Mandarin Chinese for Beginners

China

Land of great diversity

• Geography: 9.3 million km²/ 3.59 sq. miles (United States 9.83 million km²/ 3.79 million sq. miles). Only 1/3 is arable land. From Gobi desert to tropical rain forest, Himalayan mountain range to the East China Sea coast, China encompasses vast geographic diversity.
• Ethnicity: Han Chinese 92%; 56 other ethnic minorities (Dai, Mongol, Naxi, Uygur …)
• Population: 1.3 billion (Beijing ~15 million). One fifth of the world’s entire population.
• Time/Zones: China is 15 hours ahead of us in Portland, Oregon (PST) and has only one time zone.
• History: 5000 continuous years of history from Pre-Shang Dynasty to the current People’s Republic of China (established 1949).

Chinese

• Chinese has many different dialects, but only ONE written language.
• Chinese has no alphabet. Pinyin is an "invented" transcription system converting Chinese word sounds to alphabetized (Romanized) English letters. Formalized in 1958, PRC.
• Chinese is a Monosyllabic language.
• There are 13,500 characters in the modern Chinese language. Simplified and Traditional forms. Simplified created in 1956, PRC.

Chinese Classes

To enroll: Call Mt. Hood Community College Class Registration: 503-491-7572.

LAN5MC Mandarin Chinese for Beginners. Intimidated about learning Chinese? You won't be after taking this easy introduction to Mandarin Chinese for the absolute beginner! In a fun, relaxed atmosphere you will learn to hear, pronounce and speak basic words and phrases - plus learn a little calligraphy! Many cultural fundamentals will be included helping you better understand this wonderful country and people.