Learning and Leadership › Women’s Academy › Language Courses › Chinese (Mandarin) › Course Materials
This course teaches Chinese from zero in a practical way: an introduction to Pinyin, the four tones and the first characters, pronunciation, everyday vocabulary, basic grammar and short conversations for daily life, study and work. The video lessons for this course are prepared by volunteer language teachers, and new lessons are added every month.
Course page in the learning system
Course details
| Level | HSK 1 to HSK 2 (beginner) |
| Estimated duration | 50 hours of study and practice |
| Prerequisites | None |
| Language of instruction | Farsi-e-Dari |
| Fee | Free |
| Assessment | A quiz after each section and a final exam; pass mark 70%; certificate after approval by the Academy |
After this course you will be able to
- Learn the correct pronunciation of the main sounds of Chinese
- Introduce yourself and talk about your family, work and daily life
- Recognise and use around 500 to 800 high-frequency words
- Read short, simple texts and write short messages
- Hold conversations in simple situations (shopping, asking for directions, making an appointment)
Course outline
- Introduction to Pinyin, the four tones and the first characters
- Greetings and introductions
- Numbers
- Family and home
- Time and dates
- Food and shopping
- Pronouns and key verbs
- Building sentences
- Asking questions
- Listening
- Speaking
- Reading
- Writing
- Travel and asking for directions
- Study and work
- Writing short messages
Week-by-week learning path
With about 30 to 45 minutes of study and practice a day, you will complete this course in 6 weeks:
| Week | Topic | Weekly output |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Getting started | Lessons, practical exercises and a short section quiz |
| Week 2 | Everyday life | Lessons, practical exercises and a short section quiz |
| Week 3 | Basic grammar | Lessons, practical exercises and a short section quiz |
| Week 4 | The four skills | Lessons, practical exercises and a short section quiz |
| Week 5 | Practical use | Lessons, practical exercises and a short section quiz |
| Week 6 | Final project and final exam | Completed project and a score of 70% or higher |
Final project
An end-of-course “Language Portfolio”: a recorded two-minute spoken introduction in Chinese, a short role-play conversation (shopping or asking for directions), an 80-word written text about daily life, and a notebook of 300 words learnt.
Project assessment criteria:
- Pronunciation and fluency
- Accuracy in basic grammar
- Range of vocabulary
- Consistency in daily practice
Key terms of the course
Pinyin
Tone
Hanzi / Character
Radical
Stroke order
Vocabulary
Pronunciation
HSK
Assessment and certificate
- After each section: a short quiz (70% recommended before continuing)
- Practical exercises in each lesson: for learning; use Questions to send your questions
- End of course: final exam (pass mark 70%) and submission of the final project
- Digital certificate after review and approval by the Academy: Request a certificate
Teaching method
Each lesson includes learning objectives, explanations with real examples and images, key terms in Farsi-e-Dari and English, common mistakes, practical exercises, a self-test and a summary. In every lesson you can ask the teacher questions using the Questions button. The courses are impartial, free and open to all young people.
Get ready now
- Set aside 15 minutes a day in your schedule for language practice
- Start a vocabulary notebook
- Start one of the free resources below today
Free and reliable resources
These resources have been selected by the Academy team. Most of them are in English; you can also use the Translate option in the Chrome browser. Large files (books, exercise files, videos) will be placed in the Academy’s official Google Drive folder when the course is activated and linked from this page.
- Duolingo, free daily language practice on your phone
- Chinese Test (HSK), official information on the HSK Chinese language exams
- Omniglot, an introduction to the scripts, alphabets and basic phrases of the world’s languages
Help and questions
Questions about this course: [email protected] · All courses: Online Learning Centre · Active course: Computer and Internet Basics
Women’s Academy, Afghanistan Youth Parliament · Free and open to all young people