Mandarin level 3 plus

Revised November 2024

Prerequisite for entry

Successful completion of Mandarin syllabus level 3 at UCL Centre for Languages & International Education or a high GCSE grade (or equivalent).

Term duration

10 x 2-hour classes.

Aims and objectives

The aim of the course is to encourage students to use their basic knowledge of Chinese to converse reasonably fluently in Mandarin with native speakers and discuss personal, social and current issues using appropriate linguistic structures. Cultural awareness will be further developed through some authentic materials.

Functions

• Talking about a place of natural beauty through comparison
• Describing people’s appearance
• Understanding instructions for taking medicine
• Talking about people’s appearance and personalities

Course content

Main topics/themes to be covered:

• Sightseeing and places of natural beauty
• People’s appearance, sportwear and sizes
• Seeing the doctor, illness, healthy lifestyles
• Friends and personal characteristics

Linguistic structures/ Phonetics

• Difference between “j” and “z”
• The neutral tone
• Tone sandhi 不and一
• Difference between “s” and “sh”

Grammar

• 除了......以外, 还......apart from
• Expressing percentages using 百分之......
• Expressing immediate actions with 就......了
• The auxiliary words 的/得/地
• Wh-questions
• Difference between 有一点 and一点儿

Learning resources

Books

Discover China: Student's Book Two, edited by Chen Xin, Jing Lili , Macmillan, Chapters 9-12
ISBN: 9780230406391

Discover China: Workbook Two, Chapters 9-12
ISBN: 9780230406407

Bilingual Dictionaries

• Oxford Concise English Chinese/Chinese English Dictionary

Websites

Dictionary

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