too hard for a beginner

Where do I start?

Hard to follow

very difficult

useless

poor

Esta ha sido mi primer experiencia en un curso como éste y me ha agradado mucho. Hubo algunos detalles en cuanto a los audios de los cuestionarios en los cuales escribía la situación pero cuando envié correo electrónico la respuesta fue más rápida y lo agradezco mucho pues me estaba desmotivando esa situación; finalmente después de solucionados los inconvenientes todos los audios de los cuestionarios se escucharon perfectamente; agradezco mucho su atención y sobre todo éste tipo de cursos accesibles y con gratuidad son de gran apoyo y motivan a continuar avanzando y aprendiendo más. Quiero comentar que los periodos establecidos también me causaron un poco de ansiedad pues mis tiempos son variables dependiendo de mi carga de trabajo, me reanimó el ver que podía ampliar la fecha de conclusión del curso, sin embargo desconozco hasta cuánto se puede ampliar, en lo personal, me gustaría que hubiese más posibilidad de ampliar tiempo de estudio pues soy algo lenta en general para hacer casi todo. Sí deseo continuar participando en más cursos, pero requiero disponer de más tiempo libre para ello, sin embargo lo voy a intentar de nuevo. Xièxie 🙇🏽♀️

Course is a little disorganized, and sounds are a little difficult to hear sometimes (in the exercises where you're asked to distinguished sounds, but I guess that's the point of those exercises. I don't quite understand the self-study videos because they're already in the main lesson videos, but otherwise, this is a wonderful course. I mean, I already speak a tonal language so the tones are easy for me, but they shouldn't be too difficult for non-tonal speakers too. Otherwise, this course gets you through the basics pretty quickly without too much emphasis on vocabulary or grammar and without Chinese characters; if you're keen, you'll pick up the grammar as you go along.

On a more technical note, the videos could be of better resolution, but that's not going to impede the course progression or anything. Kudos to this course's contributors!

If you want to learn some Mandarin and you are not sure where to start...just start here with this Course. It is all verbal and conversational. You do not have to learn Chinese characters and if you have been thinking, "No, Chinese is too hard to pronounce, its a "tonal ;language", blah blah whine whine "...please believe me, Professor Liu Xiaoyu is going to turn that entire generalization on its head and kick it out of the room. She speaks slow and patiently and if you can pronounce the words "seesaw, Jane Eyre, washer-dryer, car, how, why, and maybe" , then, you can pronounce Mandarin. Whats more...you will be understood. Its a seven week course at your own pace and it covers a lot of ground. You will not be disappointed and you will be amazed what you can learn from her. Try it.

I really enjoyed this. Its main strong point is that the pronunciation is very clearly modelled, for students to copy. It covers quite a lot of ground. There are a lot of words in it, but many of them are recycled in later lectures, which helps them to stick. There isn't any grammar explanation, so if you like studying languages more analytically, this might not be the course for you, although as I said, I'd still recommend it if you are new to Chinese pronunciation. The only thing I wasn't particularly impressed by were the quizes, which were a bit easy, but I suppose they want the course to be accessible to as many people as possible, and not to put people off for fear of failing. Thanks for making this course available.

Not to difficult for someone who has never spoken a word of Chinese before and also very comprehensive! For anyone interested in taking this course, I would suggest supplementing it with Peking University's Chinese Characters for Beginners course in order to gain a better understanding of some of the sentence structures and individual words that you will run into while taking it. Also, make sure to take notes to remember the various phrases you will learn! This was the first class I completed on Coursera and I am very satisfied and felt as though I gained a lot of practical knowledge! It's also not too difficult to complete and I would definitely recommend it for someone who wants to learn something new in their free time :)

This course was so much fun. I enrolled on a whim and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm going to review a few of the modules again to solidify some of the concepts. The videos were all short--maybe less than 5 minutes each, so you have time to absorb what you've learned. If I did it again, I would do a quick review of the previous week's videos before starting the next group to make sure that I was really up to speed. The instructor did a good job organizing and presenting the information. Although it's an introductory course, it covers a lot of area. Numbers, food, hobbies/activities, seasons, months, days, directions, introductions and common phrases were some of the things that I learned.

For long years since my childhood, I wanted to learn Chinese. I used to listen to songs, radio news, etc. in Chinese. But the general overview was that its a difficult language to learn. So, the desire of learning the language was always unfulfilled. And finally, I landed up in this course. And finally, I understood that I can learn Chinese. It's a wonderful feeling now, that I can go further and master this language. I would like to thank Prof. Xiaoyu Liu and Peking University for developing this course, so beautifully, that I am more interested in the language than ever. I will keep on learning this amazing language and one day, I can pronounce to the world that I know Chinese !!!

Éste fue mi primer curso del idioma chino. Sinceramente fue muy fácil de entender, para situaciones tan cotidianas que requieren de una comunicación inmediata, éste es el curso adecuado para lograr hacer eso. Como lo dije antes, éste es mi primer curso del idioma chino y fue mi curso introductorio al mismo. Ahora a seguir practicando éste maravilloso idioma. Espero conseguir amigos pronto para practicarlo, incluso lo recomendé a mis amigos para practicar juntos, deberían hacer lo mismo las personas que recién se integrarán, pues ésto requiere constancia y dedicación. Felicitaciones a la profesora Xiaoyu Liu y a la Universidad de Pekín por tan maravilloso trabajo.

Mi nombre es JENNY MORENO A y este curso me parecio Excelente curso aprendí muchísimo la Docente es muy preparada Muchísimas gracias es la primera vez que tomo un curso de este idioma por que la verdad estaba demasiado prevenida por que creía que era muy difícil este curso la verdad ha cambiado mi visión hacia esta cultura me encanto a cambiado paradigmas y me permitió demostrarme a mi misma claro con la ayuda de la docente que si puedo muchísimas Gracias a Coursera a la Docente y a Pekin Universitity por esta gran oportunidad muy buena metodología,excelentes recursos y demasiado entendible muchas Gracias Dios mio no lo puedo creer en serio Muchas Gracias

As languages and foreing cultures lover who has taken more than one language course I can say that I really liked this one, I enioyed it so much that I finished it earlier than expected.

The way the information was introduced at every chapter, allowing you to move on and understand each and every word and concept was amazing,. The phonetic's lessons where very simplified and the teacher had the courtesy to repeat the words slowly, at the end it was not that hard. But do not take it for granted, inspite of the fact it is for beginners and the teacher goes step by step, it is quite challenging.

I highly reccommend this course, you will not regret taking it.

Hice este curso en paralelo a la clase de chino que estoy tomando actualmente y me sirvió para reforzar lo que ya sabía y aclarar dudas. Además de agregar una gran cantidad de vocabulario y adelantar unos pequeños conceptos.

Las explicaciones son claras y las lecciones van acumulando sobre las clases previas. El poder escuchar varias veces los tonos ayuda a fijarlos mejor. Los ejercicios sugeridos son muy útiles y es imprescindible realizarlos para fijar lo aprendido poco a poco.

Creo que lo único que le agregaría sería introducir los caracteres desde el inicio pero puedo entender que lo posterguen para el siguiente nivel.

Extremadamente recomendable.

As the week goes by towards the end of the lesson, everything is getting harder and messier for a non-native like me haha! But it's not meant in a bad way though and in fact, it's very enlightening to learn new words in a different language! The course really challenges us to put an extra mile by taking notes and to listen to the pronunciation carefully. I honestly confessed that I would not be able to recall more than 50% of the content that I've learnt throughout the weeks. The best way for us learner to be able to memorise highlighted points is to keep on reading the notes and speaking with others for the sake of practising. Thank you Prof! Xie Xie!

"Chinese for Beginners" is the best online resource I have found for learning a language. Professor Xiaoyu Liu's presentations are clear and easy to follow. Lectures build on content presented previously. The quizzes provide immediate feedback. The features that I found particularly helpful was the ability to pause after hearing a word, phrase, or sentence the professor said so I could repeat it several times before resuming the lecture. I also appreciated being able to repeat the quizzes as one way of reviewing the material. I hope that Peking University offers another online course for those who have completed "Chinese for Beginners."

I recently completed a Chinese language course, and it was an engaging experience. The course was well-structured, with lessons that built on each other, making the learning process smooth. The interactive teaching methods, such as role-playing and group discussions, made the classes lively and enjoyable. I appreciated the focus on cultural context, which added depth to the language lessons. While the advanced sessions were challenging at times, the instructor provided excellent support and additional resources. Overall, I feel much more confident in my Mandarin skills and would recommend this course to anyone looking to learn Chinese.

I totally enjoyed doing the course. It packs enough in 7 weeks and breaks it into seemingly easy modules. Of course it requires one to put in some practice to remember the intonations of the words, but grammar-wise the language seems quite light. Although no escape from paying attention to pinyin (Writing chinese in roman letters) as it helps remember how the words are to be said using correct tones.

The teacher, her approach and pace are perfect!

I have the feeling I have learnt well enough for a beginner and plan to keep up the practice. Particularly of writing pinyin- which will help me remember better.

Sinceramente no tenía experiencia previa en cursos online y me pareció bueno comenzar por algo distinto. Me sorprendí al ver lo bueno y sencillo que puede ser un buen curso en muchos aspectos.

Un curso excelente!! Una gran herramienta de introducción a este idioma, información fácil de comprender y técnicas de asociación que me ayudaron mucho a ubicar la idea en cada contexto y la pronunciación correcta. Tiene un avance progresivo, y es muy entretenido. Buen material de apoyo que anima a seguir estudiando!! Lo volvería a hacer si fuera necesario. Muchas gracias por esta oportunidad

Coursera Chinese for beginners is an outstanding language course. I like everything about it. Xiaoyu Liu is an excellent teacher. She doesn't brush over any details and she pronounces all the new words so well that it becomes easier and easier to learn the best way to speak clearly. I highly recommend this language program to anyone who really wants to learn and study the Chinese language and anyone who likes to learn at a steady and consistent pace from their computer at home. Thank you Xiaoyu Liu and thank you Coursera for all the wonderful things I've learned here!

Maravilloso me ha servido mucho. Para la pronunciación y la comprensión del idioma. Para aprender frases básicas y me ha ayudado mucho para ir atreviéndome a mejorar y avanzar más. Por lo menos si llego a viajar a China no moriré de hambre, podré llegar al hotel y también tomar un taxi. La verdad para mí este curso ha sido fantástico. Empecé con mucho susto, creía que iba a ser difícil, sin embargo me hizo enamorarme del idioma junto con el curso de Chinese Charcters for Beginner.

Muchas gracias por la posibilidad que me dieron de aprender a través de estos cursos on line.

Learning Chinese on my own is definitely possible, but it depends on what I mean by “on my own.” If, for me, this means “without a formal teacher/tutor,” then yes, it's more difficult but still reasonable. If “learning Chinese on my own” means “without any Chinese friends,” then it's very unlikely

I have learn a lot about , China probably has plenty of people who could do whatever you can do, but that doesn't mean it's not worth trying. Although Mandarin Chinese is still known as “the world's hardest language”, in reality, it's much simpler to learn than before.