Learn Chinese Mandarin in a few short weeks with our Beginners Summer Intensive course. This concentrated course will teach you the entire syllabus of the Beginners course in just 10 weeks during the summer term.
You’ve heard Chinese people greeting one another, sometimes with Nǐ hǎo and other times with Nín hǎo and wonder what the difference is. Your favourite food is Chinese and you would like to be able to order your favourite dishes in Mandarin. You also want to be able to say “Happy New Year” to your Chinese colleagues working in Beijing.
The Chinese Mandarin Beginners Summer Intensive course consists of two evening classes per week for a total of 10 weeks. In this time you will cover all three modules of the beginners course, giving you an excellent grasp on basic Chinese Mandarin in a short space of time.
Challenging but rewarding, the course is perfectly suited to those looking to develop a basic command of Chinese Mandarin.
All of our language short courses are taught by qualified native speakers and delivered at City, University of London’s main campus, in the heart of the capital.
The Beginners Mandarin Chinese Summer Intensive short course focuses on daily communication and uses the phonetic system, Pinyin, to develop speaking and listening skills.
You will learn basic grammar and sentence structure around different topics and learn to read simple public signs in Chinese characters. Hands-on tasks and role play exercises are used to create realistic situations in which the use of language and culture is explored.
The Chinese Mandarin Beginners Summer Intensive short course is designed for complete beginners with no prior knowledge of the Chinese Mandarin language.
If you are not a complete beginner and have some prior knowledge of Chinese Mandarin, you may wish to join our Chinese Mandarin Beginners Refresher course or join Module Two or Module Three of the Chinese Mandarin Beginners course. You can check your level using our online guidelines.
The Chinese Mandarin Summer Intensive course is designed for complete beginners with no prior knowledge of Chinese Mandarin.
If you are not a complete beginner and have some prior knowledge of Chinese Mandarin, you may wish to join our Chinese Mandarin Beginners Refresher course or join Module Two or Module Three of the Chinese Mandarin Beginners course. You can check your level using our online guidelines.
You will need to respond to instructions and read course documents in English.
The emphasis of the intensive summer course is on listening and speaking. The lessons focus on language that is required in authentic situations. Pinyin is used throughout the Mandarin Chinese summer course.
Classroom activities will include:
Listening to audio clips and watching videos are an important element in our lessons. More comprehensive grammar exercises and reading texts are generally set as homework. All evaluation will take place in a relaxed and informal setting.
There is no formal assessment and no qualification is issued at the end of the course, but you will be awarded an official City, University of London certificate on completion of the course. You must attend over 70 per cent of the classes to be eligible for the certificate.
Colloquial Chinese
by Qian Kan
Business Chinese 20 Essential Topics
by Yinghong Huang and Carrie Wei
Please note:
Students are advised to purchase their own copies, available from most major bookshops.
Ping Chai
Ping Chai started her Mandarin teaching career in Nanjing University, China, where she had studied and worked before she came to the UK and studied in Westminster University and University of Sheffield.
Ping is a chartered linguist. She has been giving in-house specialised business Chinese training for professionals, diplomats and journalists, and practicing translation over many years. Ping also has guided some learners to take HSK, CEFR, GCSE and other exams and tests. She has tutored professionals to take professional Chinese qualification exams.
Jingya Huang
Jingya Huang qualified as a Mandarin Chinese Teacher after postgraduate studies in the UK. She has taught in UK schools and worked for the Open University.
Jingya has worked as a translator and interpreter, and taught Mandarin Chinese at all levels and business Chinese to professionals.