Mandarin Chinese Course: Intermediate Level 1

Build on your Mandarin Chinese foundation and communicate with greater confidence across a wider range of real-life situations with our Mandarin Chinese language short courses online!

Ready to move beyond the basics? This Intermediate Level 1 course is designed for students who have completed our Mandarin Chinese: Beginners Level 2 course (or have equivalent experience) and are ready to communicate more naturally and confidently in everyday Mandarin.

You'll expand your vocabulary, strengthen your grammar, and develop the confidence to express yourself in greater detail across a wider range of real-life situations. Through practical, conversation-focused classes, you'll practise speaking, listening, reading, and writing while discussing experiences, making plans, sharing opinions, and navigating everyday interactions.

With continued focus on pronunciation, tones, and sentence structure, you'll strengthen your ability to communicate clearly and understand spoken Mandarin more easily. You'll also continue building your knowledge of Chinese characters while deepening your understanding of Chinese culture and communication, helping you interact more naturally and confidently in both social and professional settings.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this Mandarin Chinese: Intermediate Level 1 course, participants will have developed practical skills and knowledge in areas such as:

• Communicating more confidently in extended conversations
• Expanding vocabulary to discuss experiences, plans, and everyday situations
• Using more complex sentence structures with greater accuracy
• Participating more confidently in discussions and everyday conversations
• Improving pronunciation and tone control
• Expressing opinions, preferences, and comparisons more naturally
• Reading and recognising a broader range of Chinese characters
• Demonstrating deeper understanding of Chinese culture and communication

Course content

What will be covered in this Mandarin Chinese: Intermediate Level 1 course?

During the course, participants will be guided through key concepts, techniques and approaches that typically include:

Topics may include

• Experiences, events, and entertainment
• Expressing appreciation and gratitude
• Shopping and exchanging goods
• Travel, locations, and transportation
• Making plans and everyday arrangements
• Introduction to written communication, including emails and messages
• Chinese geography, customs, and everyday culture

Communication skills

• Developing fluency through guided conversations and discussions
• Improving listening comprehension in everyday situations
• Expanding vocabulary for more detailed communication

Grammar and writing

• Building more complex sentence structures
• Comparative structures
• Expressing simultaneous actions
• Alternative question forms
• Continued pronunciation and tone development
• Expanded use of measure words

Content may vary slightly depending on class pace, participant interests, and instructor approach.

Intended audience

Who is this Mandarin Chinese: Intermediate Level 1 course for?

This course is ideal for students who have completed our Mandarin Chinese: Beginners Level 2 course or who have an equivalent level of Mandarin.

It is suited to learners with approximately 40 hours of prior study who are ready to communicate with greater fluency, accuracy, and confidence across a wider range of everyday situations.

Whether you're learning Mandarin for travel, work, personal interest, or to engage more deeply with Chinese language and culture, this course provides the ideal next step in your learning journey.

Course venue

Online via Zoom

Zoom details will be provided with your enrolment confirmation.

Requirement: A device with a stable internet connection

Course materials

What to bring to class

• Notebook and pen
• Course textbook (see below)

Textbook

Please purchase the course textbook used across Beginners and Intermediate levels:

Integrated Chinese Level 1, Part 1 (4th Edition)
ISBN: 9781622911356

(3rd Edition is also acceptable)

We recommend purchasing your textbook once your course has been confirmed (usually within three working days of the proposed start date). The textbook is not included in the enrolment fee.

Certificate of completion

Achievement Recognition

Students who attend at least 80% of the course will receive a Certificate of Attendance from Sydney Community College.

This certificate recognises your commitment to learning Mandarin Chinese and can support your personal or professional development.

Additional information

Mandarin Chinese language bundle

Continue your learning and save — enrol in three Mandarin Chinese language courses and receive an automatic 15% discount.

What's next?

After completing this course, you can continue your learning with our Mandarin Chinese: Intermediate Level 2 course, where you’ll further refine your fluency and develop more advanced communication skills.