Chinese for Beginners: Mastering Mandarin Basics in 4 hours

Name: Chinese for Beginners: Mastering Mandarin Basics in 4 hours
Rating: 4.5 (61 reviews)

Learn to communicate in Chinese from scratch; make your life in China easier; learn about Chinese language and culture.

Created byQing Yang Cao

Last updated 1/2016

English

What you'll learn

At the end of my course, students will be able to greet in Chinese
Pronounce Chinese characters according to Pinyin (Pinyin is the Chinese characters written in Roman letters and the representation of Chinese pronunciation system)
Self-introduce in Chinese
Count numbers in Chinese up to millions
Communicate with the Chinese taxi driver
Order food in a Chinese restaurant
Ask for prices and negotiate prices with Chinese sellers
Ask for direction in China
Make small talk with Chinese such as where they are from, what they are doing in China, etc.
Describe colours in Chinese
Learn to teach themselves Chinese online and with mobile phone apps

Course content

3 sections • 19 lectures • 3h 26m total length

Course Introduction2:40
Hello everyone, in this introduction video, you will get a general idea about the course. I explain in the video that this course is for learning to communicate in basic Chinese and the Chinese characters are not included in the teaching, but I would like to add that Chinese characters together with Pinyin are shown on the screen for every word and expression you will learn.

Greeting in Chinese9:03
In the first lesson of this course, you will learn to greet a person or a group of people in a formal and informal way. You will also learn to say "see you tomorrow" and "see you next time".
Introduction of Pinyin - Chinese characters written in Roman letters5:35
In this lesson, you are going to learn the pronunciation system of Chinese language - Pinyin. Unlike the alphabetic languages, Chinese characters are logographic, representing meaning instead of sound. Therefore, the forms of the characters alone do not tell you how to pronounce them. After the lesson, you will know how to pronounce Chinese characters according to Pinyin. Learning Pinyin can be a little tedious, but once you grasp it, learning Chinese will be much easier for you in the future.
Pinyin - List of consonants5:09
Pinyin has three parts, consonants, vowels and tones. In this lesson, you will learn the list of consonants.
Pinyin - List of vowels7:50
Pinyin - The four tones14:05
Pinyin has three parts - consonant, vowels and tones. In this lesson, you will learn to pronounce with correct tones in a very easy way.
Introduce yourself in Chinese13:52
In this lesson, you will learn how to introduce yourself in Chinese, and at the same time, you will learn more rules of Pinyin.
Numbers in Chinese13:59
In this lesson, you will not only learn to count in Chinese but also count up to millions.
Take a Taxi in China13:27
For some people visiting China, talking to the taxi driver may be the first occasion that they need to speak Chinese. In this lesson, you will learn how to tell the taxi driver where you want to go and how to ask for price.
Order a beer in a Chinese restaurant8:46
In this lesson, you will learn a way of greeting that is uniquely Chinese, and you will learn to order beers in a Chinese restaurant.
Order food in a Chinese restaurant13:31
In this lesson, you will learn the names of some typical Chinese food and learn to order food in the Chinese restaurant.
Ask for cutlery in the restaurant9:55
In this lesson, you will learn to ask for cutlery and the bill.
Ask for price & bargain with Chinese sellers15:04
In this lesson, you will learn to ask for price in China and bargain with Chinese sellers.
Ask for direction in China15:38
In addition to some vocabulary related to directions and positions you learnt in lesson 5 Take a taxi, you will learn more important vocabulary in this aspect, in case you cannot find your way around the enormous Chinese cities.
Tell Chinese where you are from19:04
In this lesson, you will learn to say the names of countries , tell Chinese people which country you are from and what you are in China for, etc..
Revision - Look for a village in Minecraft5:40
In this lesson, you will watch a Minecraft video with Chinese subtitles and English translation, which will allow you to revisit some of the vocabulary we learnt in previous videos.
Colours15:08
In this lesson, you will learn to describe colours in Chinese.
Revision - Visit my garden in Minecraft6:31
In this lesson, you will watch a Minecraft video with Chinese subtitles and English translation, which will allow you to revisit some of the vocabulary we learnt in previous videos.

Requirements

You do not need to have any previous knowledge about Chinese language
You don't need to prepare any material, though the last lesson will require a smart phone and the Internet.

Description

In this 4-hour course you will learn Mandarin Chinese from scratch.
The course helps you start communicating in Chinese as soon as possible. Start your life in China easy without fear of being unable to talk to the taxi driver.

This course uses games (Minecraft) to make learning more interesting and engaging.

After the course, you will be able to

Greet in Chinese (lesson 1)
Pronounce Chinese characters according to Pinyin (Pinyin is the Chinese characters written in Roman letters and the representation of Chinese pronunciation system) (lesson 2)
Introduce yourself in Chinese (lesson 3)
Count numbers in Chinese up to millions (lesson 4)
Tell the taxi driver where you want to go and where to stop (lesson 5)
Order food in a Chinese restaurant and ask for the bill (lesson 6)
Ask for prices and negotiate prices with Chinese sellers (lesson 7)
Ask for direction if you are lost in China (lesson 8)
Tell people where you are from (lesson 9)
Learn the Chinese vocabulary of colours
Learn to teach yourself Chinese online and with mobile phone apps.

Because Chinese write in characters, which represent meaning but not sound, learning Pinyin is emphasised and made easy in this course. With Pinyin, you will find it easy to pronounce Chinese correctly and to teach yourself Chinese in the future.

No matter you are preparing to visit China and want to communicate in basic Chinese, or you are attracted by Chinese language and culture, you have found the right course.

If you are here for a grander purpose, such as learning more about languages and researching Chinese linguistics, this course is beneficial for you too.

Enjoy the learning! Sign up now!

Who this course is for:

Anyone who is interested in Chinese language and culture.
Anyone who wants to learn the most amazing language in the world.
Anyone who aims to live in China.
Anyone who is interested in languages and linguistics.
This course is not for learning to write Chinese characters, yet every word and expression is written in both characters and Pinyin in the course, meaning the students will get familiar with the characters but are not taught how to write them.

Chinese for Beginners: Mastering Mandarin Basics in 4 hours

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Course Introduction1 lecture • 3min

Basic communication skills for living in China17 lectures • 3hr 12min

Teach yourself Chinese1 lecture • 11min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: