Expand+Minimum entry requirements
5 Ordinary Level D3 in the Leaving Certificate, including Maths and English or Irish, QQI/FETAC Level 5 or equivalent.

Candidates who do not meet the above entry requirement may be admitted to the programme on the grou...

Hide-Minimum entry requirements
5 Ordinary Level D3 in the Leaving Certificate, including Maths and English or Irish, QQI/FETAC Level 5 or equivalent.

Candidates who do not meet the above entry requirement may be admitted to the programme on the grounds of mature years (Over 23 by 1st January in the proposed year of entry), if they have attained appropriate experience and attainment thresholds deemed equivalent. Such applicants will be subject to an interview process to ascertain the extent and appropriateness of prior non-accredited/accredited learning and associated communication/learning competencies. Where necessary further assessment with regard to learning and communication competencies may be required by the Learning Support Unit.

Expand+Is this the course for you?
The course will be off particular relevance to second level teachers as Mandarin is being introduced into schools for Junior Certificate and Transition Year. Speakers of Mandarin Chinese are therefore well positioned to p...

Hide-Is this the course for you?
The course will be off particular relevance to second level teachers as Mandarin is being introduced into schools for Junior Certificate and Transition Year. Speakers of Mandarin Chinese are therefore well positioned to pursue careers in teaching (note that it has also been proposed that Mandarin be included as a Leaving Certificate subject, meaning yet more teaching vacancies). In addition, having Mandarin Chinese language skills is also particularly worthwhile for entrepreneurs and business people seeking to begin business relationships in China and grow the export market.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module the learner will be able to:

Engage in simple conversation about personal circumstances and respond appropriately to oral questions or comments relating to family, surroundings and schedules.

Demonstrate comprehension of recorded sources in Mandarin by answering written questions on content in English. The graduate will be able to answer questions in Mandarin on content.

Differentiate and use the four tones.

Demonstrate basic comprehension of simple written texts in Mandarin. In addition, our graduates will be able to complete cloze tests and write simple sentences in Mandarin.

Demonstrate general knowledge of the People’s Republic of China PRC (i.e. demonstrate familiarity with aspects of Chinese culture, traditions, and business etiquette etc.).

Apply basic rules of grammar and demonstrate acquisition of core vocabulary through cloze tests and by writing sentences in pinyin and characters.

Demonstrate comprehension of short listening extracts in Mandarin.