Coursera is a website that offers courses in various areas, including Languages, Social Sciences, Business and others. Regarding languages, it offers courses from certified universities all over the world, regardless of level or knowledge of the language. The courses are taught by renowned instructors or teachers, who provide homework, video and audio content to support the classes and a certificate at the end of the course.
One of the most popular courses is the "Chinese/Mandarin for Beginners" course. You certainly know that Mandarin is the most widely spoken language in the world, but did you know that, until the 18th century, more than half of the books published were in Chinese? Or did you know that Mandarin consists of approximately 80,000 characters, but only 7,000 are used?
This course is the ABC of Mandarin, which includes an introduction to phonetics and learning everyday expressions. It allows students to have a basic understanding of Chinese Mandarin and to establish basic everyday conversations such as exchanging personal information, talking about daily preparations and food, talking about their hobbies, etc. The topics and situations selected come from real life scenarios and can be used for daily communication. In addition to the dialogues, the selection of reading materials and practical activities will make the content as rich and varied as possible in order to stimulate students' interests.
The success of the "Mandarin for Beginners" course is remarkable: after completing it, about 29% of the "students" have obtained a significant career benefit from this course and 15% have received a salary increase or promotion, and of course have managed to develop their knowledge of Chinese culture and all its aspects.
This course is offered by the University of Beijing, determined to ensure access to education both in China and around the world. Founded in 1898, it has been contributing in the areas of Human Science and Social Science in order to promote progress and prosperity in China.
Curious? Why not try and develop new skills? Who knows if it doesn't become a Mandarin genius?
You can access the course at: https://pt.coursera.org/learn/learn-chinese
