Our native speaker qualified Chinese language teachers can train you and your colleagues at your office or home at a time to suit you. Classes can be any day of the week (even weekends) in the morning, afternoon or evening. In certain circumstances, if your home or office is not suitable, you can take your classes at the trainer's office. Lesson books are provided.
These Chinese lessons are more general in nature and are targeted at students with a whole range of different needs. While all beginners level students can expect to cover Survival Chinese - required for short visits to a country where English may not be spoken and/or the intention is to make good contacts with the local population, students then generally progress in different directions depending on their needs. Typical students include those buying property overseas, spouses of overseas nationals, people about to set off on that long-awaited world trip, Chinese culture enthusiasts and those who are keen to pass a particular Chinese examination.
These Chinese Lessons are intended for people who really need to learn Chinese to help make that difference in their work. For beginners, it will be useful to learn greetings and basic business etiquette, at higher levels reading and then writing become more important. Typical students include those involved in import/export, international negotiations and acquisitions, jobseekers in multinational companies where an additional language is required, and those working with international colleagues, academia and government. Even on our most basic lesson for Beginners, students should expect to end the lesson with basic Telephone Chinese and e-mail Chinese skills for communications as well as Survival Chinese required for short visits to a country.
The Chinese lessons are also available for 2 or more people studying together (Two-to-One Chinese Lesson or Small Group In-Company Chinese Lesson). All participants must have the same level, the same business or general language needs and be able to study at the same time in the same location. The booking must be made for all participants at the same time. Listen & Learn do not recommend group classes of more than 6-8 people although In-Company Taster Chinese Lessons can be run with up to 12 people.
Chinese has changed a lot over the years - the 20th century saw the disappearance of a lot of Imperial Chinese, which included many words used for politeness and to indicate social status
Writing in Chinese is a mystery for the uninitiated - you simply have to learn each symbol's meaning and pronunciation - there are no clues from how each symbol looks
Schools and the media in China and Taiwan all use Standard Mandarin, emphasizing its importance and spreading its popularity
Arlington
Nestled in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas, Arlington is one of the most affluent areas in the Lone Star State. A unique combination of enterprise and entertainment from General Motors to the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball has helped this once sleepy town transform into the 50th largest city in the United States, and the biggest city without any form of public transportation. Adding to the prestige and economy of Arlington in 2009 will be the NFL's Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys are the world's most recognizable sports team and they have chosen Arlington as the home of their new 1.1 billion dollar stadium. The Hispanic community in Arlington makes up 20% of the population, so learning Spanish is an essential part of doing business there. And thinking in terms of the future, 6% (and growing) of the residents of Arlington are of Asian descent and speak Japanese, Mandarin or Korean making each a language worth knowing in this city of almost 350,000 people.