Course description of 4 weeks Summer/Winter program(for beginners A level)

20 hours a week of Mandarin Chinese language classes at Beijing Language and Culture University for all levels for four hours a day Mon. to Fri. The average class size is around 15 students.

Total Classroom Hours: 80

This is a 4 weeks long introductory course for absolute beginners to those who know just a few words of Chinese. Emphasis is placed on tone differentiation and pronunciation as well as survival language skills so that students will develop both the good habits and confidence that come from successfully completing daily tasks in a foreign language. Numbers, greetings, basic etiquette, customs, food names, directions, and place names are covered in the vocabulary while basic grammar is taught. By the end of this class students will be able to ask directions, navigate by taxi or mass transit, buy a wide variety of products, bargain with vendors, buy tickets for events or transportation, and hold a basic but polite conversation with a person of any age. In addition, students will be able to read and write simplified Chinese characters, hanyu pinyin and use a Chinese dictionary. Students will study 150 Chinese characters and should have a working vocabulary of 300 words upon completion of the class.