Decoding Chinese Crash Course
Immerse yourself in this essential language learning experience, designed for real-life situations.
Decoding Chinese Crash Course
Registration now OPEN
Why choose Decoding Chinese?
- 🗣 Practical language skills: Learn key phrases for everyday conversations, including greetings, introductions, and expressing your needs.
- 🍜 Real-life scenarios: Master essential phrases for dining, shopping, bargaining, booking hotels, asking for directions, and more.
- 📍 Cultural insights: Gain confidence navigating Chinese culture with tips on etiquette and unique traditions.
- ✈️ Tailored for beginners: No prior knowledge of Mandarin is needed—this course focuses on practical, easy-to-apply skills.
Spring 2026 Timetable
3-Day Course information:
Course Duration: The next Survival Chinese course will take pace on Monday 2 February 2026, totalling 10 contact hours.
Course materials: The course features a flavourful introduction to the Mandarin language, covering essential words and phrases for everyday encounters such as greetings, buying and bargaining, getting to places, finding accommodation, ordering food, and self-expression. The course uses materials developed by the teacher and paper handouts will be provided.
📅 Start date: Tuesday 22 September 2026
📅 End date: Thursday 24 September 2026
🕒 Time: 6:30-8:30pm
🎓 Attendance: In-person only
📚 Course length: 5 evenings
📈 Level: Suitable for those will little or no prior experience of learning Chinese.
📌 Course Fees:
- Early bird with 10% discount (until Friday 11 September 2026, 11:59pm GMT):
- £45
- Standard rates:
- £50
📍 Location: Classroom TBC.
⏳ Registration deadline: Monday 21 September, 11:59pm GMT.
Please email confucius@sheffield.ac.uk, or call 0114 2228332 with any inquiries.
Registration NOW OPEN
Survival Chinese 3-day Course - What You’ll Learn
Offered twice per year, held one week before the 12-week courses.
Upcoming session: Tuesday 22 - Thursday 24 September 2026
Day 1 The beginning of Chinese writing (word formation and writing)
- Pictorgraphs: Fish, horse, elephant, cow, dog 日月山田酒口水川女手回
- Ideographs: 上中下大小一二三凹凸明力男少劣看盲人仙信话拜 取 女 娶， 家嫁 结婚 子 好 大小 尖 忐忑 人从众
- Ideographic-phonetic characters: 样，洋， 椅，桌， 杯，妹，妖，媚，妓，忘，恋，怒， 雪，雷，云， 醉，酸，醋，酵
Day 2 Chinese words: Chinese (中国人 middle country person) , old and new words 电脑，手机，飞机， and Chinese sentences (word order)
Day 3 Chinese at home: Chinese surnames and names (赵，刘，张，黄，王， 夏， 马无疆), words and terms between family members and friends （父母，哥，弟，姐，妹，你，您，同志）
Teaching method: Task-based learning.
By the end of the course, the learners fill in a sketch book or a flip book of pictures with Chinese characters, to complete A Sketch of Chinese. There will be quizzes, matching, sorting and role-playing.
Survival Chinese 1-day Course - What You’ll Learn
Upcoming session: Next session TBC
9:00-11:00 - Greetings, directions and transportation
11:30-13:30 - Hotel and numbers
13:30-14:15 - Lunch break
14:15-15:45 - Dining out and shopping
16:00-17:30 - Health essentials
17:30-18:00 - Revision
For more information, please contact the Sheffield Confucius Institute:
Email: confucius@sheffield.ac.uk
Mobile: 0114 222 8332