King’s Language Centre

Evening l Saturday l Summer Language

Courses

Course Description

Mandarin Level 1
How long does the course last?
45 hours of tuition - 3 parts of 15 hours each
Part 1: 15 hours
Part 2: 16-30 hours
Part 3: 31-45 hours
The length of each part depends on the type of language course.

Evening Language Courses: Lessons take place once a week over 10 weeks and last 1.5 hours each.
Intensive Evening Language Courses: Lessons take place once a week over 5 weeks and last 3 hours each.
Saturday Language Courses & Evening Fast-track Language Courses: Lessons take place once a week over 5 weeks
and last 3 hours each.
Summer Fast-track Language Courses: Lessons take place twice a week over 2.5 weeks and last 3 hours each.
Summer Intensive Language Courses: Lessons take place 5 times a week and last 3 hours each.

Who is the course for?

The course is aimed at a wide range of students with a general interest in Mandarin. No prior knowledge of
Mandarin is required as the course is for complete beginners.

What are the objectives of the course?

To acquire basic language skills and to achieve the equivalent of A1 level of the Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages (CEFR).
By the end of the course you will:
• be able to communicate in very basic everyday-life situations, including greetings, daily activities, finding
your way, telling the time and date, making simple purchases, ordering a meal, etc
• be able to understand very simple oral and written texts and ascertain specific information on simple
topics
• have developed an insight into Mandarin -speaking life, culture and society

How is the course taught?

A communicative approach is used. All four skills (speaking, reading, listening and writing) are practised, with the
main emphasis on speaking.
Students engage in interactive language activities, participating in group and pair work according to a syllabus
based on systematic grammatical progression.
Students will also be offered guidance in self-study and set optional homework tasks.
Students will have access to KEATS, King’s e-learning platform.

What course can I do next?

After completing all three parts of this course, students should be ready to join a Mandarin Level 2 course at the
KING’S LANGUAGE CENTRE.

Course outline
Part 1
Topics
• Greetings and farewells
• Names and titles
• Nationalities and languages
• Likes and dislikes
• Family and family members
• Telephone number

Functions
• Greeting in formal and informal ways
• Introducing oneself and others
• Addressing people properly
• Finding out someone’s nationality, identification and language background
• Formal and informal ways of addressing others
• Using numbers (birth date, telephone numbers, etc.)
• Exchanging personal information
• Expressing agreement/disagreement
• Talking about family members
• Asking and telling people’s age
• Asking and giving contact details

Grammar
• Introduction to pinyin and the tones
• Introduction to radicals, strokes and writing rules
• Word order for sentences
• Sentences with a verbal predicate
• Sentences with a nominal predicate
• Sentences with an adjectival predicate
• Sentences with 是
• Questions ending with 吗, 呢, 吧
• Questions with interrogative pronouns 哪, 哪里, 哪儿, 怎么样, 几, 多少, 多大,
• The position of the adverbs 也, 只, 都
• Negative sentences with 不
• Measure words for nouns
• Sentences with 在
• Pivotal sentences with 请
• Sentences with the modal verbs 可以
• Question patterns: X 不 X , X 还是 Y

Part 2
Topics
• Work and professions
 • Reading a map
• Talking about a book
• Shopping
• Ordering food at a restaurant

Functions
• Talking about jobs and professions
• Talking about a place someone works/studies at
• Borrowing a map/book
• Describing places
• Giving opinions on a book
• Buying things and asking for prices
• Describe clothes (colour, size)
• Ordering in a bar/restaurant

Grammar
• Negative sentences with 没有
• Questions with interrogative pronouns 多少/几, 为什么
• Questions with 有没有
• Sentences with 有, 没有
• Verb + 一下
• Questions ending with 行吗
• Measure word：张，本，支, 件，条，块，瓶
• Questions with interrogative pronouns 谁, 谁的
• Possession: pronoun/noun+的
• A bit: 一点儿 + N
• Sentences with the modal verbs 会
• Attributives

Part 3
Topics
• School life
• Leisure activities and hobbies
• Telephone conversations
• Setting a date
• Making an appointment
• Time and daily routine
• Holiday plans
• Appearances

Functions
• Making telephone calls
• Talking about hobbies
• Finding out about abilities
• Inviting people for an event, activity or meal
• Making an appointment
• Making, accepting and refusing offers
• Organizing meetings and appointments
• Communicating by phone
• Talking about one’s routine/free time
• Talking about holiday plans
 • Describing people

Grammar
• Questions with interrogative pronouns 几点
• Questions with interrogative pronouns 什么时候
• 有点儿+Verb/adj.
• Alternative choice using 或者 VS 还是
• Reduplication of verbs
• Attributives
• Expressing the date and days of the week
• Verb phrases in series 想 and 让
• Time expressions with 以前 and 以后
• Reduplication of adjectives
• The position of the adverbs 还
• Sentences with the modal verbs 能

Learning resources
Textbook and exercise book

• Contemporary Chinese For Beginners Textbook (Lesson 0 - 7), WU Zhongwei (2010), Sinolingua ISBN 978-
7-80200-690-4

Students are expected to purchase their own textbook. An exercise book may also be recommended. The teacher
will supply additional material, both tailor-made and taken from other sources (textbooks, newspapers and new
media).

Recommended additional material

• Contemporary Chinese For Beginners Exercise Book (Lesson 0 - 7), WU Zhongwei (2010), Sinolingua ISBN
978-7-80200-691-1
• Contemporary Chinese For Beginners Character Book (Lesson 0 - 7), WU Zhongwei (2010), Sinolingua
ISBN 978-7-80200-692-8
• Chinese Express-Talk Chinese (Fourth Edition), Moon Tan & Haitong Wang (2017), Cypress Book Co, UK
Ltd. ISBN 1-84570-009-6
• New Practical Chinese Reader, Textbook Vol.1, Xun Liu (2010), Beijing Language and Culture University
Press ISBN-10: 7561926235

Independent study
Research indicates that successful language learners revise new material and review their progress on a
regular basis. The Language Resources Centre (LRC) gives you access to wide range of learning materials
and the opportunity to attend free speaking practice sessions. The LRC also offers workshops on
language learning and culture to ensure you are in contact with the culture of the language(s) you are
learning. To find out more, a link to details of the LRC can be found on your course page on KEATS.

Date of last revision: August 2023