You will benefit from BCMIP course if you are :

– Someone who wants to learn Mandarin on his/her own without incurring too much costs. You cannot master Pinyin (the spelling sounds) on you own as you need a teacher to guide you on your pronunciation. Once you have mastered Pinyin, then you can proceed to learn on your own as there are a lot of free resources available online. Chapter 9 of BCMIP actually highlights how to learn Mandarin DIY after completing the course.

– A beginner, either an adult or a teenager, who wants to learn basic Mandarin without incurring hefty fees.

– A person who is unsure whether Mandarin is too difficult for them. Learning Pinyin first would give them an idea before deciding to embark further.

– Someone who is busy and so a Learning Management System (LMS) is good as you can spend your idle time learning Mandarin. Examples of idle time are taking the subway, waiting for someone etc.

– Chinese Singaporeans who want to communicate effectively with Mainland Chinese or speak with their children/grandchildren to help them improve their Mandarin.

– Someone who wants to learn Mandarin but cannot find any school/teacher in the neighbourhood.

For those who are taking the course initially as a trial i.e. register for the course without submitting payment, there is is no refund even after the student signs up for the course eventually. This is because Lesson One is freely available to everyone currently (subject to a class size of 100) for 14 days and thus he or she can judge whether the course meets his/her expectations. Lesson One will be sufficient to give the student an idea on the the course structure, delivery, interaction experiences with Instructor etc. The student will also be exposed to Learning Management System and Social Learning which are the two main characteristics of this course.

Students can also explore the sample lessons other than Lesson One as highlighted below.

For those who have submitted payment during registration, he or she can claim a refund within 7 calendar days beginning from the course start date. However, to protect our rights, the student is only eligible to claim a refund if he/she has not yet started Lesson Two of BCMIP. This is because the completion of Lesson One of BCMIP will be sufficient for you to determine whether the Online Course does meet your expectations.

Yes, you can visit the Sample Lesson website at https://guest.lemandarinschool.com/mandarin-course/sample-basic-conversational-mandarin-in-pinyin-bcmip/

You can also access it via the “Sample Lessons” link on the top menu bar.

The student can proceed to take up a unit on Chinese characters from this school which is scheduled to roll out in Q3 or Q4 of 2021. For those who want to self-learn, Lesson 9 provides some pointers on self learning after the student has completed the BCMIP course.

Although Chinese written characters are not taught in BCMIP course, a vocabulary list that includes Chinese written characters is available on the website, below is a snapshot:

The course has a course duration of 270 days or about nine months which caters for busy people such as working adults. Setting an expiry date will encourage the student to commit his/her time in learning and so they do not procrastinate which is often a problem with lifetime access for a course.

The students can also download the lesson materials and quizzes which will be useful for them even after the course has expired.

Lesson 1 Topics (T stands for Topic) This lesson serves to give the student an introduction to Chinese language and the tones.

• T1 – Understand the nature of Chinese Language
• T2 – Why Pinyin (Spelling Sound)
• T3 – Learn the Four Tones
• T4 – How to use Pinyin effectively

Lesson 2 Topics Lesson Two is a practicum-oriented topic as the student has to go through 30 topic videos and 53 quizzes before he/she can proceed to Lesson Three. The student is taught the traditional method of pronunciation and an alternative for those who prefer English-like pronunciation.

• T1 – English Proxy Sound Method for learning initials (An Alternative to Pinyin)
• T2 – Pinyin
• T3 – Practice

Lesson 3 Topics From this lesson onwards, the student will start to apply what they have learnt in Lessons 1-2. Simple Chinese grammar is also taught. The student is expected to say simple sentences like “I am a American”, “I am tall” etc.

• T1 – Vocabulary
• T2 – Basic word order (subject-verb-object)
• T3 – to be (shì)
• T4 – Adjectival verb
• T5 – yes-no question (ma)
• T6 – yes-no question (verb-not-verb)
• T7– Implied comparison
• T8 – Omitting known information
• T9 – Dialogue Practices

Lesson 4 Topics Student will learn how to introduce himself/herself in this lesson. He/she will also learn how to pronounce numbers from one to ninety-nine. There is an Course Interim Quiz at the end of this lesson.

• T1 – Vocabulary
• T2 – Classifiers
• T3 – Demonstrative Pronouns (this, that)
• T4 – Numbers I (one to ninety-nine)
• T5 – Possession (de)
• T6 – Tag Questions
• T7 – Naming in Mandarin/How to introduce yourself
• T8 – Dialogue Practices
• Course Interim Quiz

Lesson 5 Topics Lesson 5 will topics such as model verb ‘can’ and common adverb dōu to the student. He/she will complete the lesson on numbers and know how to apply them in real life.

• T1 – Vocabulary
• T2 – Numbers II (Hundred bǎi, Thousand qiān, Ten Thousand wàn)
• T3 – Zero (Líng)
• T4 – How many?
• T5 – Modal Verb ‘Can’
• T6 – Common Adverb dōu (all/both)
• T7 – Choice Questions (hái.shi)
• T8 – Follow-up questions with ne
• T9 – Dialogue Practices

Lesson 6 Topics This topic is important as it focuses on money and prices which every foreigner will need to use them in daily life when they are living in China. We will also look at numerical expressions like bàn, duō etc.

• T1 – Vocabulary
• T2 – Money and Prices
• T3 – Unit price
• T4 – Half (bàn)
• T5 – Something plus (duō)
• T6 – Each /Every (měi)
• T7 – “Only” (zhǐ)
• T8 – Must (děi, negation – bùbì)
• T9 – Change in situation using le
• T10 – Dialogue Practices

Lesson 7 Topics This is another essential lesson as the student will get acquainted with the calendar expressions.

• T1 – Vocabulary
• T2 – Year, Seasons
• T3 – Months
• T4 – Days of the Month and Time Ordering
• T5 – Days of the Week
• T6 – Parts of the day
• T7 – Last, This and Next
• T8 – Ordinal Numbers
• T9 – Dialogue Practices

Lesson 8 Topics Lesson Eight will wrap up the course by looking at time expressions and colours.

• T1 – Vocabulary
• T2 – Clock Time
• T3 – Common Time Expressions
• T4 – Completion Marker le
• T5 – Past/Present/Future
• T6 – Before/During/After of an action/event
• T7 – Verbal Duplication
• T8 – Colours
• T9 – Dialogue Practices

Lesson 9 Topics This is a summary lesson to highlight the important points in the course. The student will finish the course once he/she completes the Course Final Quiz.

• Summary of Key Points of this course
• Tips for self-learners who want to proceed further
• Course Final Quiz