Beginners' Chinese
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| 6 Tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) | |
| End-of-course assessment | No residential school |
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This course is available for study in the countries shown.
Summary
第一步 Dì yī bù: beginners’ Chinese will give you the skills you need to speak and understand simple Chinese (Mandarin) in everyday contexts. No previous knowledge of Chinese is required. The course will take you through a wide range of practical situations such as socialising, shopping and getting around. We’ll send you printed and audio materials, and you’ll have a dedicated website, all of which support independent learning. And while you’re learning the language you’ll explore aspects of Chinese society and culture, which will give you a real feel for the Chinese way of life.
Course content
The course has at its core the following elements:
- user-friendly, concise instruction dealing with the language and useful information on relevant cultural aspects
- gradual development of study and language skills
- gradual introduction of basic vocabulary, set phrases and sentence patterns
- audio materials, featuring recordings by native speakers of Chinese, and a variety of speaking exercises
- regular revision activities and self-assessment tests to monitor your progress.
The course materials are carefully structured and graded, and provide ample opportunities to practise the language in realistic contexts. The course materials will present Mandarin Chinese in simplified characters, but they will also provide notes on significant regional variations in the language whenever relevant.
You will need to make use of a personal computer and the internet to access the course website, to attend etutorials, to submit your assignments and to receive your feedback from your tutor.
Please note that no further Chinese courses are currently planned.
Entry
No prior knowledge of Chinese is required. Level 1 courses provide core subject knowledge and study skills needed for both higher education and distance learning. If you have any doubt about the suitability of this course, please seek advice from our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
This course will enable you to reach a level comparable to GCSE level (grades A–C), Scottish standard Grades 1 and 2, A2 as defined by the Council of Europe. See Common European Framework of Reference for Languages for further details.
If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
Qualifications
L197 is an optional course in our
It can also count towards most of our other degrees at bachelors level, where it is suitable for a BA. We advise you to refer to the relevant qualification descriptions for information on the circumstances in which this course can count towards these qualifications because from time to time the structure and requirements may change.
If you have a disability or additional requirement
We are trying to make the course materials accessible to as many people as possible. Please note that this course makes substantial use of audio and visual materials. Full transcripts of the audio CDs and online activities are provided on the course website except for those used for assessment purposes. The written and spoken elements you will be asked to complete as part of your assessment use audio and possibly visual stimuli. Students who require a transcript for their assessment because of their disability are able to apply in advance for restricted access to these but will have to provide evidence of their needs.
Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) versions of the printed material are available on the course website. Some Adobe PDF components may not be available or fully accessible using a screen reader and foreign language materials may be particularly difficult to read in this way. Some images in the course material are used to help teach the correct stroke order for handwriting Chinese characters, and these may not be read by a screenreader. The assessment to pass this course does not require you to handwrite characters, and you will be able to complete the assigments using the taught method of creating characters with word-processing software.
Other alternative formats of the course materials may be available in the future. Our Services for disabled students website has the latest information about availability.
You will need to make extensive use of a personal computer and the internet. If you use specialist hardware or software to assist you in operating a computer or with this type of material you are advised to talk to the Student Registration & Enquiry Service about support which can be given to meet your needs.
If you are a new student, or new to courses using a computer or the internet, you will need to inform us of your particular needs as soon as possible, as some of our support services may take several weeks to arrange. Details of how to do this and our range of support services are described in our booklet Meeting Your Needs which you can download or request from our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
You can also find information about accessible course materials, financial support and the Disabled Students' Allowance, equipment and other services, on our Services for disabled students website. It also includes our contact details for advice and support both before you register and while you are studying.
Course materials
What's included
Two course books, other printed materials, audio CDs, and a dedicated course website with additional text, audio and interactive resources. As a registered language student you have automatic access to an online forum where you can talk to other students over the internet.
You will need
You will need a CD player. A headset with a microphone and earphones to talk to your tutor and other students online during some of the course activities and your speaking end-of-course assessment.
Please also check the Assessment section.
Computing requirements
This course includes online computer activities – you can access these using a web browser that can play Flash and Shockwave.
You will need internet access and a computer. If you have purchased a new computer since 2002 it should meet your course computing requirements. Check our Technical Requirements section if your computer is older than this or is otherwise unusual.
Materials to buy
Set books
- Collins Easy Learning Mandarin Chinese Dictionary, Collins £10.99 - ISBN 9780007261130
- Yip Po-Ching & Don Rimmington Chinese: Essential Grammar, Routledge £22.99 - ISBN 9780415372619
Teaching and assessment
Support from your tutor
You will have a tutor who will help you with the course material. They will mark and comment on your written and spoken work. You can also ask your tutor for advice and guidance. If you are new to the OU, you will find that your tutor is particularly concerned to help you with your study methods. This course usually includes some face-to-face tutorials, a number of online tutorials and an electronic written forum. Please note that depending on where you live, the mix will vary and in some places face-to-face tuition may be replaced by telephone conferencing. All of these will provide you with plenty of opportunities to speak and listen to Chinese. Whether and where day schools are held will depend on the distribution of students taking the course.
Contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.
Assessment
The assessment details for this course can be found in the facts box above.
You can choose whether to submit your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) on paper or online through the eTMA system. You may want to use the eTMA system for some of your assignments but submit on paper for others. This is entirely your choice.
TMAs assess your written and spoken skills. The listening input for these will be provided as downloadable sound files on the course website. There is also a compulsory assessment at the end of the course. The end-of-course assessment (ECA) has a written element and a spoken element. The spoken element of the end-of-course assessment will be carried out with your tutor online. You will be given more detailed information when you begin the course.
If you wish to submit your TMAs on paper, please ensure you have an audio cassette recorder (full size, not mini format) with microphone and at least one blank cassette.
Professional recognition
The Chartered Institute of Marketing recognises this course under their Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme.
Students also studied
Students who studied this course also studied at some time:
Future availability
The details given here are for the course that starts in November 2010. We expect it to be available at the same time once a year.
How to register
To register a place on this course return to the top of the page and use the Click to register button. For more information and advice about registration see OU Study Explained.
About this page
An undergraduate course in Languages.
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- Study explained
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