Chinese at University of Leeds.

Hi! BBC here, starting Chinese in September. I've done Chinese AS (cantonese) although I'm far from fluent. I can sometimes understand little bits of Mandarin when it sounds similar to Cantonese...can't wait to start the course.

My name is Sophia by the way. I know someone who is going to Leeds Beckett, but as for Leeds Uni it's just me myself and I haha. I tried to learn online, but find it almost impossible as it doesn't explain anything, rather it just gives you words and expects you to understand. Good tip though! On youtube there are some great videos on how to learn Pinyin, which could help with our course!

You're family should visit sometime, it's boiling here and blue skies everyday; being honest though, I prefer the cold and can't wait to see snow for the first time.

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I'm glad I'm not the only one starting from scratch then! I'm trying to get used to the tones before we start, however I have to move my head in the direction of the tone shape to make sure I'm using the right one and saying it right...i look like a nodding-dog

Hi! BBC here, starting Chinese in September. I've done Chinese AS (cantonese) although I'm far from fluent. I can sometimes understand little bits of Mandarin when it sounds similar to Cantonese...can't wait to start the course.

Speaking of, I know this is suuuper early but has anyone thought of where they'd like to go for the year abroad? I know it's really early but reading about the course makes me so excited to start

Hey Oh cool! What do you study in Cantonese - is it just speaking or do you have to write too (does Cantonese have its own characters)?

Sorry for the late reply - it's been such a busy week!



I'm Ahmad - great to meet you That's great that you've got a familiar face in the city too! One of my friends is also coming too, which I'm quite pleased about That's a really good idea actually! Sometimes I watch a channel called Learn Chinese now - they don't teach Pinyin but they do teach vocabulary and very basic grammar and it's quite interesting :3

And yes - I definitely plan to. I'd love to go to a small Spanish town with the really stereotypical narrow windy streets and stuff... When did you move to Spain if I may ask?


Still, that's such a great opportunity! Are you in China now? Did you end up working for that company in China afterwards?


Thank you very much for the advice! I've hardly met any Chinese people so I'm really looking forward to go and study it... :3


Hey! I'm not technically a beginner but I can reassure you (or perhaps worry you?) that I still do this too, haha! The tones are really hard and I know I've said some very, very odd things by accident... I think it's something people only really get the hang of when you go on the year abroad because you kind of have to get it right maybe.

Speaking of, I know this is suuuper early but has anyone thought of where they'd like to go for the year abroad? I know it's really early but reading about the course makes me so excited to start



Hey Oh cool! What do you study in Cantonese - is it just speaking or do you have to write too (does Cantonese have its own characters)?

Hello I'm Connie by the way. It's speaking and writing. The writing is the same, although I studied traditional Chinese characters instead of simplified, which is what I think we'll be learning in September. I'm also very excited (and a bit nervous) for the year abroad! I'm thinking of going Beijing... where do you want to go?

Hey! I'm not technically a beginner but I can reassure you (or perhaps worry you?) that I still do this too, haha! The tones are really hard and I know I've said some very, very odd things by accident... I think it's something people only really get the hang of when you go on the year abroad because you kind of have to get it right maybe.

Speaking of, I know this is suuuper early but has anyone thought of where they'd like to go for the year abroad? I know it's really early but reading about the course makes me so excited to start

Nice to meet you Connie, I also want to do my year abroad in Beijing !

Nice to meet you Connie, I also want to do my year abroad in Beijing !

I'm glad I'm not the only one doing it haha! That's the one thing I'm terrified of: saying the wrong thing (but technically the right thing) and ending up insulting or offending someone


I'm torn between Beijing and Shanghai; Beijing is great location wise but Shanghai is great university wise

I'm Angharad by the way!

Hello I'm Connie by the way. It's speaking and writing. The writing is the same, although I studied traditional Chinese characters instead of simplified, which is what I think we'll be learning in September. I'm also very excited (and a bit nervous) for the year abroad! I'm thinking of going Beijing... where do you want to go?

I was actually born in Spain so I've lived here my hole life It's nice to hear that someone would actually like to visit Spain to see the architecture rather than the party scene like so many others!

I'm torn between Beijing and Shanghai; Beijing is great location wise but Shanghai is great university wise

I'm Angharad by the way!

Hi all!

Provided that my visa comes through in time X_X, I'll be coming to Leeds to study this September as well.

I'm not studying Chinese, but I can speak and write English and Chinese (simplified:P not traditional). I'll be happy to help if you need anything.

All the best!

Kevin
(I'm from Singapore)

Hey guys,
I was just looking on the leeds 'go' website (http://arts.leeds.ac.uk/go/studying/T100/) and one of the documents says we need to learn around 1000 characters using a certain CD before we start. Did anyone else notice this/learn the characters? It doesn't make sense to me as this is the first time I've heard of needing a CD and pretty much learning the language before we even start (I only got my confirmation email a week ago which told me about the 'go' site)!
Am I the only one who didn't know about this or is there anyone else? I hope to god I've misunderstood it. I only know like...10 characters...

Hi Kevin! I'm Angharad!

I hope everything with your visa goes okay, and I hope you have a great time here in Leeds! I moved here yesterday and it seems like a great place already! What course are you going to be studying here?

I had no idea about this !! They never mentioned this at the open day tester lecture ? Mat be we should learn them

Hi Angharad!

Thank you(: I visited Leeds for my interview and found it very cosy. (I mean... it's half the temperature of Singapore:P - but still cosy though). I'll be studying Medicine!

Sorry I can't help with the CD thing, is it not in your welcome packs? You can always drop by the department building/email and ask.

They never mentioned it at all (there was an open day tester lecture!? I didn't know..) It's got to be a mistake or something. It doesn't tell you what CD or anything hope I'm worrying over nothing

Yes, but we didn't do much, just a general introduction to the course. If you go to the office today let me know how it goes for you !

I'm glad you like it here my friend moved from France to a city a couple of miles away and even she said there was a huge temperature change! It's typical cold British weather I'm afraid

And wow, medicine? That's great!

We didn't get anything, I'm hoping it's just a misunderstanding. I may go to the office today if it's open and ask about it though