Mandarin Classes for Adults at Winchester Thurston School - Spring 2011
Location: 555 Morewood Avenue in Shadyside (at the intersection of Morewood Ave & Ellsworth Ave, 2 blocks from Carnegie Mellon’s campus)
Registration Deadline: January 10, 2011
Choose one 8-week session:
Beginning Mandarin: January 19 — March 9, 2011, Wednesday evenings, 6-8 PM
Beginning Mandarin: For individuals with little or no exposure to Mandarin, who are interested in learning basic phonetics, grammar, character recognition, tones, and practicing speaking the language. Perfect preparation for a leisure trip to China or to have some basic knowledge of the language and culture.
Instructor: Xu Xiaoxia, a native of China and an experienced teacher, is currently teaching all levels of Chinese at Winchester Thurston School. She has come to Pittsburgh through the Confucius Institute at the University of Pittsburgh and is on leave from Wuhan University in China, where she is studying for a linguistics Masters degree.
Advanced Beginning Mandarin: January 18 — March 8, 2011, Tuesday evenings, 7-9 PM
Advanced Beginning Mandarin: For individuals who have had some instruction and would like to learn in greater depth. This class will focus on the language needs of the students/participants, whether for business, academics, travel, or general communication.
Instructor: Shaloma Smith is an experienced teacher who has conducted numerous professional development workshops for other teachers on the culture, histories, and languages of Asia. She has trained employees of large corporations in language and has served in numerous ways as an interpreter in China and the U.S.
Course Fee: $250 per 8-week session (Fee includes course materials)
Space is limited to 20 students per session. Free and ample parking is available on campus, and public transit from Oakland drops off directly in front of the school. Classroom assignment and other information will be sent upon registration.
Register Online: www.winchesterthurston.org/mandarin
Programs at the Confucius Institute
Beginning Chinese for Adults
 |
"Beginning Chinese for Adults" Language Course The Confucius Institute at the University of Pittsburgh will begin the first evening Chinese language course for adult beginners during spring 2008, to be held at the University of Pittsburgh's main campus on Monday and Wednesday evenings from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. This course will be taught by Ms. Xiaofang Ouyang, a visting scholar from Wuhan University.This course will be continuing in Fall 2008 as Beginning Chinese for Adults 2. Please view the course page for more information.. This course will be offered again in Fall 2008 as Beginning Chinese for Adults 1. Questions about this course may be directed to Mr. Yongfei Zhao, Special Projects Coordinator, via email to cipitt@pitt.edu. |
Traditional Chinese Opera Performance
 |
For more information about this performance and ticket sales, please view the event poster: |
The Confucius Institute, in partnership with the Great Wall, Terrible Towel Lecture Series
 |
The Confucius Institute and Winchester Thurston School are proud to present the "Great Wall, Terrible Towel: Understanding China, Connecting to Pittsburgh" lecture series on China throughout spring 2008. This is a free, six-week lecture series focusing on the vital role China plays in the global community. Understanding China and its relevance to our own lives is essential to understanding world events as well as our own society’s future – locally and nationally. A number of distinguished academic and community leaders from the Pittsburgh area will be presenting on several topics of relevance to study and understanding of modern China.
|
Chinese for Lawyers
 |
Lou Schwartz is a China trade expert and attorney who speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese, has lived in China, and has facilitated business deals there. In addition to providing business, legal and translation services to U.S. companies and institutions involved in trade with China, Dr. Schwartz has worked in Beijing with the Asian Development Bank, and has researched and analyzed developments in various Chinese industries, including non-ferrous metals and software. He is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, and has written and lectured extensively on doing business in China, and on China’s legal system. Chinese for Lawyers, taught by Dr. Schwartz, is a course in Mandarin Chinese in legal contexts offered through the University of Pittsburgh Law School’s Center for International Legal Education. Chinese for Lawyers acquaints students with the grammatical structures necessary for effective communication in Chinese, introduces basic legal and business vocabulary in Chinese and strives to give a sense of the cultural, legal, and business environments in China. The course materials are organized as a series of dialogues written in Chinese characters, followed by the Pinyin romanization equivalent and an English translation. The materials are tied together as a story of an American lawyer who travels to the People’s Republic of China to negotiate and establish a joint venture on behalf of an American company.
|
Student Activities
 |
The Confucius Institute is a proud sponsor of Chinese cultural programs at the University of Pittsburgh. In February 2008, the Confucius Institute was a cosponsor of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association's "Chinese Culture Exhibition Month," which included events related to promotion of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Chinese teahouses, movie showings, and a large celebration for the Spring Festival at Chinese New Year. For further information on Confucius Institute-sponsored student events, please visit our News page. |
