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Mandarin Chinese in Motion: Essay-Writing Skills

Improve your knowledge of Mandarin Chinese grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structures to write confident and convincing essays with this online course from National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University.

Duration

4 weeks

Weekly study

2 hours

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How it works

Unlimited subscription

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Learn Mandarin with National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University

Are you gearing up to write your first essay in Mandarin Chinese? Don’t panic!

This four-week crash course from National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University will give you the skills, knowledge, and vocabulary you need to ace essay-writing in Chinese.

Hone your Chinese grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structures

Before you begin practising writing, you need to refresh your knowledge of essential grammar and sentence structures.

You’ll start the course with an overview of standard word order and sentence patterns to get your brain thinking in Chinese mode.

Get hands-on writing practice and guidance from native speakers

After this introduction, it’s time to get stuck into some writing. In Weeks 3 and 4 of the course, you’ll write one short narrative excercise and one longer essay, giving you a chance to put your new writing skills into practice.

Throughout the course, you’ll get tailored guidance from your course leaders to ensure you have the understanding and tools you need to keep practising in your own time. You’ll finish the course feeling confident and ready to get stuck into your first Chinese essay.

Week 1
Write your first Chinese sentence
- Welcome to the course
  This activity is a short introduction to what you can expect throughout this course, in terms of structure, content, and workload, and also introduce the basic sentence structure in Mandarin Chinese.
- Basic Chinese sentence patterns
  Learn the Topic-Comment structure to express ideas in Mandarin Chinese and understand why "she is pretty" is incorrect. Improve your Chinese language skills today!
- Word order
  This activity will show you the importance of word order in Chinese, how to turn statements into questions, and how to switch to Chinese mode for better understanding.
- Write a breif self introduction
  This activity covers Chinese word order, translation practice, and writing practice. Perfect for beginners!
Week 2
Write your sencond Chinese sentence
- Coordinating conjunction words 1
  In this activity, you will learn how to form sentences in Chinese by using conjunctions such as "and," "or," and "but." Join the brainstorming quiz to reinforce your knowledge.
- Coordinating conjunction words 2
  In this activity, you'll learn how to fix common mistakes with Chinese conjunctions, express "also" and "reason" in Chinese, and discover a mystery conjunction.
- Write a short message!
  This activity teaches you how to effectively text a message by putting your ideas together. Complete the mission and improve your texting skills!
Week 3
Write your first Chinese essay
- How to describe people, places and things?
  In this activity, you will learn essential Chinese adverbs and particles, how to use them correctly, and how to enhance your sentences with adverbs.
- Key Chinese grammar structure - modifiers
  In this activity, you'll learn how to modify nouns, adjectives, and verbs to enhance your writing. Each section includes a writing challenge and a brainstorming quiz.
- Write a narrative essay
  This activity focuses on enhancing writing skills. Students will learn to organize ideas and complete the mission of crafting a compelling narrative.
Week 4
Write your second Chinese essay
- How to Express Tenses in Chinese?
  This activity focuses on exploring the unique features of the Mandarin Chinese language. We will learn about Chinese grammar, express time periods, and conduct experiments to enhance their understanding of Mandarin Chinese.
- Talking about the present, future and past
  This activity covers the feature, including tenses for discussing present, past, and future actions and experiences. We will also learn to talk about completed actions and experiences.
- Write a Longer Essay - An Unforgettable Day
  The last activity focuses on enhancing writing skills with the theme of "An Unforgettable Day". We will try to organize ideas and put them together to create a compelling narrative.