Free Courses

The free courses are restricted to regular program students.

In order to increase students’ learning opportunities and the effectiveness of these opportunities, the CLC arranges 6 to 7 different types of free courses each term. Currently offered are the following:

Course	Teacher	Level	Class Description
Introduction to Bopomo	Gao Jiayu	Beginner	Introduction to Taiwanese pinyin system and positions of sound articulation through activities and everyday language. In learning this system, students should be able to strengthen their self-confidence in their pronunciation of Mandarin.
Character Writing Class	Zhou Lijuen	11 and up	In this course, students will learn the principles behind Traditional Chinese characters by studying their radicals and other components. The course also introduces new characters through interesting short stories. Finally, students will learn the usages of the characters by studying short sentences.
Basic Pronunciation	Jian Shufen	Beginner	Through constant practice of specific words of different tones, students learn to make clear distinctions between the 5 tones of Mandarin. This course also helps with students’ articulation by having them practice common words and useful short phrases.
Basic Pronunciation	Gao Jiayu	Beginner	This course helps students to discover and correct the blind spots in their pronunciation of Mandarin, by teaching positions of sound articulation, pinyin tone markers and having students read words of similar sound out loud.
Basic Pronunciation	Zhao Yan	11 and up	Learn to effectively complete syllables and control the five tones of Mandarin, as well as how to avoid mixing up similar sounds.
Learn Mandarin through Song	Zhang Shi Pei	11 and up	Singing songs is not just a happy and relaxing matter; songs can also reflect the popular culture and thoughts of the times. This class not only allows students to learn how to speak Mandarin, but also how to sing in it as well. The use of popular songs will show students how beneficial entertainment can be to learning during the course of their Mandarin studies.
Learn Mandarin Chinese songs	Zhou Lijuen	12 and up	Each class introduces both classic Mandarin Chinese songs and modern pop songs in order to help students learn Mandarin phrases, Chinese culture and how to appreciate the beauty of the language.
Interesting Traditional Chinese Characters	Zhou Lujuan	12 and up	How do you study Traditional Chinese characters? How do your write them? This course systematically introduces the origin and formation of, as well as the relevant application of traditional characters. The historical stories behind the origin of the characters will be presented by Power Point. Students will learn how to correctly recognize and write traditional characters in a relaxing, easy-going environment.
Basic Composition	Zhou Lijuen	13 and up	A new topic will be introduced every class under which students will learn new vocabulary, and new usages for words they already know, as well as improve the flow of their writings.
Basic Composition 2	Zhang Jinlan	13 and up	This course introduces one new topic each class section. With an easy going and relaxing atmosphere, the teacher will use interesting stories to help students improve their descriptive skills, as well as strengthen their usage of synonyms, common phrasing and rhetoric.
Advanced Pronunciation	Wang Kexin	21 and up	The material for this course was designed with, the common mistakes and troubles that students encounter in their pronunciation, in mind. Through constant practice, students can become naturally accustomed to correct pronunciation of Mandarin.
Chinese Folk Songs	Wang Kexin	21 and up	A song is categorized as a folk song according to its background, such as its origin, features, style, era of production and its songwriter. The teacher will teach students how to sing these songs. In singing these songs, the students will be able to both learn Mandarin and understand the culture of Chinese folk songs.
Study Mandarin Theater	Wang Kexin	21 and up	With an interesting script; by acting out the roles; and by bringing the characters to life, studying Mandarin can be made fun and easy! At the end of the course, the students will showcase their learning achievements by acting out a play.
Mandarin Declamation	Wang Kexin	21 and up	In this class, students will read aloud carefully selected articles with the teacher. Using this method, not only can students study Mandarin, they can also come to appreciate the beauty of Chinese literature.
Chinese Folk Tales	Zhang Shi Pei	21 and up	Chinese culture is full of numerous kinds of folk tales and legends. These stories are closely related to the daily habits and social customs of Taiwan and China. Over the course of learning Mandarin, having these often mysterious and always interesting stories to support them, can deepen students’ enthusiasm for studying the language.
Intermediate Pronunciation	Zhang Shi Pei	21 and up	Want to use a fun and interesting “Pinyin Game” to discover your problems with pronunciation? Want to correct your intonation problems through witty, amusing, short compositions? Then the 5-week Intermediate Pronunciation class, which provides an opportunity to practice the usage of sound linking, intonation and heteronyms, is the right choice for you!
Intermediate Pronunciation	Zhao Yan	22 and up	This course focuses on the essentials of pronunciation, such as segmentation and sound linking, speech speed and fluency practice; colloquial expressions and public speaking training, among other various topics.
Intermediate Composition	Ma Wei Yi	31 and up	The goals of this course are to improve students’ general compositional writing ability and to strengthen their organizational skills in Mandarin. Using topic investigation and discussion methods, along with the teaching of new vocabulary, this course will help students enrich their writings with new content. Formal compositional format and useful writing strategies will also be taught in order to enable students to write expressive, coherent short essays. Weekly short essay writing is required.
Advanced Composition	Zhou Lijuen	32 and up	This class will use different topics to guide students to a deeper understanding of the possible combinations of Mandarin phrasing, as well as how to properly compose articles in Mandarin.
Taiwan, Hong Kong, China Period Theater	Zhou Lijuen	41 and up	Using Classical Chinese dramas as the material, this class seeks to deepen the students’ understanding of Mandarin phrases, history and culture.

1. Total in-class time of each free course is 5 hours; class size is dependent upon space available, as well as the course content. More detailed information will be announced prior to the start of each course.