Mandarin Beginner 2

This is not a prescriptive list. Exact course outlines will be determined by the instructor to best meet the needs of the class. It is meant to serve as a guideline and suggest what may be covered at this level.

Communicative Objectives:

How to:

• Speak about one’s hobbies
• Express feelings and emotions
• Understand and respond to simple directions
• Describe one’s family
• Tell dates (liǎng nián qián两年前、bàn nián hòu半年后、qián tiān前天、qù nián去年…)
• Tell time
• Make future plans
• Describe past events
• Describe habits and daily routine
• Count numbers (bigger than 100)
• Name and ask the color of an object
• Do shopping and bargaining

Linguistic Objectives:

• who/what/where/when/why
• Sentence structures with times and places of the actions
• Past tense
• Future tense
• More measure words

Prerequisite:

• To register in this class you should be able to:
• present yourself and/or introduce someone else
• talk about your own profession or major area of study
• carry out a basic conversation with somebody you meet for the first time  (e.g. provide information about yourself and ask questions)

You can expect to spend about three hours per week attending live, virtual classes and completing course work on your own time. Expect double this amount during the intensive summer term.

This course does not require the purchase of a textbook. Course materials are provided by the instructor.

This course is offered online and/or in-person. See Available Sessions for details on the course format.

Our online conversational courses offer a virtual classroom experience where you can see and interact with your teacher and classmates over Zoom. Log in at a set time to participate in individual, pair and group work, ask questions and receive feedback from your instructor.

Outside of class time, access course materials online at your own pace for up to three weeks after the course ends.

In-person classes are offered at UBC Robson Square in downtown Vancouver. 

Learn more about online learning at Extended Learning.

This is a non-credit course without letter or numerical grades. You receive verbal feedback on your conversation and grammar skills from your instructor during class. Written homework is typically corrected in class. Some lesson modules may include quizzes.

Record of completion

A record of completion will be emailed to students who participate and satisfy the course requirements within two weeks of the course end date. Course completion means 80% attendance and/or 80% completion of mandatory assignments.

For all languages classes, you’ll need access to the internet, a personal email account and an up-to-date web browser.

For online classes, you will also need a video camera and a microphone on your device.

The day before your course starts, you will receive an email with instructions on how to access the course.