ELEMENTARY MANDARIN

No prior knowledge

Topics:

• Introduction to Mandarin
• Mandarin pronunciation and the Pinyin phonetic alphabet
• Numbers
• Formal, informal greetings and leave-takings
• Name, country and nationality
• Introducing yourself and others
• Asking the time
• Daily activities
• Day and date
• Shopping
• Monetary units
• Colours, clothes and measure words
• Family, age and jobs

Grammar:

• Yes/no questions
• ‘ji’ and ‘duoshao’ questions
• Have/not have
• This is/that is
• Question words: ‘shenme’, ‘shei’, ‘nar’
• Topic + comment structure
• ‘… xing ma?’
• ‘duo+adj’ questions
• Characters of number 0-10

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
• Ask the time and date
• Describe daily activities
• Do shopping for food and clothes
• Talk about clothes, sizes, colour and prices
• Bargain
• Read first 10 characters

No prior knowledge

Topics:

• Revision of Mandarin pronunciation and the Pinyin phonetic alphabet
• Revision of numbers
• Revision of other key topics from Mandarin 1
• Eating in a Chinese restaurant
• Giving directions
• Describing distances
• Catching a taxi
• Sports
• Socialising
• Weather
• Making suggestions
• Making phone calls

Grammar:

• Asking and making comments
• More measure words
• More question words ‘how’, ‘which’, ‘when’
• More ‘duo+adj’ questions
• Present, past and future tenses
• ‘shenme shihou’ question
• Modal verbs ‘xiang’, ‘yao’, ‘keyi’
• Reduplicate of adjectives
• 10 new characters

Outcomes:

You will be able to:

• Order food in a Chinese restaurant
• Ask and give directions
• Describe distances
• Arrange to go out for various activities
• Describe weather
• Travel by means of transportation
• Make phone calls
• Read 20 characters

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, sizes and colours
• Locations and facilities
• Body parts and ailments
• Seeing a doctor
• Borrowing books at the library
• Registering for a library card
• Money exchange
• Applying for a bank card

Grammar:

• Modal particle ‘le’
• ‘ne’ and ‘nar’ question
• There is, there are…
• Compass directions
• Affirmative-negative question ‘shi bu shi’
• Frequency ‘ci’
• Adverb ‘jiu’
• ‘xiang’ and ‘yao’
• ‘keyi’, ‘hui’ and ‘neng’
• ‘ji’ as several
• Verb+result complement ‘hao’
• Verb+measure words ‘ci’,’bian’ and ‘tang’
• Duration of time
• 20 characters

Outcomes:

You will be able to:

• Ask and describe locations
• Describe your body parts and ailments
• Understand simple medicine instructions
• Borrow books at the library
• Express different concepts of ‘can’
• Apply for a bank card at the bank
• Read 40-50 characters

Mandarin 3 or 50-60 hours of prior study

Topics:

• Character revision
• Review present, past and future tenses
• Revision of all question words
• Housework
• Arranging a birthday party
• Holidays and travelling
• Means of transportation
• Making tour plans
• Talking about past experiences
• Booking air tickets
• Checking in at the airport
• More character study

Grammar:

• ‘Ba’ sentences
• Don’t… ‘bu yao’ and ‘bie’
• Exclamation sentences
• Verb+ guo
• More on affirmative-negative questions
• Make a strong suggestion using ‘haishi’
• Choice questions with ‘haishi’
• ‘gai…le’
• ‘jiuyao…le’
• Past and perfect tenses
• More character study

Outcomes:

You will be able to:

• Express likes and dislikes
• Instruct people to do house chores
• Arrange a birthday party
• Talk about past experiences
• Talk about travel experiences
• Arrange tour plans
• Buy air tickets
• Check in at the airport
• Read 60-80 characters