Topic outline

  • General

    This course aims to familiarize students with the basics of spoken and written forms of Mandarin Chinese. Emphasis will be placed first on speaking and listening, particularly pronunciation and tones. The written form will be presented first through the medium of pinyin and gradually students will be introduced to a small number of the highest frequency characters. The emphasis will be on dialogue and role play. It covers a good deal of ground in the four class hours a week and requires considerable effort and self-study to consolidate new vocabulary, grammar and Chinese characters.  
    Course Coordinator: Dr Lindsay Sullivan lindsay.sullivan@abdn.ac.uk

    • What Skills will this course develop?

      The ability to 

      • understand the basic vocabulary and grammar of Modern Mandarin Chinese
      • create short written and spoken dialogues in Modern Mandarin Chinese 
      • reflect on the process of learning Mandarin Chinese by producing a reflective journal

      • What will the timetable be like?

        Three 50-minute language seminars and an oral speaking  class also 50mins PER WEEK


        • How will I be assessed?

          Assessments will be a mix of online tests and in-class tests

          Coursework 1 (20%)

          Listening test (20%)

          Reflective journal (20%)

          Coursework 2/Exam (40%)

          • What do previous students think of the course?

            'The teaching was great and well supervised. The teachers were attentive and great at delivering the learning outcomes'

            • Are there any prerequisites?

              This course is designed for beginners to Mandarin Chinese and is not available to native speakers. However if you have undertaken previous study up to Standard Grade this is acceptable.

              Please contact the course-coordinator well before the start of the course (mandatory).  There may be opportunities for language sessions prior to the start of the Medical Humanities SSC through Confucius institute.

              What books will I need?

              The core textbook is:

              Modern Mandarin Chinese:The Routledge Course Textbook Level 1, Claudia Ross, Baozhang He, Pei-Chia Chen, Meng Yeh. 2nd edition published 2019.

              ISBN: 978-1-138-10110-4 (pbk)


              • Useful links