Languages for all Twilight programme (LTP): Mandarin Chinese level 1
Detailed module information
Modules available
Mandarin Chinese level 1
Tutor: Ms Shan Qiu
Class dates: Starting in week commencing 14 October 2024 and finishing week commencing 10 March 2025.
Class times: Monday 18:00–20:00.
Frequency of class: 120 minutes of class contact and approximately 60 minutes of self-study a week are recommended in order to make good progress.
Venue: Rolle Building.
Course fee: Students: £40; Staff: £75; External participants: £80.
Number of students: Maximum 23.
Resources: These will be provided for you in class/on the DLE.
Cancelled classes: Any classes that are cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances will be re-arranged by your tutor for a later date.
Methodology: Teaching is communicative with class work emphasising listening, speaking and practice of sentence structure. Self-study consists of reviewing work done in class and practising language skills as advised by the tutor. Resources to support the course will be provided for you.
Description: Level 1 assumes no previous knowledge of the language.
The course introduces some of the basic structures of the language through topics related to everyday life in China. The focus is on listening, speaking and reading basic materials that introduce grammatical structures which will facilitate manipulation of the language. An aspect/aspects of Chinese culture will be incorporated into each class.
Syllabus 2024/25
The Chinese language – did you know?
- Chinese is one of the oldest languages still in use. Its origins come from the discovery of the famous Oracle Bones and what is believed to be the earliest samplings of Chinese script. These bones date from the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BCE). With such a rich history, Chinese has undergone many changes and influences due to wars and cultural shifts.
- About 1.3 billion people speak some form of Chinese, making it the language with the most native speakers. The Chinese language, spoken in the form of Standard Mandarin, is the official language in the largest part of mainland China and Taiwan, one of the four in Singapore, and an official idiom of the United Nations.
- There are over 20,000 distinct Chinese characters but about 98% of written Chinese consists of the same 2,500 characters, so you can successfully read the newspaper even if you can only identify two or three thousand!
