Here’s another good one for those of you eager to learn Chinese but don’t have access to formal classes. Or tutors. Or plane tickets to China.
The “Online College of Chinese Language” is hosted by the National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (NOCFL) of the People’s Republic of China in cooperation with East China Normal University (ECNU).
The site consists of “some supplementary materials” to help students who are studying the New Practical Chinese Reader. This book series consists of seventy lessons in six volumes, covering “three years worth of instructions” in beginner to intermediate levels in Chinese listening, speaking, reading and writing. Volumes I and II focus on Chinese living habits and culture, while volumes III and IV focus on the hotspots in China’s contemporary social life.
These “supplementary materials” online are actually pretty rich, though, even if you don’t have the books, including these free online courses for which you can register:
Beginner
Conversation Course - For Chinese beginners, and to meet their needs in daily conversation.
Reading Course - Learn 30 Chinese character in each course.
Free E-mail Chinese - Receive several sentences to learn from Monday to Friday.
Intermediate
Five Phrases A Day - The most frequently used phrases.
Learning Chinese Through Karaoke - “We have ceremoniously brought forward a brand-new course…”.
The Stories of Chinese Idioms - Idioms commonly used in modern Chinese language, with a story and the English translation following each idiom.
Advanced
Appreciation for Ancient Chinese Poetry
Free monthly magazine - “Flexible and Enjoyable! Stay comfortably at home, and learn more Chinese!”
The site could use a good information design overhaul, in my opinion–it takes a bit of digging to uncover all the resources–but it’s certainly worth your time to hunt them down.
