Golden Dragon
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Golden Dragon Mandarin Chinese School (Beijing)
Beijing Time
Our
Courses & Materials
Our courses run for a period of three (3) months on average.
We hear you ask.
Actually, you can become very proficient in
just three months. Because the materials we use are - quite simply -
excellent.
Our materials take careful consideration of the fact that learning Chinese
characters involves a great process of memory.
To that end our materials use a variety of supports to enhance the process
of memory.
The first of which, of course, is visual,
the second is auditory, and the
third is gestural. This combined
series of functions serves to greatly enhance the absorption and
consolidation of characters.
Add to this the understanding that due to the effort in successfully and
correctly memorising characters, the number of characters directed at the
student plays a vital role.
In this respect our experience teaches us that it is far better to present
the student with two (2) texts of
ten (10) new characters, rather than
one (1) single text of twenty (20)
new characters.
A further method applied, is the careful choice of characters which form
common compound characters, and thereby enhance the spread and viability of
new characters learned in a single sitting.
Certain characters are quite rare, whilst others are more common.
Therefore, we come to the understanding that the frequency of any given
character's occurrence is of vital importance.
To that end our students learn nine hundred (900)
main characters during their three months with us. All of which are
high frequency characters
and make up more than ninety percent (90%)
of all modern printed matter in the Chinese language today.
That works out at approximately 15
characters per day. At five days per week, class time. Not counting your
free weekends. Thus leaving you with more than sufficient time to learn
Chinese, whilst also getting to know the people, and practice what you're
learning in the public arena.
Can you manage to learn 15
high-frequency characters per day on that basis?
Just fifteen (15)
characters per day,
5 days per week, will lead you,
after only three (3) months,
to be able to recognise, read, write, and speak a little more than
90% of all the vocabulary making up current modern Chinese reading
material.
Now! I have just one question
for you:
Is that a goal you believe yourself intellectually capable of achieving ?
If you can answer YES to this question, then read on, and then email us with your request for attendance.
Additionally, the student is introduced to a further four
thousand (4,000 ) characters, which
are compounds of the original nine hundred (900).
It has become apparent to Sinologists that Chinese characters are
constructed with puzzle-like logic, which is then combined in a manner very
similar to that of dominoes.
For example, the character bright -
明 - ming is composed
of two specific characters. Namely, the Sun
- 日 - ri,
and
the moon
-
月 - yue. However, when this
compound character is further compounded with that of
white
- 白 - bai, it forms
the new word - understand
- 明白 - mingbai.
Do you understand?
Does that switch a light on in your head?
Is it not therefore logical to explore the many and diverse
combinations in the high-frequency range available to us?
This particular approach is heavily utilised in all of our Chinese teaching
steps, and actively engages your memory in natural and logical cognitive
association; thereby, organically enhancing your Chinese language
acquisition process. Each learned group of characters becoming the
foundation characters of the next group to be learned.
Consequently, learning characters becomes easier and less
daunting with every step up the learning ladder. A great sense of
achievement rapidly fills the mind of the learner, whilst those more
conventional learners, attending other courses, struggle along without ever
seeing the guiding pattern of learning that our students experience.
Finally, it is to be understood that mastering all nine hundred (900)
characters taught to you in our course, will enable the student to attain a
level corresponding to two (2) years
of university studies.
What
We Offer
Golden Dragon caters for all levels of student,
from beginner
through intermediate
to advanced.
Golden Dragon also offer a special 1-to-1 Executive Chinese Course, for busy executives in need of an intensive course of Chinese at either beginner, intermediate or advanced levels.
In addition to the four (4) hours daily, 20 h.p.w, Monday to Friday, for the Standard Course, and 25 h.p.w. for the Intensive Course of Chinese language tuition, there are further optional lectures on:
Chinese Culture
Chinese Geography
Chinese History (A General Introduction)
Chinese Etiquette
Chinese Business Customs
Chinese Idioms
Chinese Cooking
Chinese Painting
Chinese Calligraphy, and
Chinese Musical Instrument Study*
Two (2)
of the above courses, Chinese Idioms
and Chinese Culture, come as part of
your language course and are supplemental to your standard classroom hours.
Therefore, if you have chosen the
Standard Course, for example, you will receive
20 hours of language classes, plus an additional
2
modules on Idioms
and Culture. Thus bringing your
total classroom contact hours to 22
hours per week.
However, additional courses may be chosen
from the list at very reasonable prices.
*Chinese Musical Instrument Study:
Please contact us for a list of instruments and fees.
Of course, should you choose the Intensive
Course you will have 20
classroom contact hours, plus your 5 1-to-1
study hours, in addition to your Idioms
and Culture modules. This then would
bring your total study hours up to 27
hours per week from the outset.
All our courses include
Chinese character reading and writing. We feel that to learn to speak
without the ability to read, and less so, to write, is a gimmick employed by
certain schools to generate an extra income stream, and therefore, may be
seen as a failure, on behalf of those who offer these teaching
services, to correctly advise and teach their students.
It isn't as difficult as you may have been led to believe.
Further to these classroom contact hours you will, of course, have contact
with the general population of the town and city, who you will find are only
too willing to seek the most intimate and detailed knowledge of your past,
present, and future; in terms of who you are, all effective details
pertaining to your family, work, home life, where you come from, what you're
doing in Beijing, and what your future plans are for your life in general,
and more specifically your career.
Indeed, the curiosity of the Chinese for foreigners is both intense and
seemingly without end.
For example, whilst shopping you may experience people checking the contents
of your shopping basket, just to see what the "laowai"
"老外“ (foreigner)
is buying.
To maximise the potential of your stay in Beijing, we here at
Golden Dragon, encourage you to tour the
city alone, or in pairs. Thus ensuring that you generate and experience the
need to speak as much Chinese as possible, as a means of both consolidation
and expansion of your Chinese language skills.
Class
Sizes
Standard Course: Maximum Class Size 14
Students.
Intensive Course: Maximum Class Size
10 Students.
Note:
Classes usually average around 5
students for the Intensive Course and
7
students for the Standard Course.
Levels
Available
Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced
Beginner
& Intermediate Start Dates
January 15th
February 12th
March 12th
April 9th
May 14th
June 11th
July 9th
July 23rd
August 6th
September 3rd
October 8th
November 5th
December 3rd.
Advanced
Start Dates
Any Monday of the week, depending on availability
Our
High Season
Our high season starts on July 1st and
runs on to August 31st.
During the high season an
additional surcharge of 10% will be
levied on all courses to guarantee your placement.
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