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Remember, it’s never too early or too late to register for a class, even after it’s begun. You can always catch up with any sessions you may have missed by watching the video recordings of previous sessions. The time remaining before the first class session is below, so register now, stop hesitating and get to it!

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Offered:

as in-person classes, live-streamed Zoom sessions and video recordings

  • • Term 1 (Feb-Apr ) and Term 3 (Jul-Sep) each year, pending sufficient enrolment

  • • This course is offered as an in-person course at the EarthDiverse Centre in Hamilton, New Zealand, live-streamed via Zoom if you live elsewhere, and as video recordings of the live sessions if you cannot attend the regularly scheduled class

Date & Time:

Begins Friday 1 March 2024.

  • • Our 2024 Term 1 Introductory Mandarin 101 course meets on Fridays from 6:30-8:00pm beginning on Friday 1 March 2024 (New Zealand time) and continues for eight consecutive weekly sessions. The last class of the Term is held on Friday 19 April 2024.

  • • If you live outside of New Zealand and wish to Zoom in to our live class sessions, check the nearest local Time Zone equivalent below:

Time Zone equivalents:

for live-streaming Zoom Sessions from New Zealand. If your Time Zone doesn't suit our live-streamed class, you can also access our courses by watching the live-recorded sessions that are posted to the course webpage each week, usually within 1-2 days.

  • Honolulu, Hawai’i: begins Thu 29 Feb 2024, 7:30-9:00pm

  • US Pacific: begins Thu 29 Feb 2024, 9:30-11:00pm

  • US Eastern: begins Fri 1 Mar 2024, 12:30-2:00am

  • London, UK: begins Fri 1 Mar 2024, 5:30-7:00am

  • Paris, France: begins Fri 1 Mar 2024, 6:30-8:00am

  • New Delhi, India: begins Fri 1 Mar 2024, 11:00am-12:30pm

  • Bangkok: begins Fri 1 Mar 2024, 12:30-2:00pm

  • Singapore/Hong Kong: begins Fri 1 Mar 2024, 1:30-3:00pm

  • Tokyo: begins Fri 1 Mar 2024, 2:30-4:00pm

  • Sydney, Australia: begins Fri 1 Mar 2024, 4:30-6:00pm

Description:

Intoductory Mandarin 101, Part 1

  • • This is Part 1 of a four-part Introductory course taught over 4 successive school terms (take as few or as many as you’d like!) specifically designed for beginning Mandarin learners. All of our language programmes focus on acquiring reading and conversational skills, and learning about local culture. Our courses are designed for busy people: we do not expect you to study outside of class, nor do we assign homework (unless you’d like some!). Come and spend 12 class hours per Term (eight 1.5 hour weekly classes) studying Mandarin and learning about Chinese culture, and have some fun too!

  • • Our Introductory Mandarin 101 course focuses on basic conversation, vocabulary, grammar, a little Pinyin and writing. During our first term, our course empowers you to build sentences, make some simple conversation, and learn appropriate expressions for different situations. And learning about Chinese culture island integral part of our teaching methodology.

  • • Those who already understand and speak some Mandarin, but who do not know how to read and write, may also chose to enrol in the Mandarin 101 course.

  • • Subsequent Term courses continue with Intorductory Mandarin (i.e. our Mandarin 102-104 courses) and continue to include additional reading and comprehension practice, proper pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and conversation and will continue in the same time slot for the duration of the full course.

Course curriculum:

New material is posted weekly throughout the duration of the course. Video recordings and PDFs from each weekly session will be posted here 1-2 days after each class.

    1. EarthDiverse Course Information

    2. EarthDiverse Zoom instructions

    1. Han yu pin yin PDF

    1. 20240301 T1.1 Mandarin 101 PDF

    2. 20240301 T1.1 Mandarin 101 class notes PDF

    3. 20240301 T1.1 Mandarin 101 video

    1. 20240308 T1.2 Mandarin 101 PDF

    2. 20240308 T1.2 Mandarin 101 HSK level 1 150 words PDF

    3. 20240308 T1.2 Mandarin 101 video

    1. 20240315 T1.3 Mandarin 101 Intro to Chinese Pinyin 1 PDF

    2. 20240315 T1.3 Mandarin 101 Intro to Chinese Pinyin 2 PDF

    3. 20240315 T1.3 Mandarin 101 video

    1. 20240322 T1.4 Mandarin 101 Intro to Chinese character PDF

    2. 20240322 T1.4 Mandarin 101 video

    3. 20240322 T1.4 Mandarin 101 class notes

Additional Course Info:

  • Videos and PDF content of class presentations or whiteboard notes are uploaded weekly within 1-2 days after each live session.
  • Begins on Friday 1 March 2024
  • NZ Time: Fridays 6:30-8:00pm

Meet our Instructor:

Mandarin Instructor Amy Yang

Amy, originally from the birthplace of Confucius and Mencius in Shandong, China, has been settled in New Zealand for over nine years. Married to a New Zealander, she is the proud mother of two teenagers and currently works as a Property Right Analyst. Amy has a passion for travel and international cuisine. During her college years, she chose to major in Tourism and Hotel Management. After graduating, she entered a five-star hotel and later opened her own bar. At the same time, she began helping people from different countries who came to China for work or tourism to learn Chinese, marking the beginning of her initial Chinese language teaching career. Becoming a mother made Amy acutely aware of the challenges and contradictions faced by children from cross-cultural families in learning English and Chinese. This realization prompted her to pursue professional studies in English education and teaching Chinese as a foreign language, earning her a degree in the field. Having worked in various private enterprises and government departments, Amy brings rich customer service awareness and extensive market sales experience to her role as a Property Right Analyst. Amy has also dedicated four years to part-time teaching as a Mandarin instructor, with students spanning different countries, industries, and proficiency levels from basic to advanced business Chinese. Amy's teaching methods, characterized by flexibility and alignment with students' practical needs, have garnered praise and recognition from her students. Amy enjoys cooking and hiking. During the weekends, she takes her family to nearby trails for hikes, and during holidays, she embarks on longer-distance hiking adventures. Her strong background in multilingualism, cultural understanding, and education make her a valuable asset to our team.

Location:

This is a hybrid class with both in-person sessions in our classrooms and streamed live via Zoom.

All in-person classes are held at the EarthDiverse offices and classrooms located at 401 Anglesea Street, Hamilton Central, Hamilton (located just north of the Hamilton Central Bus Station) (entrance is located on the side of the building, see map). Those looking for parking for our evening classes can park just in front of the building in any of the available car parks. Daytime parking can be found in our dedicated car parks, or free 2-hour on-street daytime parking can be found just in front of Anglesea Street.
Location

Distance Learning:

This course has distance-learning options for those unable to attend the live class sessions in Hamilton. Students have three options for attending our courses once they have registered:

  • Attend in-person classes in our Hamilton classrooms at the regularly scheduled day and time.

  • Attend our live on-line classroom sessions via Zoom at the regularly scheduled day and time.

  • Watch the live-recorded class sessions at your leisure, at a time, day and place more suited to your schedule.

Distance-Learning options:

Live Zoom sessions and video recordings

  • • In addition to our in-person classes in Hamilton, our courses offer distance learning options for those unable to attend classes in-person. Live-streamed Hamilton classes are available via free Zoom software for those living outside the Waikato. Live-streaming allows you to participate fully in your own learning, ask questions of the instructor and participate fully in the same way as if you were in the physical classroom.

  • • Those unable to attend the scheduled date and time of the actual class sessions, or those who need to miss a class or two due to previous engagements or unexpected illness, can watch any or all of the live-recorded video sessions on their computers, laptops, tablets or mobile devices and study at their own pace and in their own time.

  • • Detailed instructions on how to access our distance learning components will be sent after completing your registration. There are no additional fees for this service. However, distance learners will need access to a desktop or laptop computer with a good quality web-camera (tablet devices and mobile phones can also access our live-streamed classes), a built-in microphone (most modern laptops have built-in microphones) or a headset with a microphone. You will also need to download and install the free Zoom software on your computer or device. Those accessing the video recordings will be able to do so with a simple web browser on any device.

Pricing options:

• All prices are in New Zealand dollars and include GST. • Unwaged includes students, seniors, retirees and unemployed. • Prices remain the same regardless of your chosen method for accessing this course

Notes:

Those who cannot make the class meeting day and time via live Zoom sessions may consider accessing this course through the weekly recorded video sessions. Class videos are usually posted within 1-2 days of each live class session and are available for your own personal learning on a day and time of your choosing.

  • • This course has no assignments, quizzes, tests or exams.

  • • You will not need to purchase any additional course materials.

  • • All classes encourage questions and group discussion

  • • If you’re attending in-person, course fees include tea/coffee/snack at each session. Help yourself!

  • • There are no refunds for missed classes. If you miss a class, you can watch the video recording!

  • • Guests of registered participants are welcome to attend a single session without registering.

  • • If, however, this course is cancelled due to insufficient enrolments please note that your registration fee will either be refunded in full or you may select to receive a course credit. Your choice!

Materials:

All materials are included in the course fees. These are developed by our instructors and distributed as PDF files on the course webpage.

  • • Course materials are provided to all registered students as digital materials made available to you on the course webpage for download (accessible after registration). There is no need to purchase any additional textbooks for this course, although you may choose to do so to supplement your learning.

  • • You will only require a pen or pencil, a notebook for taking your own class notes, and a loose-leaf binder.

  • • Any notes that our instructor writes on a digital whiteboard are posted to the class webpage on your dashboard as a PDF file so that you can print these out at home and add them to your own notebook

Prerequisites:

A keen desire to study Mandarin and learn about Chinese culture!

  • • There are no prerequisites for this course.

  • • This course is open to all learners aged 10 years and above.