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Tsinghua University

Tsinghua Chinese: Start Talking with 1.3 Billion People

Tsinghua University via edX

Overview

This introductory Chinese language course will emphasize basic language skills for everyday life in Mandarin speaking countries.

The course utilizes pinyin, the standard system of Romanized spelling for transliterating Chinese, so learners will find it easy to understand and study the language.

The course is composed of several parts: Dialogues (taught through pinyin), listening comprehension exercises (in real-world situations), Chinese characters (frequently used in daily life), Mandarin songs, and Tea Time (tips for self-study).

This course is for anyone interested in learning Mandarin Chinese, especially if you plan to work or study in Mandarin-speaking countries. The course is also a good start toward the HSK Chinese proficiency test.

Taught by

Xia Ding, Xiaoning Wang, Li Lu and Yuan Li

Tags

Reviews

4.8 rating, based on 104 Class Central reviews

Start your review of Tsinghua Chinese: Start Talking with 1.3 Billion People

  • It has been a while since I took this course on edX. It is still available on the archived mode on edX, so felt like I would share my review here. I took this class in 2016, in its first iteration at an instructor-paced mode. This was my first…
  • This class is very good for the foreigner to understand and learn Chinese in the easy way. Appreciated all Laoshi and Tsinghua team to prepare this for us. Xiexie!
  • Anonymous
    I can't recommend this course enough. This is a masterclass on how an online course should be designed, and how a second language should be introduced. Whether you're living in China or overseas, a total novice or just need a refresher, there's so…
  • Anonymous
    I've just finished the Mandarin Level 1 course given by Tsinghua University.
    The overall course was amazing. Not only very high quality content, and great lessons, but also very useful content for everyday living in China.
    The course is also very entertaining, mixing a back story that develops over the whole course.
    There are also great technological tips that make Mandarin learning, and living in China easier.

    This is an amazing course, everyone interested in starting to learn Mandarin should take it, and should expect completing it and being very motivated to keep on learning, just as I am right now.

    Xìexie.
  • Anonymous
    This is the best MOOC i've taken in my life, and i've taken quite a few. It's like being part of a TV show or a movie, where you are part of a story, get to meet characters, identify with them, and feel sad when it all ends. Except that instead of a movie it is your journey into the Chinese world.

    The teaching is top-notch, short, lucid videos, plenty of practice exercises, you learn how to write characters, totally practical spoken chinese, excellent actors and overall it is such a fun experience. Best part - its self-paced so no stress about meeting deadlines.

    Absolutely worth it.
  • Anonymous
    The content is for beginner, but it's enjoyable to follow with Peter's story here and there. So it's not monotonous.

    Even the videos are broken down into one-minute chunks, since they know we're too lazy to watch anything above one-minute. I've learnt Mandarin before and grew tired of the basics already (I'm not saying that I'm proficient already; my real level seems to be stagnating in the basics).

    Overall, this course seems interesting as a review. Looking forward to more Peter's adventure.
  • Anonymous
    สอนเข้าใจได้ดีมาก เป็นการเปิดโอกาสให้ได้เรียนรู้จากทางมหาวิทยาลัยโดยตรง ได้ความรู้เยอะมากเลยค่ะ เป็นการเรียนที่ไม่รู้สึกกดดัน รู้สึกสนุกไปด้วยค่ะ
  • Anonymous
    This is one of the better beginner courses I've encountered. The stress on tone is quite good. The character lessons are also insightful, although I must emphasize that Wang Laoshi's stroke order is of utmost importance -- I don't think that was stressed enough. Grammar is not a huge deal in Mandarin, but students should be open-minded to some of the differences from European languages. I have already recommended this course to others, and will continue to do so.
  • Anonymous
    Great course for beginners! Easy to understand. Short videos and free you can study from anywhere. The teacher in the video can speak English fluently so it makes listeners understand easier.Animations are also great for learning.
  • Anonymous
    This course is good for beginners, it provides a lot of useful phrases. The focus is less on writing, so if you seek to learn written Chinese, it might not be your cup of tea.

    2-3 questions in the quizzes were a bit unclear, and the speakers in the audio quizzes are a bit too fast for a complete beginner I think.

    I'd also like some basic phrases like: "I did not understand" or "Please talk a bit slower" included in that course.
  • Anonymous
    Good lesson. It is quite reasonable long lesson because its content is pretty solid but if you dont have any fundamental Chinese language before then this lesson will be hard to learn
  • Anonymous
    Leaning Chinese had become easier and mor interesting. This class is good to learn Chinese. It’s easy to understand and helped me a lot. Thank you to all the team. Duōxiè
  • Anonymous
    It's an opening experience for Chinese language culture and Chinese data in Beijing city thank you very much for Great course students from samutprakan Thailand
  • Anonymous
    The teaching method from this course suits me best. I can learn and understand this course even though it is my first time learning Chinese.
  • Anonymous
    I really love the course!
    It is easy to learn, full of story line and engaging. Very recommended for beginner learners.
  • Anonymous
    Very good for speak and listening. When i was a girl I learnt chinese for 3 year. one word i wrote Hanzi,pinyin,Thai karaoke of pinyin because i cant remember how to read and meaning. This cause doesn't teach a lot of Hanzi but it's ok. Some word require 10+ stroke just to write one character, may be too hard for beginner.
  • Anonymous
    Great simple course for beginners or people who wants to review their basic Chinese knowledge. Highly satisfied!
  • Anonymous
    The course is very useful for those who are starting to learn Chinese. Please learn slowly to understand Chinese better
  • Anonymous
    i learned new words i think chinese is not that difficult if we try to open our minds.
    thanks for the lesson
  • Anonymous
    ดีมากค่ะ อธิบายละเอียดดี แล้วก็มีแบบทดสอบสนุกๆให้ได้ทำตลอดบทเรียน
    ขอขอบคุณเหล่าซื่อและเพื่อนๆต่างชาติทุกคนแม้ฟังออกบ้างไม่ออกบ้างก็พอเดาได้ค่ะ เรียนสนุกมากค่ะ

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