Beginners’ Chinese: a taster course

This course, Beginners’ Chinese: a taster course, provides a brief introduction to the Chinese language, its scripts and sounds, and how words are formed. You will hear short conversations where people greet each other and introduce themselves, and learn how to count from one to ten. You’ll learn different ways of saying your name and greeting people, as well as give your telephone number. This OpenLearn course is introductory material for absolute beginners in Chinese.

Course learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

• Demonstrate an awareness of the varieties of the Chinese language
• Understand how the sound system of Mandarin Chinese (pinyin and tones) works
• Understand that there are simplified and traditional forms of Chinese characters and have an awareness of how they are combined together to form new meanings
• Demonstrate basic vocabulary and pronunciation related to greetings, numbers, names and nationalities
• Demonstrate a cultural understanding of how professional titles are used to address people.