Basics of Mandarin Chinese being offered in six-week course

The Confucius Institute at Purdue will offer Basic Mandarin Chinese this fall as a six-week, noncredit course.

The highly interactive course, focusing on spoken Chinese, will meet from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. every Thursday night Sept. 21-Oct. 26 in Rawls Hall, Room 1071.

The course is designed for adult beginners with little or no prior knowledge of Mandarin Chinese. The course will train participants in basic conversational skills in Mandarin Chinese, and topics will range from greetings and talking about professions to introducing family and making small talk.

Completing this course will allow participants to function socially in everyday situations where Chinese is spoken. The course also will introduce the essentials of Hanzi, or Chinese characters, to give learners a full picture of the language. Memorizing the Chinese characters will be optional. In addition, participants will work in groups to explore cultural differences.

The cost is $125, which includes materials and instruction. Online registration is available with credit card payment here.

Questions about registration should be directed to Amanda Johnson at john2145@purdue.edu or 765-494-0874.

Questions about the course should be directed to Wei Hong at hongwei@purdue.edu or 765-494-3859. Professor Hong is the institute's director. 

Writer: Kelsey Schnieders, kschnied@purdue.edu