Mandarin Chinese courses in Shanghai, China

Shanghai

Shanghai is a city that enjoys a certain reputation as a famed historical enclave due to its long history as a foreign occupied port through much of the 1800s and early 1900s. But that was a long time ago, and Shanghai today is a booming, bustling, vibrant and ever-changing city. The Paris of the east, as it is now known, is a dynamic urban metropolis that is fast becoming the dominant destination in Asia for business and leisure. Shanghai is a relatively young city full of energy and glamour; it is a mix of oriental and western culture – bringing the best of both worlds together. As the fashionable leader of China, Shanghai is ready to receive guests from all over the world.

Mandarin House Chinese Language Center - Shanghai

Mandarin House is dedicated to providing Chinese language courses of the highest quality to students from all over the world. By employing professional and enthusiastic Chinese language teachers and staff and by utilizing a dynamic and comprehensive curriculum, Mandarin House provides the perfect learning environment for rapid language improvement. Mandarin House also offers students extensive support services to ensure that their stay in China is culturally as well as educationally enriching.

From the moment you arrive, Mandarin House's dedicated and friendly staff will assist you in every aspect of your experience, from courses and accommodations to excursions and activities around the area. Mandarin House Shanghai's six centers are all centrally located in convenient areas of the city. Each center is located near major transportation routes and has up-to-date facilities, offering an excellent learning environment and ensuring that students can enjoy not only the language lessons, but also the vibrant city of Shanghai. Currently, only two of the six Mandarin House centers in Shanghai are devoted exclusively to Chinese language classes:

The Downtown Center, at Central Urumqi Rd, is centrally located in the Former French Concession, a charming and elegant area of the city. This Center provides a nice garden, comfortable classrooms, computer lab, wireless internet access, excellent learning atmosphere with professional and friendly staff.

And the Plaza 66 Center, on Nanjing W. Rd . Located in the most prestigious area of central Shanghai, Plaza 66 offers you a relaxing, professional and friendly learning environment. With our bright classrooms, broadband Internet access and multi-media facilities, our classrooms are guaranteed to provide you with everything you need to focus on learning Chinese, making new friends and maximizing your experience in China.

What makes Mandarin House unique?

Mandarin House puts a strong emphasis on both practical and essential skills. Half of the class time (50%) is concentrated on speaking and listening comprehension, role-play, group dynamics and vocabulary games. The remaining class time is spent reviewing, and dealing with personal experiences and different daily situations. In order to enhance our students' listening comprehension, we will change a teacher every four to eight weeks.
Professional Text books. Materials developed by our own or other professional organizations. Hand-outs such as newspapers and magazines
Multimedia-CD-ROM, Audio CDs.
A developmental report every 20 to 30 lessons will allow students to check on their own progress. Students can also get personalized feedback from their teachers at any time.
Quality Control. Mandarin House conducts session evaluations in order to assess and monitor the performance of each teacher. The Training Department conducts regular meetings and also observes classes and supervises the team of teachers.

General Chinese Program Description:

All students take a Chinese Language placement test consisting of a written test and an oral test upon arrival. This allows us to determine their appropriate course level and group placement before the start of the course. The following levels are offered:

Beginner

Beginner Level classes will cover: Chinese phonetics and tones, 300 words, 50 grammar and sentence structures, 1000 common sentences and conversation including self introduction, day and time, daily schedule, like and dislike, grocery shopping, asking for directions, taking a taxi, making a phone call, visiting a friend, making an appointment and making reservations at a restaurant, etc.

Elementary 1 - 2

Elementary Levels will cover: 600 words, 100 grammar and sentence structures, 2000 common sentences and conversation including shopping for clothing and shoes, at a hair salon, hobbies, Chinese zodiac signs, weather, city sightseeing, excursions, moving, talking to a maid, hotel reservations, booking tickets, gift giving, money exchange, at a post office, seeing a doctor, transportation, joining a tour group and Chinese Spring Festival celebrations, etc.

After finishing the above levels, you will understand simple messages, instructions and directions. You will be able to talk about everyday activities and use basic grammatical constructions.

Intermediate 1 - 3

Intermediate levels focus on topics concerning the overseas experience in China, whether it be living in, working in or sightseeing within China. All the texts are composed of dialogue using conversational Chinese from everyday situations; the lessons are practical and interesting.

Advanced 1 - 2

When you enter the advanced levels, you will have a good comprehension of most non-specialist texts and a very good understanding of grammatical construction.

After finishing the advanced levels, you will become confident communicating in Chinese, and will understand with ease virtually everything heard or read. You will be able to summarize information from different spoken and written sources, reconstruction, arguments and accounts in a coherent manner. You will be able to express yourself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely; differentiating finer nuances of meaning even in more complex situations.

Chinese Language Programs 2008:

(All programs: Please add USD 100.00 Lingua Service Worldwide Application fee. See Application Procedures.)

Notes: Minimum Age: 18 years old for all group courses. Materials are not included in the prices below: please add USD 21.00 per level.

Intensive Mandarin Chinese Group Course: Designed for those students who want to make quick progress in the time available. 4 Chinese lessons per day (20 lessons per week). Groups of 4 to 8 students, maximum of 10 students per class, minimum enrolment is 2 weeks. Prices 2008: 2 weeks: USD 555, 3 weeks: USD 797, 4 weeks: USD 982, 8 weeks: USD 1,751, 12 weeks: USD 2,421. High Season surcharge: please add 10% to course price during June, July and August.

Weekly Timetable for Intensive Group Course

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
09:00 - 09:50	Review	Listening Comprehension	Reading Comprehension	Vocabulary	Presentation/Test
09:50 - 10:40	Vocabulary	Vocabulary	Vocabulary	Grammar	Presentation/Test
10:40 - 10:50	Break
10:50 - 11:40	Grammar	Grammar	Grammar	Conversation	Learn in Life
11:40 - 12:30	Conversation	Conversation	Conversation	Review	Learn in Life

Combination 25: Intensive Mandarin Chinese Group Course + 5 Private lessons: 20 group Chinese lessons per week PLUS 5 private lessons each week. Group of 4 to 8 students, maximum of 10 students per class, minimum enrolment of 2 weeks. Prices 2008: 2 weeks: USD 800, 3 weeks: USD 1,165, 4 weeks: USD 1,424, 8 weeks: USD 2,578. High Season surcharge: please add 10% to course price during June, July and August.

Combination 30: Intensive Mandarin Chinese Group Course + 10 Private lessons: 20 group Chinese lessons per week PLUS 10 private lessons each week. Group of 4 to 8 students, maximum of 10 students per class, minimum enrolment of 2 weeks. Prices 2008: 2 weeks: USD 1,011, 3 weeks: USD 1,481, 4 weeks: USD 1,837, 8 weeks: USD 3,433. High Season surcharge: please add 10% to course price during June, July and August.

Starting Dates for group courses 2008:

Beginners MUST start on the following dates. All other levels are encouraged to start on the following dates if possible, but may start any Monday of the year if they wish.

Jan.	Feb.	Mar.	Apr.	May	Jun.	July	Aug.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.
7	11	10	7	5	2, 30	14, 28	25	22	27	24	22

Holidays 2008: 1 January, 4 to 8 February (Spring Festival), 1 and 2 May (classes missed during these last 2 days will be made up during the following week), 29 September to 3 October, 25 and 26 December (classes missed during these last 2 days will be made up during the following week).

Other programs offered:

Private lessons: Flexible schedule. Minimum booking of 40 lessons required. May be taken in a block of at least two lessons each time over a period of several weeks. Private lessons can start any time of the year. Prices 2008: 40 Chinese private lessons: USD 1,099. 60 lessons: USD 1,614. 80 lessons: USD 2,013. High Season surcharge: please add 10% to course price during June, July and August.

Business Chinese: Flexible schedule. Minimum booking of 60 lessons required. May be taken in a block of at least two lessons each time over a period of several weeks. Private lessons can start any time of the year. Prices 2008: 40 lessons: USD 1,357. 80 lessons: USD 1,686. High Season surcharge: please add 10% to course price during June, July and August.

Accommodations 2008:

Mandarin House can arrange you living accommodations during the program to optimize your experience in China. You have a choice of different types of accommodations with an average commuting distance to the school of between 20 to 40 minutes. Requests for living accommodations must be received at least 4 weeks prior to the starting date. Minimum stay is two weeks. For all types of accommodations the price includes accommodations from Sunday to Saturday. To avoid expenses for extra nights, please schedule your arrival on Sundays and your departure on Saturdays.

Shared Apartments: Two-bedroom apartments. Each student has their own private bedroom and shares the common areas. 20 to 40 minutes distance from the school. Free broadband Internet access. Telephone with free local phone calls. Cleaning lady comes at least twice a week. TV and air-conditioning with heating in each room. Shared bathroom with standing shower and washing machine. Shared kitchen with microwave, stove, fridge and cutlery. Towels and slippers are provided. No meals included. Prices 2008: 2 weeks: USD 471, 3 weeks: USD 671, 4 weeks: USD 757, 8 weeks: USD 1,328. HIGH SEASON Surcharges: please add 10% to accommodation prices in June, July and September. Add 20% surcharge during August.

Studio Apartments: Studio apartment for private use. 20 to 40 minutes distance from the school. Free broadband Internet access. Telephone with free local phone calls. Cleaning lady will come at least once a week. Air-conditioning with heating, TV, washing machine, dryer, fridge, micro-wave, stove, and cutlery are provided. Bathroom with standing shower. Towels and slippers provided. No meals included. Prices 2008: 2 weeks: USD 700, 3 weeks: USD 1,014, 4 weeks: USD 1,157. HIGH SEASON Surcharges: please add 10% to accommodation prices during June, July and September. Add 20% surcharge during August.

Hostel and Hotel Accommodations are also available upon request. Prices vary depending on hotel, location, amenities, category, etc.

Activities: A full program of activities is organized by the school in order to allow students to fully experience Chinese culture. The following activities are arranged on a regular basis (extra charges may apply depending on the activity):

Dumpling Making Learn how to make Chinese dumplings or Jiaozi, with meat and vegetable fillings, is a traditional Chinese Food, which is essential during holidays in Northern China.

Chinese Calligraphy Traditional Chinese writing with brush-pen.

City Sightseeing Visit the Chinese garden inside the old town.

Oriental Pearl Tower or Jinmao Tower Both standing in the Lujiazui area, the towers are the top of the city!

Jade Buddha Temple With a history of more than 100 years, the Jade Buddha Temple is one of the best-known, most venerated and largest Buddhist temples in Shanghai.

Boat Cruise on Huangpu River On a starry night, gazing from the boat, you can see the stately row of buildings at the Bund.

Shanghai Museum As a museum of ancient Chinese art, Shanghai Museum possesses a collection of 120,000 precious works of art.

Aquarium Shanghai Ocean Aquarium is divided into 9 different thematic zones, with a collection of more than 300 species of aquatic animals from the five continents and four oceans.

Suzhou Suzhou has been praised as a "paradise on earth" since ancient times. It is a delicate city where there is still a fair amount of the classical and traditional Chinese style and designs.

Hangzhou and Thousand Islets Lake West Lake (Xihu) is an especially popular destination for its picturesque scenery and associations with many famous emperors, poets and painters.

Airport Transfers: Airport transfers from the Shanghai Airport are available upon request at a charge of USD 50 one-way.