Have you always wanted to learn how to speak Mandarin Chinese? Are you fascinated by the sound, the script and its ancient civilisation? If so, this introduction will get you started on the essentials of reading, writing, speaking and listening in Chinese through a variety of online activities. A perfect introduction for absolute beginners!
This OpenLearn course is an extract from the Open Centre for Languages and Cultures short course, LGXC001 Beginners Chinese 1. After completing this free course, you may wish to register for the full short online course Beginners Chinese 1 or the 30-credit Beginners’ Chinese module to continue your learning!
Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to: say hello and goodbye and thank people in Mandarin Chinese, respond to greeting and thanks, use personal pronouns including the politeness pronoun nín, count from 0 to 99, recognise some Pinyin spelling conventions.
Introductory level Languages course – Getting started with Chinese 2
Course description
Have you always wanted to speak Mandarin Chinese? Have you even started learning a few basic words and expressions? If so, this follow-up to Getting started with Chinese 1, or your own equivalent knowledge of the language, will give you more essentials of reading, writing, speaking and listening through a variety of online activities. A perfect online short course to develop further the skills needed to speak and understand simple Mandarin Chinese in everyday contexts!
This OpenLearn course is an extract from the Open Centre for Languages and Cultures short course, LGXC002 Beginners Chinese 2: 开始吧 kāishĭ ba! After completing this free course, you may wish to register for the full course to continue your learning!
Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
- refer to different languages and use different terms such as China, Chinese books, Chinese people and Chinese language
- talk about activities, such as watching TV and learning Chinese
- recognise where time expressions should be placed in sentences
- ask questions with shénme什么 (‘what’), nǎr哪儿 (‘where’) and understand the different usages of dōu都 (‘all, both’)
- ask a choice question with háishì还是 (‘or’).
