.Focus Language school

  Chinese Classes Chicago                                                                                                                                           

  Chinese Classes Phoenix

Learn Chinese efficiently

Focus Language offers Mandarin Chinese classes for beginners and intermediate students.  We work with businesses, corporations and individuals.  We concentrate on developing good speaking  and comprehension skills.  We use the Pinyin transliteration system, which allows rapid progress in learning grammar and vocabulary.  We initially focus on developing a good practical knowledge of the tone system, which is absolutely essential if you want to learn Chinese.  
We use recordings, podcasts and in-class work to help you gradually understand and speak Mandarin Chinese.  Enjoyment, concentration and effective learning are the keynotes in our teaching method.  Chinese can be a challenging language.  You need a teacher who understands how to teach the tone system to Western learners.  It is the foundation of all Chinese study.  If you bypass it, you will not be understood.  We understand exactly how to present it to you so you are successful in learning Mandarin.  Understanding native Mandarin speakers is  another formidable challenge for Westerners.  We have developed simple and powerful techniques to help you succeed there as well.  

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Mandarin Chinese Classes Phoenix & Chicago

ABOUT MANDARIN CHINESE
Mandarin Chinese is an amazing language to learn, rich in culture, philosophy and tradition.  It is quickly becoming vitally important in our modern world and many people have begun the task of learning Mandarin.  Chinese is quite different from the European languages we normally learn during our school years.  In some ways it is much easier to learn and in others far more challenging.  Our Chinese classes (in Phoenix, Arizona) are set up to insure you get the most comprehensive approach possible as you learn.
The easy part:
- Chinese grammar
Chinese grammar is very  simple.  There are no verb conjugations at all.  Each verb has one form used for all tenses and all persons.  Nouns have no singular, plural, masculine, feminine or neuter forms.  There are no noun declensions.  Sentences are put together in a very simple and easy to understand way.  The old expression: "Long time no see!" is a direct translation from a common saying in Chinese and shows how simple it is.
 - Pinyin
The transliteration system used in China - called Pinyin - uses the Roman alphabet to represent Chinese words.  It really makes it easier to learn the language. Pinyin is learnable, systematic and has no exceptions.  It makes it very doable to learn to pronounce and read Chinese.
- Vocabulary
Words are very short usually consisting of one or two syllables.  They directly represent the concepts they describe:  e.g.. fire mountain = volcano.  
- Pronunciation
Chinese does not have many sounds.  Most of them have a direct equivalent in English  and all of them can be learned rather easily by English speakers.

Mandarin Chinese Classes Phoenix & Chicago

The challenging part:
- Tonal system
The Chinese language has 4 tones or notes.  Every syllable has a tone.  In order to be understood, you must pronounce the tones.  This  needs to be learned and absorbed  when you first begin to learn Chinese.  The Roman alphabet Pinyin writing system makes it much easier to learn, since it uses accents to represent the different tones.  We make sure you become competent there.
- Vocabulary
There are thousands of words that sound exactly alike one to the other.  (like lie and lie or lead and led in English).  This can make memorization and comprehension more challenging.  There are tricks and techniques to help learn Chinese vocab.
- Word order
Chinese word order is quite different from that of English and needs to be learned gradually
- The famous Chinese characters
This is a major memorization undertaking for those wanting to learn Chinese.  Fortunately, the Roman alphabet-based Pinyin  system allows you to learn grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation right away.  You can actually begin to read and speak quite comfortably without having to learn the thousands of characters necessary for basic knowledge.  In this way, you can start slowly working on your characters (if you choose to) while moving faster on the other parts of the language.  We use Pinyin in our instruction, since our primary focus is to help you speak and understand Mandarin.  We will help you begin your character study if you are interested.
This brief overview can give you a sense of what is involved in learning Mandarin.  We offer Mandarin Chinese classes for beginner and intermediate levels.  Give us a call if you want to Learn Chinese.  We will explain the nuts and bolts of our programs.

See out Programs page for more details

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Language  School  Chicago    

Language School Phoenix

630-338-1144  *  205 E Butterfield Rd, #262  *  Elmhurst, IL  60126  * 602-954-0465   *  10632 N Scottsdale Rd, 162  *  Scottsdale, AZ  85254  *