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Do you want to learn some basics in Mandarin Chinese? The tracks presented here are designed to give you a taste of Mandarin Chinese language and culture. You’ll hear short conversations where people greet each other, introduce themselves and their families, describe where they come from and what they do for a living. You’ll hear them talk about sports, ask for directions, buy things, order food in a restaurant, invite someone to dinner – or simply share their experience of learning Chinese. You’ll also find a track to help you with pronunciation and the use of tones. Finally, there’s the chance to listen to interviews in English about Chinese-speaking cultures. Our guide to the language and culture of mainland China is Dr Kan Qian, who is chair of The Open University course: L197: Beginners’ Chinese
You can also download transcripts for all the tracks.
Track 1: Beginners' Chinese
A short introduction to this album.
© The Open University 2010
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Originally published: Friday, 4th June 2010
Copyright information
- Body text - Content : Copyright The Open University
- Audio/Video tracks: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 The Open University 2010
- Image 'Beginners’ Chinese' - Copyright: The Open University 2010
- Image 'Getting started with Chinese 1' - Copyright: Toa55/iStock / Getty Images Plus
- Image 'Tourist' - Copyright: Dreamstime
- Image 'The number two in Chinese' - The Open University under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 license
- Image 'Portales: beginners' Spanish' - Copyright: The Open University 2008
- Image ' A blank name badge hanging out of a jeans pocket' - Copyright: Dmitry Naumov | Dreamstime.com
- Image 'Learning a second language' - Copyright: Used with permission
- Image 'European day of languages logo 2015' - Copyright free: Council of Europe
- Image 'Barack Obama' - Copyright: © Bambi L. Dingman | Dreamstime.com
- Image 'Cànan nan Gàidheal' - Copyright: Used with permission
- Image 'Intermediate German: Understanding spoken German' - Copyright: (c) Nikada/Getty Images
- Image 'Hungarian flag on a map of Europe' - The Open University under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 license
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Publication details
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Originally published: Friday, 4th June 2010
Copyright information
- Body text - Content: Copyright The Open University
- Audio/Video tracks: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 The Open University 2010
- Image 'Beginners’ Chinese' - Copyright: The Open University 2010
- Image 'Getting started with Chinese 1' - Copyright: Toa55/iStock / Getty Images Plus
- Image 'Tourist' - Copyright: Dreamstime
- Image 'The number two in Chinese' - The Open University under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 license
- Image 'Portales: beginners' Spanish' - Copyright: The Open University 2008
- Image ' A blank name badge hanging out of a jeans pocket' - Copyright: Dmitry Naumov | Dreamstime.com
- Image 'Learning a second language' - Copyright: Used with permission
- Image 'European day of languages logo 2015' - Copyright free: Council of Europe
- Image 'Barack Obama' - Copyright: © Bambi L. Dingman | Dreamstime.com
- Image 'Cànan nan Gàidheal' - Copyright: Used with permission
- Image 'Intermediate German: Understanding spoken German' - Copyright: (c) Nikada/Getty Images
- Image 'Hungarian flag on a map of Europe' - The Open University under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 license
- Image 'This is a closeup photograph of a robot designed to speak. It is a humanoid robot, with a human-like face.' - The Open University under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 license
- Image 'Netherlands flag on a map' - The Open University under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 license
- Image 'Welsh language sign in the Andes' - Willposh under CC-BY-NC-ND licence under Creative-Commons license
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