CHINESE – INTERNATIONAL COURSE

The language used in this course – often referred to as Mandarin Chinese – is the official Chinese language (common speech), which is being popularized throughout China today.  It is based on the northern dialect, with Peking pronunciation as a standard.

The Chinese language is probably one of the easiest languages to learn – except for its characters.  For this reason, we have used the official phonetic alphabet, called “PINYIN”, which is being introduced in China and can be seen on signboards along with the Chinese characters.  We also thought it useful for the learner to get familiar with some of the Chinese characters – which we have indicated in their modern, simplified form.  The ability to read (not write) a number of Chinese characters is very helpful in understanding and even memorising Chinese expressions.

The PINYIN is, of course, no perfect phonetic transcription, but this is not necessary, as you will rely on the recordings for perfect intonation.  One special characteristic of the PINYIN is, however, very important: the tone marks above many vowels.

The Chinese course consists of three levels and explanations are in English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish and Nihongo (Japanese).

AIMS & OBJECTIVES

Level I

Basic conversational vocabulary of some 500 words and the tenses.

Level II

Basic conversational vocabulary of an additional 500 words. On completion of Levels I and II the student has an active vocabulary of 1000 words and is capable of understanding everyday conversations and of making himself understood, using their tenses correctly.

Level III

Enlarges the active vocabulary by 1000 words and enables the student to relate experiences and discuss a wide variety of topics, creating practical day to day situations.  Idiomatic expressions to enable the student to express feelings of indignation, annoyance, pity, etc.

Topics covered in Levels V and VI include telecommunications, data processing, application of computers, air pollution, physics, diagnostic aids, surgery, sales planing, processing orders, handling a complaint, discrepancies in an invoice, an urgent shipment and Company organization etc.

Written and oral tests are provided at all levels.
Courses take between six and twelve months to complete when spending approximately ½ hour per day 5 days per week.

The Chinese course is available on
·       Cassettes and Books,
·       Audio CD and Books or
·       CD-Rom.