … 但是 …
• 要是 …，就好了!
• Idioms and proverbs (成语和俗语，俚语)

Outcomes:

You will be able to:

• Discuss public transport
• Discuss environmental issues
• Discuss the influence of computers and the internet on people’s lives
• Discuss new technology and its impact on everyday life
• Discuss marriage and children
• Discuss lifestyle changes
• Discuss economic growth
• Read 400 characters

Mandarin 8 or 150 hours of prior study

Knowledge of 400 characters

Topics:

• Reading about and discussing recent events and other topical issues
• Giving an oral presentation
• Social issues
• Business issues
• Chinese culture
• Slang, proverbs, idioms
• Character study

Grammar:

• Grammar points from the reading material provided
• Complex sentences
• Useful expressions
• Written and colloquial expression
• Formal and informal styles

Outcomes:

You will be able to:

• Discuss social life in China
• Discuss social issues in China
• Use more slang, proverbs and idioms
• Give a speech at a social occasion or present a report at a business event
• Communicate at a higher level in a variety of contexts
• Understand spoken and written Mandarin in a variety of contexts
• Read approximately 800 characters

Mandarin Advanced 1 or 180 hours of prior study

Knowledge of 800 characters

Topics:

• Cultural/social topics
• The changing world
• Global issues
• Youth culture
• Individuals and the community
• China’s economic growth (2)
• Cross-cultural issues
• Further news studies

Grammar:

• Grammar points from the reading material provided
• Complex sentences
• Useful expressions
• More slang terms
• Written and colloquial expression
• Formal and informal styles

Outcomes:

You will be able to:

• Express your ideas, opinions and thoughts on various topics
• Discuss attitudes, opinions and ideas
• Better understand written and spoken language
• Argue and debate various topics
• Use a wider range of vocabulary
• Understand different Mandarin genres