You and your group can be trained by our native speaker qualified Chinese teachers, and can meet at your place of work or home at a time convenient to you. Tutorials can take place any day of the week, including weekends, and can be scheduled for the morning, afternoon or evening. If your home or office is not suitable for you, you can attend the lesson at the teacher's offices. You will be provided with all relevant lesson materials.
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.
Those wishing to learn Chinese in groups of 2 or more together (Two-to-One Chinese Lessons or Small Group In-Company Chinese Lessons) can sign up for our group classes. All students must be at nearly the same level of Chinese proficiency, must have the same needs from the language, and must be able to study at the same time and place as the others. Bookings must be made for all students simultaneously. Listen & Learn do not propose group sizes or more than 6-8 people, but In-Company Taster Chinese Lessons can occur 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
Mandarin' comes from the Portuguese word for 'minister'
Baton Rouge
While the eyes of the world were focused on the post-Katrina recovery of New Orleans, lost was the never-ending spirit of the people of Baton Rouge, the capital city of Louisiana. Also hit hard by the massive storm, Baton Rouge provided a steadying influence on residents of the state at a time when things looked their most dire. The 70th largest city in the United States, Baton Rouge is a unique place with a colorful history tied to French, American and Native American tradition. Proximity to the mouth of the Mississippi River has made it a major port for importing and exporting of goods in the United States. Currently, Baton Rouge is home to over 200,000 residents many of whom work in the state political offices found in the heart of the city. The makeup of Baton Rouge is as unique as its name, with a healthy mixture of American, African-American, Creole and other heritages. Getting in touch with the unique history of this wonderful city is easy for those who take the time to learn a foreign language.