Chinese? I’ll never learn that. Or maybe?

Course fee and start

Enrolment fee: 20 €

Course for beginners: (8 academic hours/month): 50 €
Begin: January 8th 2007, 6 - 7.30 p.m.
Course I: conversational Chinese (8 academic hours/month): 50 €
Next begin: January 10th 2007, 6 - 7.30 p.m.
Prerequisite: 35 academic hours 
Course II: Chinese writing (8 academic hours/month): 50 €
Next begin: January 10th 2007, 6 - 7.30 p.m
Course III: multimedia exercises for advanced (8 academic hours/month): 75 €
Next begin: January 10th 2007, 6 - 7.30 p.m

Min. participants: 5 (reduction of lessons if less than 5 participants: 3-4 pat= 6 lessons, 2 pat=4 lessons, 1 pat= 2 lessons)
Max. participants: 10
Length: one course 12 months

Additional individual lessons: 20 € / 45 min.

Please note: lessons are held in German!

A Successful Program for Chinese Language Courses

China has developed into Germany’s most important business partner in Asia.  Germany is China’s biggest trade partner.  Many business people, technicians and journalists cannot avoid acquiring Chinese if they want to successfully pursue their trade in China.  While these people usually only stay for a short time in the country, a longer stay is planned for foreign exchange students.

There are many reasons to learn Chinese.  The high language, also called “Mandarin” in Europe is understood everywhere in the Republic of China despite the many regional dialects.  And contrary to popular belief, Chinese is just as easy to learn like any other language; and according to linguists even one of the easiest languages in the world.  It has a relatively flexible grammatical structure, contains neither conjugation nor declination, yet it offers a rich vocabulary similar to English, and of course, its genuine system of symbols.

The Academy of Languages Heidelberg offers a well thought and effective course sequence in  3 steps:

Course I (conversational Chinese) teaches basic vocabulary and grammar that are required in daily situations.  Therefore the vocabulary is conveyed in the Latin script “Pinyin”, since for most visitors, such as business representatives and their partners as well as interested tourists, conversational skills are of predominant interest, while the written language is put on hold.  Yet, the basics of writing will be taught in respect to further analysis.  This course is mainly geared to true beginners, with no prior knowledge of Chinese.  Students who have already studied some basics of Chinese may refresh or improve their language skills. The course takes place on Mondays from 6:00 to 7:00 pm and consists of 8 TU per month. 

The purpose of course II is s systematic introduction to Chinese writing, its grammar and system of symbols.  The emphasis lies in expanding the vocabulary and thus in improving conversational skills.  This course follows course I, but is also open to everyone else who has learned the basics of Chinese.  The course takes place on Thursdays from 6:00 to 7:00 pm.

Course III (multimedia exercises for advanced) allows participants to practise and improve their ability to speak, read and write.  The auditive training is particularly important for practising the various sound pitches that change the meaning of a word.  By utilizing the “type-in-method” the participants learn how to work with the symbols on a computer, while acquiring the rules and methods of Chinese word-processing by using a special software program.  This course takes place every two weeks on Friday from 6:00 to 7:00 pm.

General knowledge about Chinese history and culture is taught in all courses; this also includes, under guidance of a trainer, a lesson on how to deal with the differences between European and Chinese behaviour patterns.  The various course levels have been designed as an independent didactic unit, yet they are tied together.  Therefore all 3 courses can be taken in sequence, or only one or two of the courses.