Mandarin Summer School for Adults | 成人部暑期学校
Our Mandarin Chinese Summer School for Adults has undergone an exciting makeover this year, with a host of new courses designed to enlighten, challenge and inspire our students. Join our new courses which approach functional and cultural facets of the language in exciting new ways!
Welcome to our Summer School for Adults 2026
This summer, immerse yourself in our exclusive Chinese language and culture courses. Designed for adults of all ages and backgrounds, our summer schools offer a unique blend of education, interaction, and cultural immersion, right in the heart of Sheffield. Whether you're looking to enhance your professional skills, explore new interests, or simply indulge in the beauty of Chinese culture, our tailored courses are waiting for you!
Dates: Monday 10th June - Thursday 16 July 2026. Please below for specific course days.
Time: Weekdays, 6-8pm
Venue: Please see below for class venues
Registration deadline: Sunday 14 June 2026, 23:59 GMT
Timetable, Summer School for Adults 2025
Courses
Tourism Chinese
This course is designed for individuals planning to travel to China, offering basic Mandarin skills tailored for tourists. Through practical daily scenarios, students will learn how to greet, order food, shop, and seek assistance in Mandarin. The course contents are straightforward and suitable for beginners and above, assisting them in communicating more comfortably with locals during their travels in China. By the end of the course, students will be able to use essential vocabulary and sentence patterns for ordering food, shopping, asking for directions and prices, and familiarising themselves with common expressions for hotel check-in and airport check-in procedures, common minor illnesses and phrases seeking for help.
Duration: 2 hours per evening, once a week on Mondays
Delivery: In-person and online
Time: 6pm - 8pm
Level: Beginners
Location: Bartolomé House, Winter Street, S3 7ND
Price: £90 General public / £70 Over 60's OR current University of Sheffield staff and students.
Business Chinese
Chinese for the workplace. This course focuses on pragmatic workplace communication including greetings, making business appointments, hosting a work meal, and job interview conversations. We use a core textbook with supplementary materials ranging from media reports, interviews, and business dialogues. We also offer personalised advice on language progression tailored to each student’s industry and needs. We provide learning support outside of the classroom via emails throughout the course to accommodate busy schedules.
Duration: 2 hours per evening, once a week on Tuesdays
Delivery: In-person and online
Time: 6pm - 8pm
Level: Elementary
Location: Bartolomé House, Winter Street, S3 7ND
Price: £90 General public / £70 Over 60's OR current University of Sheffield staff and students.
Written Chinese
This course serves as a useful reference for learners who can speak Mandarin but possess an imperfect understanding of written characters, or as a guidepost for students with a limited knowledge of characters. It offers a solution to the perceived difficulty of learning written Chinese.
Furthermore, this course aims to make the language and culture feel more accessible, thereby fostering interest, pleasure, and lifelong rewards. It opens a gateway for individuals who wish to engage with modern Chinese newspapers and literature.
A comparison of Chinese grammar and syntax with other languages may also lead to insights into the fundamental aspects of human communication. The focus of the course will be on the functional use of the language, the underlying mindset of Chinese culture, and practical strategies for enhancing language acquisition.
By the end of the course, participants will have been exposed to approximately 100 Chinese characters, ranging from basic numerals to idiomatic phrases related to domestic life and some business names/signs.
Duration: 2 hours per evening, once a week on Wednesdays
Delivery: In-person only
Time: 6pm - 8pm
Level: Beginners
Location: Bartolomé House, Winter Street, S3 7ND
Price: £90 General public / £70 Over 60's OR current University of Sheffield staff and students.
Sheffield Chinese
This course aims to offer a language learning experience using reliable and authentic materials used in an immediate environment. It affords our learners with the opportunities of engaging in real life conversations, whilst learning the roots and rules of most common language patterns. It is an introduction to Mandarin Chinese with a vocabulary surrounding Sheffield. By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Use sentences and frequently used Chinese expressions related to Sheffield and the University of Sheffield (UoS);
- Use the most frequent expressions to form questions, compare things or describe objects.
- Produce simple and coherent texts on familiar topics.
Duration: 2 hours per evening, once a week on Wednesdays
Delivery: In-person only
Time: 6pm - 8pm
Level: Elementary
Location: Bartolomé House, Winter Street, S3 7ND
Price: £90 General public / £70 Over 60's OR current University of Sheffield staff and students.
Calligraphy
This course takes learners through Chinese calligraphic art entailing concentration and mental tranquillity. Taught by our extremely experienced and keen teacher to ensure a successful learning process, participants will be able to examine a word, form a perception, and produce a visual representation. As a highly spontaneous and individualistic art, calligraphy reveals the language and culture bypassing pathways of speech.
Duration: 2 hours per evening, once a week on Thursdays
Delivery: In-person only
Time: 6pm - 8pm
Suggested level: Open to all levels
Location: Bartolomé House, Winter Street, S3 7ND
Price: £90 General public / £70 Over 60's OR current University of Sheffield staff and students.
Today's China
Within six weeks, participants will gain insights into Chinese culture and community that expand cultural awareness beyond what traditional courses offer. The program enhances the ability to exchange ideas fluently across cultures, transcend language barriers, and avoid the pitfalls of cultural misunderstanding. By building these cross-cultural bridges, participants will maximize their success in business, language learning, and travel.
The course focuses on contemporary popular culture and the current Chinese way of life. Teaching is active, interactive, and immersive—where learning is achieved through action. Participants are guided through authentic apps used in China, practice the "dos and don’ts" of formal occasions, and engage in stress-free quizzes, shows, and games.
Duration: 2 hours per evening, once a week on Tuesdays
Delivery: In-person and online
Time: 6pm - 8pm
Suggested level: Elementary
Location: Bartolomé House, Winter Street, S3 7ND
Price: £90 General public / £70 Over 60's OR current University of Sheffield staff and students.
Tai Chi
Tai Chi is gentle, graceful and often described as ‘meditation in motion’, but when used as a martial art it is deceptively powerful. Age is no barrier and it can be practised by everyone.
Duration: 1.5 hours per evening, once a week on Thursdays
Delivery: In-person only
Time: 6pm - 7:30pm
Level: Beginners
Location: Bartolomé House, Winter Street, S3 7ND
Price: £70 General public / £50 Over 60's OR current University of Sheffield staff and students.
Chinese Painting - mythical creatures
This six-week course offers a fresh approach to understanding Chinese culture whilst bringing together personal well-being and art by facilitating expression of thoughts and feelings. Mythical creatures in painting visualise exquisite art through centuries of history.
The course will focus on the artistic expressions across several Chinese dynasties, Song (宋 Sòng, 960 - 1279) Ming (明，Míng, 1368–1644) and Qing (清, Qīng, 1644–1912), with particular interest in Dragon Kings (龙王) and Qinlin (Resembling a Western Unicorn), symbolising power, peace and prosperity.
This course is suitable for new and returning students.
Duration: 2 hours per evening, once a week on Wednesdays
Delivery: In-person only
Time: 6pm - 8pm
Level: Open to all levels
Location: Bartolomé House, Winter Street, S3 7ND
Price: £70 General public / £50 Over 60's OR current University of Sheffield staff and students.
Contacts:
Email: confucius@sheffield.ac.uk
Tel: 0114 2228332