The Times online have a Mandarin course of podcasts which cover the following topics:

1. Getting to know people
2. Exchanging information and asking for a telephone number
3. Having a drink and having a meal
4. Booking a room and booking a table
5. Asking for directions and going to a local attraction
6. Taking a train and getting a bus
7. Sightseeing
8. Being ill and seeing a doctor
9. Going shopping and buying a souvenir
10. Making friends and keeping in touch

Times online Mandarin course

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Technorati Tags: Chinese, language, learning Chinese, Mandarin

The BBC have a great little module for learning a bit of Mandarin. There are interactive click through screens, with both audio and written words which you can toggle between English and Chinese. Look out for the “challenges” which can be fun if you want to test your basic Mandarin.

Modules include:

• For starters
• Introducing yourself
• Family introductions
• Saying a bit about yourself
• Ordering drinks
• Ordering a meal
• Doing some shopping
• Asking for directions
• Public transport
• Finding and booking a hotel

Mandarin Chinese on the BBC website

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Technorati Tags: learning Chinese, Mandarin

Perhaps one of your resolutions this year (or maybe last year) is to learn a new language.
Learning Chinese can be cool. But its not easy. Is learning Chinese worth the time, effort and expense? With over 1.3 billion Chinese-speaking people in China alone (that’s a fifth of the world’s total population of 6.5 billion World!), the figures say it is.

I’ve recently started to learn (properly, as in writing as well!), but my motivations might be different to anyone else’s. How can learning Chinese really benefit you? Perhaps the following can get you thinking:

Top Ten Reasons why you should Learn Chinese

Technorati Tags: Cantonese, China, learning Chinese, Mandarin, simplified, traditional

1. Personal Interest
If you’re simply interested in learning more about the culture, this is the most powerful motivator. Language and culture are linked, and learning Chinese as a language will inevitably help to understand the cultural heritage of China and perhaps many chinese sub-cultures around the world.

2. Tourism
As a travel destination, China has opened up to foreign visitors more recently than it has been in the past. Learning Chinese will give a definite advantage in exploring China, much as it would be to visit other foreign places.

3. Business and Career Opportunities
Whether you want to take up a position in a global company with offices in the Far-East, or to trade directly with the Chinese (bearing in mind the need for cultural understanding as well – see point 1), you chances with increase with learning the language. In fact, due to China’s rapid rise, people who want to progress in any industry can’t go wrong with learning Chinese to give yourself a competitive edge.

4. CV / Prestige
If you know a western language, its pretty cool to have a contrasting language under your belt. Mandarin is also notoriously one of the most difficult languages to learn. (However, this is debatable, but for some, the perception is that it is difficult, especially since its writing system is completely different to the western alphabet.) Saying you’ve mastered it (potentially!) can give you an enormous sense of achievement and garner admiration from those around you. Because it will take years of hard graft, not everyone would be as committed, and that just makes it more the impressive. Even more so, if its not your mother tongue.

5. Social
If real-deal Chinese people are your thing, then you can break the ice with your fluent Mandarin. Bring on the Ziyi Zhang’s (or Jay Chou’s) of the world!

6. Chinese Martial Arts / Sport
If you’re learning a Chinese martial art or want to, learning the basics of either Cantonese or mandarin can help with understanding and knowing what some of the techniques are called and what they’re about.

7. Calligraphy
Learning to write Chinese is impressive – its a platform to move onto Chinese calligraphy later, if that floats your boat.

8. Chinese Heritage
If you’re a non-Chinese speaking Chinese person, you can finally tell all those “distant” relatives, that insist that a Chinese person should be able to speak Chinese, where to go. On a polite note, you can have meaningful conversations with your older generation family.

9. History
Spoken Chinese has many dialects but the written language is the same for all (although this is split between traditional and simplified versions). Learning to read Chinese therefore opens the door to a huge variety of literature from a diverse and rich culture.

10. The Olympics
The 2008 Olympics will be held in Beijing. Coupled with the widely publicised growth of China, all things Chinese will probably blow-up, and knowing the language can get you one step ahead of your competitors, colleagues and friends.

Click here to Learn the Chinese Language