Chinese 2 reading group
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
Choose a start date
- Course Code: LC203
- Dates: 10/05/24 - 28/06/24
- Time: 12:30 - 13:30
- Taught: Fri, Daytime
- Duration: 8 sessions (over 8 weeks)
- Location: Online
- Tutor: Fei Wang
Course Code: LC203
Choose a start date
Duration: 8 sessions (over 8 weeks)
Please note: We offer a wide variety of financial support to make courses affordable. Just visit our online Help Centre for more information on a range of topics including fees, online learning and FAQs.
What is the course about?
You will read and discuss a series of easy-read short articles and stories in Chinese. These topics range from daily conversation, Chinese culture, Chinese geography, poems to current news each week. The teaching materials are all simplified stories and articles, using simple sentences, most frequently used Chinese characters and less complicated sentences. The difficulty of the teaching materials will be adjusted by the teacher according to students’ capability and progress.
This is a live online course. You will need:
- Internet connection. The classes work best with Chrome.
- A computer with microphone and camera is best (e.g. a PC/laptop/iMac/MacBook), or a tablet/iPad/smart phone/iPhone if you don't have a computer.
- Earphones/headphones/speakers.
We will contact you with joining instructions before your course starts.
What will we cover?
The Chinese character base will be around 500, mostly from HSK level 1 to 2, with a few from level 3. Students will read Chinese characters with some Pinyin, but the goal is to read without Pinyin. There will be some easier materials at the beginning, but the teacher will increase the difficulty step by step. During each session, you will have the chance to practise your pronunciation, read in a group, read individually and join group discussions. The teacher will correct students’ mistakes and give feedback on performance. The teacher will explain some related key grammar points and sentence structures to help students understand some difficult or long sentences.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
- Understand the main ideas of the story.
- Identifying the keywords, characters, and events within a story.
- Expand your vocabulary and knowledge of common phrases.
- Improve your understanding and reading skills.
- Improve your pronunciation and fluency when you read.
- Understand Chinese sentence order, key grammar points and sentence structures.
- Express your opinion during group discussions.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
You should be able to read at least 150 Chinese characters and have studied Chinese for 12 months part time or 6 months full time.
Also, you should have:
- an enthusiasm for reading short Chinese articles, and participating in discussions in small groups
- a willingness and ability to do some reading and preparation outside the class
- a commitment to spending some time each week to practice
- a willingness to take on challenges in reading Chinese characters.
For further details of the specific foreign language skills required for this level, please see the languages self-assessment chart at the start of the languages section of our course guide, or at http://www.citylit.ac.uk/self-assess-your-level. You will also need to be able to respond to simple instructions and explanations, as well as read course documents, in English. You will need to be at ease with the use of numbers for daily activities (e.g. using money, telling the time, using the 24 hour clock, reading timetables). It would also be helpful if you had some knowledge of basic grammar terminology such as: a verb and a noun.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
This is an online course. The teaching materials are developed for online teaching as well. You will join a group of students and all students will be encouraged by the teacher to read and speak. There will be organised activities during the class. The teacher will explain some key grammar points, but this course is mainly designed for improving reading skills.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
The learning materials are developed by the teacher using some of the most frequently used Chinese characters.The teaching materials can be downloaded free from the Google Classroom. You need to have a notebook for taking notes and making your own list of vocabulary. A headphone connected to your computer will help improve the audio quality.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
Please ask your tutor for advice.
I have been teaching Mandarin Chinese as a foreign language in the UK for over a decade. I found myself being attracted to languages and cultures while working as a journalist for the national broadcaster in Beijing China and later for the BBC in the UK. My teaching methodology is significantly influenced by Princeton University Mandarin Teaching Methods which makes classroom teaching a lot of fun whilst applying repetitive exercises. I take advantage of my journalistic background and produce a lot of audio-visual materials to assist my teaching and this has been widely welcomed by my students. As a consequence, my students’ pronunciation and intonation is always exceptionally good. My deep understanding between the languages also drives me to explore not only the subtleties between English and Chinese but also the cultural differences between the East and the West. I naturally impart a lot of Chinese culture into my language teaching and make the language learning process more interesting. Teaching language and culture is my passion and I would love to embark upon this interesting, exciting, and also challenging journey with you, and assist you with my expertise.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.
