Intensive Chinese

A language spoken by over 1 billion people. Apart from China, Chinese (Mandarin) is widely spoken in North America and South East Asia.


Intensive courses begin in January each year and are delivered over 10 weeks in two weekly evening sessions of three hours each.


This dynamic course condenses the teaching and learning outcomes provided in the year-long Chinese First Year course into ten weeks. It is designed for beginners and those who have completed the Introduction course with PCE. A comprehensive amount of material is covered in each highly interactive session.


Students are required to spend an equal amount of time on individual study, consolidating their study between sessions. Please note that the style of this course is based on accelerated learning techniques and demands, and as such requires an ongoing commitment for its duration.


Upon completion, students have the option to enrol directly into the second level of the year-long language program that begins in the last week of March.


By the end of this course students will be able to:

• develop speaking and listening abilities


• recognise and use the Pinyin alphabet system


• recognise approximately 150 Chinese characters


• make basic formal and informal introductions


• enquire about and discuss personal information


• socialise at a basic level in a variety of situations


• make basic enquiries for acquiring goods and services


• express and discuss future intentions


• express basic descriptions of people, places and objects


• read and write short narratives and specific contextual dialogues


• understand significant features of Chinese society and culture