Lessons concentrate on developing speaking and listening comprehension skills, with a view to being able to hold simple daily conversations on a range of topics - including greetings and introductions; courtesy expressions; countries, nationalities, and languages; numbers, days of the week, months of the year, and dates; shopping, prices; and going places.

They are organised to be lively, fun and immediately useful. Grammar and vocabulary are introduced and reinforced through extensive oral practice, including listening comprehension activities, guided conversation and re-utilisation of sentence structures, and role plays. Pinyin and pronunciation, fundamental elements if you ever want to fully master Mandarin, are covered in each session.

By the end of the course, you will be able to socialise with friends, colleagues or clients, and to meet most of your basic daily needs, such as: meeting people and exchanging information; making appointments; welcoming and entertaining guests; giving directions to taxi-drivers; and communicating in the shops.