Mandarin Level 1 | Sundays

About this course

The course introduces Mandarin through everyday communication, including greetings, introductions, names and titles, nationalities, family and ages. Learners practise spoken exchanges through group work and role-plays while developing comprehension through instruction in Mandarin. Alongside communication practice, the course covers pinyin initials and finals, the four tones and neutral tone, Chinese character strokes and radicals, and key sentence and particle structures. Vocabulary includes countries, cities, family members, titles and numbers from 1 to 100.

What you'll learn

• Use common Mandarin greetings, farewells, apologies and thanks.
• Introduce people using names, surnames, titles, nationalities and family information.
• Distinguish and produce the four Mandarin tones and neutral tone using Chinese pinyin.
• Recognise Chinese character strokes, stroke order and radicals.
• Form basic statements and questions using structures including 是, 的, 吗, 呢 and 了.
• Understand and use foundational vocabulary for people, places, family members and numbers.

Is this course right for you?

This course is explicitly intended for complete beginners who have never studied Mandarin. Participation includes spoken communication, group work and role-plays, alongside structured work on language systems and listening comprehension.

• Designed for learners starting Mandarin from the beginning.
• Includes regular group-based speaking activities and role-plays.
• The teacher uses Mandarin throughout the course to develop comprehension and listening.

Before you go

• The HSK Standard Course 1 Textbook and Workbook, Chapters 1-5, is required and should be purchased after the first lesson.
• Learners receive access to an online platform for lesson summaries, notes and resources.