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Learn Mandarin Chinese with the Skills Centre as a member of the public or University staff

Find out about our courses and how to enrol on the right one for you.

Traditional Chinese calligraphy drawn on paper with calligraphy brushes and inks.
Develop your Chinese language and intercultural skills

We teach Modern Standard Chinese, known as 普通话 Pǔtōnghuà. References are made to other forms of Mandarin Chinese spoken in different regions.

Courses

Our language courses aim to develop your linguistic skills and intercultural competence. You can find out more on the general information page.

The following Mandarin Chinese courses are available for members of the public and University of Bath staff:

Courses Availability Courses Availability
Complete Beginner Semester 1 Post Beginner Semester 2
Lower Intermediate Part 1 Semester 1 Lower Intermediate Part 2 Semester 2

The cost for each course is £144 per semester.

University of Bath staff receive a 10% discount. Staff will be invoiced for the cost of the course after they have enrolled on MySkills.

Placement test

If you have never learned Mandarin Chinese with us before, please take this placement test so that you know which course is suitable for you.

Please also refer to the course descriptions below.

Course descriptions

Complete Beginner (Semester 1)

This course is suitable for you if you have never studied Chinese before, or if you know some basic phrases. 

Post Beginner (Semester 2)

Enrol on this course if you have completed the Complete Beginner course with us, or if you can:

  • note down words and phrases you hear using pinyin with reasonable accuracy
  • engage in basic conversations, exchanging information such as age, name, nationality, occupation, etc.
  • read and write around 50 basic Chinese characters

Lower Intermediate Part 1 (Semester 1)

Enrol on this course if you have completed the Post Beginner course with us, or have achieved HSK 1, or if you can:

  • engage in conversations on topics such as the weather, routine and leisure activities, state preferences
  • read and understand short texts written in Chinese characters on familiar topics
  • produce short texts using Chinese characters to give basic information and describe simple situations

Lower Intermediate Part 2 (Semester 2)

Enrol on this course if you have completed Lower Intermediate Part 1 with us, or achieved HSK 1, or if you can:

  • perform simple tasks such as going shopping, asking for information such as directions and opening hours
  • read and understand short texts written in Chinese characters on familiar topics
  • produce short texts using Chinese characters to give essential information and describe simple experiences

Course dates and times

All courses consist of 10 weekly interactive sessions delivered either on our Claverton Down campus in person (IPL = In-person learning) or remotely (LOIL = Live online interactive learning).

Semester 1 courses will run on the following dates and times:

Courses Delivery Day Time Start date End date Enrolment - members of the public
Complete Beginner LOIL Thursday 18:15 - 20:05 12 Oct 14 Dec Enrol as members of the public
Lower Intermediate Part 1 IPL Tuesday 18:15 - 20:05 10 Oct 12 Dec Enrol as members of the public
Lower Intermediate Part 1 LOIL Thursday 14:15 - 16:05 12 Oct 14 Dec Enrol as members of the public

Dates and times for Semester 2 courses will be published in January 2024.

Student experience

"I enjoyed my lessons with the Skills Centre. Students, staff, and the general public can register and learn a new language through engaging lessons and taking part in discussions which pushes you out of your comfort zone and speeds up your learning." (Kamile Bagdanaviciute)

Read about the experiences of members of the public and staff learning Mandarin Chinese in the following blogs:

Enrolment for University of Bath Staff

Enrol on MySkills

Enquiries

If you have any questions, please contact us.