Mandarin Chinese

In a world in which China already plays a key role, the number of students wishing to add knowledge of Mandarin Chinese to their armoury of qualifications is increasing year on year. Our Mandarin course aims to provide a sound basis on which to develop a study of the language. Students should therefore be prepared to apply to their language study a degree of learning intensity appropriate to university level, but at the same time to discover that Mandarin is fun to learn and that it offers a fascinating insight into Chinese society and culture. The focus of our Mandarin Course is to equip students with the skills they need in order to communicate in Chinese across a range of purposes. Even those who do not wish to continue with Mandarin after graduation should find that the study of Mandarin has been an enjoyable experience and that it has broadened their transferable skills.

Mandarin Chinese is taught to beginners, post GCSE and at Advanced levels.  N.B. ML61, ML62, and ML63 are not suitable for speakers of Cantonese or other Chinese dialects, see ML72, ML82 and ML83 instead. Mandarin Chinese may only be studied for credit at post-GCSE level (Level 2 and above), and courses will run for two 50-minute sessions a week. A beginner level non-credit  'preparatory' course will also be available for a fee (£250).

PLEASE NOTE: Mandarin is a demanding course and should not be taken by students who have problems with their main degree course.

Regular attendance at classes and submission of coursework (and at least 3 hours home study per week) are essential for successful completion of this course.

Students completing these courses will accrue 6 ECTS credits.

Enrolment Information

You are also advised to download the following additional documents, containing important information about the course
Languages Timetable 
Past Exam Papers
Forms to be completed at the start of course:
Plagiarism Form
Student Record Form

Short Course Notes 2011-12

ML61 Mandarin Chinese Level 1

The aim of this course is to introduce Mandarin to complete beginners. Since Chinese is a tonal language, particular attention will be paid to pronunciation. As well as learning the spoken language, students will be expected to begin learning Chinese characters from the outset of the course.

ML62 Mandarin Chinese Level 2

This course builds on the vocabulary and structures covered in Level 1, expanding students' abilities in each of the four main skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening. Some 300 new Chinese characters are introduced.

ML63 Mandarin Chinese Level 3

This course is designed for students who have already completed Level 2 Mandarin. After revision of the structures, vocabulary and characters covered in Le vel 2, th e course continues to devel op students' ability in reading, speaking, writing and aural comprehension, building upon the structures already acquired during Level 2.

ML72 Mandarin Chinese for Cantonese Speakers Level 2

This course is designed for students who have already completed Mandarin for Cantonese Speakers Level 1 at Imperial College, or who can demonstrate that they have acquired a knowledge of the language to the required level; that is to say they wi ll already have acquired a basic grasp of Mandarin pronunciation and will have no problems reading and writing pinyin. At Level 2, students will further develop their listening and speaking skills, gradually attaining a more sophisticated level of expression in the target language, and the abil ity to engage with passages taken from broadcast media on relatively specialized topics. In addition, they will work on delivering presentations in Mandarin themselves, especially on topics with a scientific or technological bent.

ML82 Mandarin Language and Literacy for Heritage Speakers Level 2

This course is designed for those students who have acquired a basic facility in spoken Mandarin and who possess a rudimentary knowledge of Chinese script, i.e. between 100 and 300 characters. They may be students who come from an area of the world in which Chinese is spoken by some of the populat ion, e.g . Malaysia, or be British-born Chinese, who might have learned some basic phrases and script at home or at Chinese Saturday school. The course aims both to develop the student's writing skills, expanding his/her knowledge of Chinese characters, and provide training in the reading and understanding of simple Mandarin texts. The main emphasis of the course is the inculcation of basic literacy, but the students will also be given the opportunity to enhance their listening and speaking skills.
N.B. This course is not suitable for speakers of Cantonese from Hong Kong who are literate in Chinese to native or near-native level. (see ML72)

ML83 Mandarin for Heritage Speakers Level 3
This course is designed to build on Mandarin for Heritage Speakers Level 2. It aims to raise students’ written ability to the level at which they have attained a degree of functional literacy in Mandarin Chinese, allowing them to carry out a number of practical tasks which all those wishing either to live in or have regular contact with China for the purpose of work or study can expect to encounter. In addition, it will inculcate a greater degree of sophistication and flexibility of expression in the written language. Moreover, as familiarity with the cultural context of language learning is essential to m ast ery of the target language, students will also be introduced to some of the background knowledge ind ispensable t o this task.
N.B. This course is not suitable for students from Hong Kong who are literate in Chinese to native or near-native level. (See instead ML72)