Structural Mandarin Level 1 Study Guide

The following learning steps are suggested for you to organize your online learning. The suggested time is minimum for each unit. Your learning outcomes depends on, among many other factors, how much time you spend on each unit.If you are a total beginner in Chinese we suggest you have an orientation in basic Mandarin by clicking on Mandarin pronunciation, and reading/writing.

Step 1: Word Study (Suggested time: 15 minutes for each scene)

Method
Move the cursor on pinyin and find out the meaning of each word; click on pinyin then listen and repeat till you are able to say the word confidently and understand the meaning of all the words in each scene.

Step 2. Key Sentences (Suggested time: 15 minutes)

Method
Click on the "Play" at bottom bar to listen to the conversation while watching the flash. Generally speaking, Chinese and English share similar sentence structures.

Step 3. Character Study (Suggested time: 1 hour for each unit)

Method
In this session you are going to learn to read and write Chinese characters. By learning reading and writing Chinese characters you are becoming a more patient person. Don't be too ambitious when you first learn Chinese characters. We suggest you pick up maximum 10 characters to study in each unit. If you can learn 5 characters in each unit you are already doing very well. We do not expect you to master all of the characters in the unit. You can practice writing the characters with pencil and paper. Follow the animation, draw the character stroke by stroke. A stroke is a continuous movement of the pen without lifting it. Please pay attention to the sequence of the strokes and make sure that you follow the stroke order. Writing Characters in the correct stroke order is the secret weapon for native Chinese to master Chinese characters. We suggest you follow the suit.

Step 4. Story (Suggested time: 15 minutes)

Method
Click on "English" at the bottom bar to change the sentence Pinyin into English and then listen to the whole conversation 3 times make sure that you understand the conversation.

Objectives
Understand how the Chinese words and sentences are used.

Step 5 (15 minutes)

Method
Click on "Test" at the bottom bar and do the test when you finish the contents in each unit. It is a checklist. If you can pass all of the test it means you have mastered the essence of this unit and you are ready to move to the next unit.