Chinese lessons for beginners

Welcome to the adventure of learning Chinese! This beginner’s course is designed to demystify the language and give you a solid foundation from the very first lessons.

The goal isn’t just to learn words, but to understand the structure of a fascinating and logical language. Here’s a glimpse of what awaits you:
🎯 Course Objectives

By the end of this beginner level, you will be able to:

Mastering phonetics (the Pinyin system) and the 4 essential tones.

Holding a basic conversation (introducing yourself, ordering in a restaurant, asking for directions).

Understanding the logic of characters (radicals and stroke structure).

Grasp the basics of grammar (which, good news, is much simpler than in French!).

📚 Learning Program
1. The Foundations (Phonetics and Tones)

Before speaking, one must learn to “hear”. Chinese is a tonal language where the same sound can have four different meanings depending on the intonation.

Learning Pinyin (transcription into Latin letters).

Pronunciation exercises on tones: maˉ (maman), maˊ (chanvre), maˇ (cheval), maˋ (insulter).

2. Writing (Characters)

We don’t start by memorizing thousands of symbols, but by understanding their “secret code”.

Outlining the fundamental strokes and order of writing.

Study of radicals (the basic building blocks that often give meaning to the word, such as the radical for water 氵 or for man 亻).

3. Thematic Communication

Each lesson focuses on a real-life situation:

Greetings: Saying hello, thank you, goodbye.

Identity: Name, nationality, age and profession.

Numbers: Counting, giving your phone number, managing money.

Daily life: Family, time, leisure.

💡 Why is it easier than you think?

Unlike French, in Chinese:

No conjugation: The verb never changes form (no “I am, you are, we are”).

No gender: No masculine or feminine to remember for objects.

No agreement: No complex plural to agree with the adjective.

🛠️ Working Method

To make rapid progress, we will use:

Visual vocabulary flashcards.

Audio files to help you get used to different accents.

Interactive character recognition exercises.