What you will study
The course is divided into 16 units, each covering language, culture, and reflection. Four of the 16 units (units 4, 8, 12 and 16) are dedicated to revising what you have learned.
In this course, you'll learn how to effectively communicate in a wide range of situations using a variety of language structures, including:
- talking about borrowing and lending things
- talking about giving presents
- describing electronic products and where they are manufactured
- discussing historical places of interest
- describing travelling and travel plans
- making verbal arrangements for meetings
- talking about moving house
- giving advice and expressing a formal apology
- discussing things that present difficulties
- talking about online shopping
- expressing actions that involve directions
- describing actions with a result
- using conditional sentences.
Throughout the course, you’ll improve your ability to understand spoken and written Chinese and to communicate your own information and ideas. You will acquire a range of language structures along with key vocabulary and sentence patterns. Each unit comprises 3–4 hours of interactive activities, exercises, explanations and tips about language-learning. It’s a good idea to keep notes either in a notebook or on your preferred digital device. At the end of each unit, there is a quiz section with ten questions for you to test what you’ve been learning.
We look forward to seeing you soon on Elementary Chinese 3: 入门了 rùmén le!
Please note that although this course is non-accredited, it can be used towards the module Making your learning count (YXM130) to gain OU credits.
You will learn
After completing this course, you should be able to:
- communicate with speakers of Chinese in a limited range of predictable and simple contexts relating to everyday situations
- understand and use simple Chinese grammatical structures (for example, questions and statements), and common terms for everyday objects and events
- recognise and use basic Chinese phrases in formal and informal styles of communication and use polite forms of address and greetings
- write in Pinyin and/or character forms frequently used expressions relevant to the topics covered
- show basic intercultural communicative competence, including an awareness of Chinese-speaking cultures and societies.
The course is designed to help you achieve a level of language proficiency equivalent to level A2 of the Council of Europe Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR).
Learner support
You will have access to discussion forums that you are strongly encouraged to participate in as these forums combine self-help from fellow students with input from a language-specialist learning adviser. Other support is available via the StudentHome website and Computing Helpdesk.
If you have a disability
The course is delivered online and makes use of a variety of online resources. If you use specialist hardware or software to assist you in using a computer or the internet you are advised to contact us about support which can be given to meet your needs.
The OU strives to make all aspects of study accessible to everyone and this Accessibility Statement outlines what studying LGXC006 involves. You should use this information to inform your study preparations and any discussions with us about how we can meet your needs.