Mandarin Mandarin M andarin, the official language on both mainland China and the Republic of China on Taiwan, is essential for travelers and businesspeople with an interest in China. Students of Mandarin will find our courses perfect for brushing up on basics or maintaining their fluency. I begins with the basics of pronunciation and sentence structure, focusing on listening and speaking. The instructors have developed their materials based on real-life Chinese situations in order to give students insight into local protocol for greetings and small talk, as well as hints for getting around.
Later lessons provide conversational practice.
Students are also exposed to some Chinese characters. M andarin Level II covers typical conversations on such topics as shopping, ordering in a restaurant, telephone conversations, and the Chinese festivals. Students will also learn to read and write Chinese, starting with recongnizing the general components of characters and building to translation of selections from literature. To facilitate independent use of Mandarin, dictionary skills will be taught. W e also offer a Mandarin Level III course for advanced students.