The Mandarin Department

Welcome to the Mandarin Department of the h2g2 Language Thing! If you've arrived here from outside the Language Thing, click the banner at the top for more details on what we do and how to join.

The h2g2 Language Thing - Mandarin Department
	Learning Researcher	Speaking Researcher	Teaching Researcher
elwyn_centauri	-

Learning Mandarin

The current Head of this Department is as usual noone. A Head of Department is someone who can speak and understand a language to a certain degree, so that people with a language problem can ask for help. If you'd really like to learn Mandarin, ask in the Department Office below. Teaching at the Language Thing is designed to be as different from a formal teaching regime as possible! If there are specific things you'd like to learn, discuss this with the Head of Department, and this can be arranged.

Practising and Speaking Mandarin

If you feel you are ready to speak Mandarin with other people, go for it! Join the Mandarin Speaking Thread below, and get chatting! Please remember that, in accordance with the House Rules, Postings written entirely in other languages may be removed:

Postings or entries containing languages other than English may be removed. Because we have to ensure we understand a Posting or Guide Entry before we can pass it, languages other than English may have to be removed. It's also polite when posting to a Conversation to stick to the same language as the other Postings in that Conversation; posting something in a different language halfway through is not very constructive. -h2g2 House Rules.

We have discussed this issue with the Editors, and agreed to ensure that all Researchers speaking on the Language Thing post an English translation of everything they say in the same post. To ensure that the Language Thing stays in the favour of the Editors, and for the benefit of all of our speakers, please provide a translation with your postings. We also ask speakers to press the 'Yikes!' button for any offensive posts, or posts with a misleading translation. In this way, we hope to be able to self-regulate so that the Language Thing will remain a useful resource for as long as possible. Thank you.

Teaching Mandarin

If you can speak Mandarin, and would like to help others learn, good on you! Post a note in the Department Office below, and you will be added to the list of Teaching Researchers. The more Teaching Researchers there are of any language, the more they can concentrate on helping individuals to learn; and that's what the Language Thing is all about .

Summary for those who can't be bothered reading everything above

The first thing to do is decide which level you are at: are you a complete beginner? Can you get by with the basics of the language? Are you prepared to help other people learn Mandarin? Next, leave your name in the Please register here! thread. That way you can be added to the table. Then, if you're a beginner, ask for some help in the Department Office. If you're a comfortable speaker, settle into the Mandarin Speaking Thread. If you want to help teach as well, make sure the Head of Department is aware, and you will be allocated people to work with as they present themselves .

One last thing - happy speaking!