Confucius Institute at the University of Glasgow

Chinese Language Courses

Registration for our Summer Intensive 2023 classes is now open.

Please enrol now as places are limited.

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All classes will take place in person on the main Gilmorehill campus.

Classes will run in single week-long blocks in July and August, from Monday to Friday between 10:00am and 2:30pm. The intensive week of language learning will conclude with a Chinese calligraphy session on the Friday afternoon.

Monday 24th July – Friday 28th July 2023: 10:00am – 2:30pm

Intermediate 1
Intermediate 2
Upper Intermediate 1
Upper Intermediate 3

Monday 7th August – Friday 11th August 2023: 10:00am – 2:30pm

Beginner 1
Beginner 2 
Beginner 3

The total course cost is £135, which is a total of sixteen hours of tuition and includes a free set of textbooks (textbook, exercise workbook and character book) for the Beginner levels. 

Please see further information on our class levels and content below. To complete enrolment, you can use the class payment links found below or contact confucius-enquiries@glasgow.ac.uk for more information.

Please note that you must be aged 16 and over to attend our group classes. For students aged under 16, please contact confucius-enquiries@glasgow.ac.uk for more information on alternatives available.

Beginner 1

This Chinese beginners’ course is designed for those with no previous knowledge of Chinese. The course will introduce students to the basic features of the Chinese language including: basic pronunciation; the different components of Chinese characters; and basic sentence structures. By the end of this beginners’ course, students will be able to communicate in simple Chinese and read several dozen characters.

You will study Units 0-2 from Contemporary Chinese 1.

Course Content:

• The correct use of four tones
• The basic strokes of Chinese characters
• Writing personal names in Chinese
• Introduction, greetings and other courtesies
• Personal information, family, interest, work
• Numbers: dealing with dates, time, money
• Enquiring information (The use of general questions with particle ma, and the special questions with 'wh' words - what, when, who etc.)
• Asking for directions
• Ordering food and drinks
• Understanding simple directions

Beginner 2

This course is designed for students who have studied Chinese up to at least Beginner 1 level in class. At the end of this course, students should have a command of 150 commonly used words as well as basic grammatical structures.

You will study Units 3-5 from Contemporary Chinese 1.

Course Content

• Introduction (greetings and saying goodbye)
• Personal information (such as name, age, places of living, family, interest and ability)
• Expressions of quantity
• Simple descriptions of weather, location, size, amount, etc
• Asking and answering simple questions (relating to shopping, etc.)
• Expressing simple requests or demands
• Expressing emotions

Beginner 3

This course is designed for students who have studied Chinese up to at least Beginners 2 level in class. This course will continue the content learned in Beginner 1 and 2, adding more commonly used words and grammatical structures.

You will study Units 6-8 from Contemporary Chinese 1.

Course Content

• Expressions of thanks and apologies
• Expressions of time (such as minutes, hours, dates, weeks, day, month, year
• Simple descriptions of weather, location, size, amount, etc
• Asking and answering simple questions (relating to transportation, etc.)
• Expressing emotions
• Expressing simple requests or demands

Intermediate 1

This course is designed for students who have studied Chinese up to at least Beginners 2 level in class. At the end of this course, students should have a command of 300 commonly used words and basic grammatical structures.

You will study Units 1-4 from Contemporary Chinese 2.

Course Content

• Greetings.
• Personal information (name, age, places of living, family, interest, ability, etc.)
• Expressions of thanks, apologies and hospitality
• Numbers to indicate quantity and order
• Expressions of time (minutes, hours, dates, weeks, day, month, year, past, present and future, etc.)
• Simple descriptions of weather, location, size, amount, mood and colour, etc
• Asking and answering simple questions (shopping, transportation, seeing the doctor, sports, amusement, etc.)
• Expressing and understanding simple requests or demands
• Expressing emotions and opinions
• Asking other’s opinions
• Giving suggestions
• Making comparisons
• Explaining the reasons

Intermediate 2

This course is designed for students who have studied Chinese up to at least Intermediate 1 level in class. At the end of this course, students should have a command of 600 commonly used words and related grammar patterns.    

You will study Units 5-8 from Contemporary Chinese 2. 

Course Content:

• The weather, seasons, climate
• Expressing comparisons
• Expressing direction and location
• Discussing rural and urban areas
• Expressing time duration
• Compliments and Criticisms
• Learning another language
• Expressing actions

Upper Intermediate 1

This course is designed for students who have studied Chinese for at least 100 hours. At the end of this course, students should and have a command of 2500 commonly used words and related grammar patterns.

Course Content:

• Discussing seasons and nature
• Chinese expressions of love
• Discussion of parties and other social activities
• Chinese Cultural understanding
• Discussion of multicultural issues
• Chinese dialects
• Discussion of sports and hobbies

Upper Intermediate 3

This course is designed for students who have studied Chinese for at least 140 hours. At the end of this course, students should and have a command of 5000 commonly used words and related grammar patterns.

Course Content:

• Discussion of family
• Understanding of Chinese allegorical sayings
• Discussion of intentions
• Chinese festivals