Masterclass: Pinyin & Tones

Start Date:

Time:

Location:

Duration:

14 Nov & 21 Nov 2022

Mondays, 7 pm to 8:30 pm

Online

2 Consecutive Mondays

£65.00

Learn Faster

We teach in a fun, personable, and efficient way, expediting your learning.

Member's Area

Access a wealth of resources to advance your learning alongside lessons.

Small Groups

We keep our classes small, and never have more than 5 people.

Satisfaction Guaranteed

No quibble refunds available if you are not fully satisfied (up to 7 days).

About THE Course

Feel good about your pronunciation! Pinyin is the brilliant invention of Chinese linguist Zhou Youguang whereby Chinese written characters are transcribed into letters from the Roman alphabet.

Why is Pinyin Important?

Pinyin is a crucial, but often tricky-to-master fundamental for good Mandarin pronunciation
For those who wants to focus on conversational Chinese, it allows you to speak perfect Mandarin by just mastering Pinyin
Improving Pinyin can immediately improve your ability to understand, and be understood!
It’s an extremely simple, and effective way to improve your speaking skills – so it’s worthwhile to get it right!

This high-impact program is perfect if you are looking for personalised, hands-on support to tackle your pronunciation challenges.

What can you expect?

A 2-part programme where we will identify, and help you with your individual Pinyin challenges
Immediate improvements in your speaking and listening of Chinese Mandarin
All lesson material, audio and video lesson recordings so you can revise 24/7, anywhere!
Small group sizes (2 – 5 people) for optimal outcome in peer learning

Ready to enjoy speaking Chinese with confidence and to be understood more?

We will see you at the course!

Why Learn with Us?

What Our Students Say

"If you want to improve your Pinyin and have some fun at the same time, this brilliant workshop by China Unbound is definitely for you! The tutors are incredibly patient and can help you to quickly identify areas for improvement. I benefited massively from attending the workshop and feel I’m now more confident with my Pinyin pronunciation. I would highly recommend this course to you."

Ben Wesson

London

"I had done pinyin at the outset but had been focussing on learning vocabulary and had forgotten about the importance of focussing on the pinyin sound. I found the workshop particularly helpful as it focussed my attention again on pronunciation and cadence of reading, something which is easy for a novice to lose sight of when one starts to learn and refine vocabulary. I definitively recommend it!!"

Juan Perez Tejedor

London

FAQs

I can learn from an app/Youtube videos. Why should I consider taking classes?

Because you’ll hit a ‘wall’ at some point. Apps and videos are great for practice, particularly for characters, vocabulary and grammar patterns. However, when you learn through Apps and videos, your speaking and listening tends to be weaker, and you can’t get clarification for things you don’t understand. We find students who learn from Apps and videos tend to have a wider vocabulary bank but struggles more at using them in the correct context.

In addition, as you progress, what you don’t understand earlier also becomes a bigger problem as knowledge are built on each other. Having the support and guidance from an experienced teacher helps you overcome this.

If you are serious about learning and want to make the most of your time to make good progress, taking classes is a better option especially for a language like Chinese. Learning in a group class also gives you the benefit of learning with others and keep to the motivation going!

In addition, as you progress, what you don’t understand earlier also becomes a bigger problem as knowledge are built on each other. Having the guidance and support from an experienced teacher helps you overcome this.

Private tuition also allow for maximum flexibility to work on your weaknesses and tailor the pace and content entirely to your needs.

If you are serious about learning and want to make the most of your time to make good progress, taking classes is a better option especially for a language like Chinese.

Why the China Unbound approach works?

In short, because we believe learning should be enjoyed, not endured; because we believe in the power of application (not regurgitation); we believe in the importance of practical content; and we believe that a relaxed and safe environment to make mistakes are vital to learning.

Our lessons are personalised, we pay attention to each student’s goals, strengths, weaknesses and target timeframe for fast and sustained progress.

Our teachers all have a strong command of English, enabling us to make the complex and nuances clear and easy to understand.

Our focus is to help you truly learn – so we challenge you to apply, not blindly regurgitate, to understand the ‘3D’ meaning of words, not just its meaning in a single context, and to immerse in cultural field trips within each course as well as our language meetups to build confidence!

Where are the offline classes based in?

In Central London, 10 minutes walk from Liverpool Street, Moorgate and Shoreditch High Street.

How much time do I need to allocate outside of classes to study?

For every 1.5 hour lesson, at least 1.5 or 2 hours outside should give you good progress. Space this over 20 mins each day will make it easier and also help you remember more too!

How long will it take for me to be able to do the basics in Mandarin?

Everyone has a different definition of basics! But if you want to be able to do basic greetings, introduce yourself, your job, family (and asking others), and to order simple food and drinks, it is achievable in 3 – 4 months. (our Beginner 1 course covers all the above). Obviously how fluent you are would depend on how much work you put in yourself, but to function at that basic level, it takes much less time than you may imagine.

How long will it take for me to be fluent in Mandarin?

Good question (though not an easy one)! It depends on the intensity of your study, for example, someone who has time for 4 hours a week and immerse themselves in the language on a daily basis (e.g. through watching TV programmes, reading books, listening to podcasts etc) will achieve fluency faster than someone who can spend only 2 hours a week.

As a general guide, if you do 1.5 hour lessons per week, plus 1.5 to 2 hours study outside of the class as advised by us, you can expect to achieve reasonable fluency as our learning map outlines.

I can’t decide on what I need.

What you need is based on a combination of your objectives, target timeframe, your learning history, how familiar you are with the language now, your strengths, weaknesses, interests, your availability and budget. Contact us for a 15 minute chat and we can talk you through the options!