Chinese Mandarin Beginners Plus (Year 1)

Term 1

Topics covered
Basic strokes, radicals and components of Chinese characters; basic rules of writing Chinese characters; currencies and prices; buying fruits; bargaining; choosing gifts; colours; shopping for clothes; food and drinks; ordering food and drinks; dining experiences;

Grammatical structures
Question word "duōshǎo" and its difference with “jǐ”; common measure words; comparison word "bǐ"; use aspect marker "guò" to describe past experience; verbal complement “de” for result;

Learning objectives
* Understanding basic rules of Chinese characters
* Asking and telling prices
* Buying fruits
* Making payment
* Bargaining
* Discussing gift options
* Comparing style, colour and material of clothes
* Talking about favourite food and drinks
* Ordering food and drinks
* Discussing food preference and dining experience

Term 2

Topics covered
Public transportation; hiring a taxi; buying train or bus tickets; getting on and off transportation; hotel rooms and availability; hotel facilities and services; phone calls; receiving visitors; mobile communication;

Grammatical structures
Link verbs with adverbs using "de"; make comparison using adjective + complement; ordinal numbers with measure words; using “de” to link a verbal phrase with a noun; shortening of noun phrases; question words used in statements; verbal complements “wán” and “hǎo”;

Learning objectives
* Being able to recognise commonly used characters
* Taking a taxi
* Discussing traffic and road conditions
* Giving suggestions about travel routes
* Buying train tickets
* Asking and telling room vacancies
* Booking hotel room
* Making complaint about hotel facilities
* Making phone calls
* Inviting guests for home visit
* Making and receiving business phone calls

Term 3

Topics covered
Socialising; small talks; favourite travel destinations; holiday experiences; writing letters; sending postcards; catching up on recent events;

Grammatical structures
Structure “shì…de” to express the time or manner of a past action; structure “wán…..le” to indicate the completion of an action; preposition “géi”; emphatic word “dōu”; “le” for indicating change of state; negative sentences with “yě”;Emphatic word “cái”; use of structure “…….de shíhou”;

Learning objectives
* Being able to write most commonly used characters
* Expressing the number of times for certain actions
* Describing a past event in a sophisticated manner
* Telling a story
* Asking and telling favourite travel destinations
* Discussing holiday experiences
* Writing Chinese envelope using correct format
* Writing letters and postcards
* Exchanging information on recent events
* Making promises