Be a part of the Chinese business revolution, with Mandarin language training programmes for your organisation in the North West of England.

Why Chinese?

"The biggest threat facing UK PLC is complacency.  British business leaders ... should put China on top of the agenda now, if we are not to lose out on sales to China worth £200bn" 

(Deborah Allday of the Hay Group; quoted in The Guardian, 25 July 2006).

China is now a global superpower, estimated already to be worth 10% of the UK's global sales, and predicted to overtake the US as the world's largest economy by 2025.  Research has revealed, however, that UK businesses are heavily disadvantaged by a lack of Mandarin skills, coupled with a lack of understanding of Chinese culture.  Complacency has already allowed us to fall significantly behind our Western counterparts in developing these. 

A study by the Department of Trade and Industry found that over 20% of British firms had already lost business due to a lack of linguistic skills.  As the Hay Group report affirmed:  "Business Executives should start developing Chinese language skills now."

It's All Chinese delivers Mandarin language courses at your office in Manchester, Lancashire or Cheshire, to provide you or your employees with the tools to promote your business, build your relationships, and extend your networks in the Chinese world. 

The Teaching

 

Our teaching style is fun and highly interactive, with lots of opportunity for speaking and listening practice - after all, this is the only way to learn to speak a language with confidence.  It's All Chinese provides a basic but adaptable course content, focused on pronunciation and conversational skills, with a fascinating introduction to reading and writing the Chinese script.  We would usually recommend a 20- or 40-hour starter course, which can then be extended to suit your target outcome level. 

 

You will be taught by an experienced professional; qualified both as a teacher and as an expert on the Chinese language.  Uniquely, we offer a native English teacher, unrivalled in their ability to explain the nuances of the Chinese language in a way that you can relate to - without compromising accuracy.

 

Class Size, Timing and Duration

 

We like to give you the flexibility of deciding on the schedule, size and timing of classes to suit your needs.  In our experience, we suggest that the optimum class duration time is two hours, and that classes are held either once or twice a week.  For the best results, we also recommend strongly that class sizes remain small - ideally eight students or less - so that every learner has a chance to interact meaningfully with the teacher.

 

Course Content

 

The course content can be adapted to suit the needs, budget, and time requirements of the client.  For example, although we believe that the primary focus for beginners should normally be on spoken language, we understand that writing may be a higher priority for some groups.  Or perhaps you would like to focus on certain areas of vocabulary and situational dialogue, depending on your upcoming needs.  This can all be arranged. 

 

Our basic course content includes the essential introduction to pinyin (the Chinese phonetic system), with the focus on good pronunciation and the all-important tones.  The course introduces simple vocabulary and explains basic Chinese sentence structure, allowing students to build towards independent sentence formation.  We will also learn and practice dialogues covering:  greetings and formalities, introductions, personal details and family, likes and dislikes, weather, food and drink, popular activities, and travel.

 

There will be an introduction to Chinese writing, and students can learn how to write some simple characters.  For most beginners, speaking Chinese will be a greater priority than reading and writing, as the former is the easiest and most accessible way of learning a language so different to our own: it is fun to practice, and promotes the quickest results.  It is recommended that only those with long-term language study in mind pay more attention to the Chinese script. 

 

Materials

 

We provide our own course materials, allowing lessons to progress without the need for costly textbooks.  However, if you feel more comfortable using a textbook, or if more advanced learners would like to progress towards the HSK or another Mandarin qualification, textbooks may be incorporated into the course.