Chinese Mandarin Beginners Course

Selwyn Community Education is based at Selwyn College, Kohimarama, Auckland.

This courses runs over eight weeks with a weekly two-hour lesson. This course starts on 3 May 2022 with classes 7 - 9pm over eight Tuesdays. A course fee subsidy is available to qualifying NZ citizens and permanent migrants. Visit the webpage for more information.

This course is appropriate for learners with no knowledge of Chinese who wish to gain an ability to understand and produce simple everyday expressions in Chinese. This course will provide a useful foundation for those travelling to China to be able to greet others courteously and introduce themselves.

The course covers:
- an introduction to the Chinese pronunciation system
- introducing yourself and basic communication for travel and everyday living
- telling the time
- numbers
- an introduction to simple Chinese characters.

Vocabulary and phraseology covered in the course includes:
- conversation about self, introductions, family
- time, weather, directions
- travel, accommodation and food
- introduction to basic reading of Chinese characters
- introduction to basic writing of Chinese (Pinyin and simple characters).

On completion of this course, we expect learners to be able to:
- understand some simple Chinese words and phrases related to travel, work and everyday situations
- have basic understanding of the Chinese pronunciation system
- count low numbers, tell the time and give the date, count money
- introduce themselves and their family and give some basic personal information
- greet others politely in Chinese
- recognise some simple Chinese characters

We also offer a Chinese Mandarin Improvers course.

Our mission is to provide quality affordable and accessible lifelong learning opportunities for our community.