Mandarin level 2 plus

Prerequisite for entry

Successful completion of Mandarin syllabus level 2 at UCL Centre for Languages & International Education or a low GCSE grade (or equivalent).  

Term duration

10 x 2-hour classes.

Aims and objectives

The course aims to strengthen students’ basic knowledge of Mandarin to reach an intermediate level and to communicate in and understand Mandarin on many practical everyday matters related to various aspects Chinese culture. Students are encouraged to express their ideas in discussions of a limited range of topics and expected to be able to read text without pinyin.

Functions

• Describing people's appearance and personality
• Talking about a past experience
• Identifying natural beauty
• Asking and answering about sending package
• Talking about plans and making suggestions

Course content

Main topics/themes to be covered:

• Appearance & personality
• Recipe
• Shop for souvenir
• Bargaining

Linguistic structures/ Phonetics

• Tone sandhi of 不& 一
• The neutral tone
• Difference between "en& eng", "ian& uan", "j&z", "s&sh"

Grammar

• 把sentences
• Noun phrase "shi..de"
• The more...the more越...越
• 除了...以外, 还...apart from
• Expressing percentages
• Exclamatory construction duo..a!
• Expressing immediate actions with 就...了
• The auxiliary words 的/得/地
• Notional passive

Learning resources

Books

Discover China: Student's Book Two, edited by Chen Xin, Jing Lili , Macmillan.

Bilingual Dictionaries

• Langenscheidt dictionary
• Oxford Beginners’ dictionary
• Macmillan-FLTRP Chinese Character Dictionary

Websites

Dictionary

In addition there are supplementary materials for self-study in the Self-Access Centre.