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Sydney is the best place in Australia to get immersed in Chinese culture, as it has the largest Chinese community in the country. According to the 2016 census, there are 487,972 people in the Greater Sydney area that have Chinese ancestry, so it’s hardly a surprise that Mandarin and Cantonese are the first and third most commonly used languages in the city after English. This makes the city a unique place for learners who want to get to know the fascinating Chinese language and culture since it has many suburbs like Carlingford, Ultimo, Burwood and Hurstville with high concentrations of Chinese residents. In fact, if you visit Haymarket, a local suburb that’s home to the city’s Chinatown, you find many shops, restaurants, bars and institutions owned by Chinese people where you can learn about Chinese traditions and customs as well as enjoy their delicious food. In short, if you choose to learn Mandarin or Cantonese in the city, you’ll find many opportunities to socialize with natives, as well as explore this ancient culture and expand your horizons.
If you want to advance your career in Sydney, learning Chinese is a great idea, as being able to communicate with the largest group of foreign-born residents will allow you to build professional relationships that can make the difference no matter what it is you do. If you have a business, speaking Chinese can help you connect with potential employees and business partners or expand your local clientele. On the other hand, if you want to work in one of Sydney’s top industries like financial services or some of the big information media and telecommunications companies, having Chinese in your CV will make you stand out in the city’s highly competitive job market. What’s more, it will grant you access to great positions that require you to be bilingual like Mandarin-speaking Administration Assistant for Oriental Merchant Group, Project Manager for Deluxe Australia and Bilingual Social Media Marketing Coordinator for EB Recruitment.
The best way to start the year in Sydney is to attend the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration. This is one of the largest celebrations of this kind outside China, and it offers local residents the opportunity to take part in many different events that celebrate the Chinese culture. If you visit the local Chinatown during February, you’ll be able to enjoy a stunning installation of lanterns, as well as encounter the 12 animal signs of the Chinese zodiac that are placed in different parts of the Haymarket neighbourhood. If you have kids, you can’t miss the yearly event in Lane Cove Plaza located at Burns Bay Road where there will be creative workshops, kids activities and spectacular live performances for the whole family. Lastly, every year there’s an art installation at Chatswood Concourse, located at 409 Victoria Ave, as well as many food stalls with delicious traditional Chinese food that you can try and even a comedy show with great comedians that belong to the local Chinese community.
Another way to deepen your knowledge of the Chinese culture in the city is to visit the MOCA or Museum of Chinese in Australia. Located at 744 George Street, this museum is dedicated to researching, preserving, and sharing the history, cultural legacy and continued contributions of Chinese Australians. At this museum, you’ll find beautiful old photographs and get to read the captivating stories of Chinese immigrants in the city that will make you feel closer to the community and help you understand some of the struggles they went through.
In addition to visiting the local Chinese restaurants and stores, the best way to meet natives in the city is to attend a language exchange event. If you want to meet Chinese speakers who enjoy reading, then you can’t miss the events organized by Sydney Chinese Bookworms. These events are perfect for those who can already communicate in Mandarin and want to have conversations about the book they’re reading with other like-minded individuals. These meetings take place monthly at Darling Square Library, located at 1 Little Pier Street, near the local Chinatown, and if you want to attend you have to register. After you do that, you only have to show up and bring a book you’re currently reading to discuss it with other members of the group.
At the same library where the Sydney Chinese Bookworms meetings take place, you’ll find a great collection of music in Cantonese and Mandarin that can really help expand your vocabulary and get to know a bit more about the Chinese culture. If you like pop music, you should check out Happiness by Eason Chan, one of the most well-known male singers in Hong Kong and Song of Transcience by Cheer Chen, a famous guitarist and pianist from Taiwan that has a beautiful voice and is known for her lovely acoustic songs. Additionally, you’ll find useful resources that can be really helpful if you’re just beginning to study the language, such as Essential Mandarin Chinese phrasebook by Catherine Dai and Elementary Mandarin Chinese: the complete language course for beginning learners by Cornelius Kubler. However, using these course books alone won’t get you too far. If you truly want to become a fluent Mandarin or Cantonese speaker, your best option is to start a Chinese course at Listen & Learn. If you send us a quick enquiry today, one of our team members will pair you up with an excellent native tutor who will create a completely personalised course just for you. Best of all, you won’t have to endure boring classes, as all of your lessons will be based on your interests and tailored to meet every single requirement you might have.
Mandarin Chinese lessons of this type are broader and are aimed towards students with a variety of requirements. While all beginner level students will cover survival Mandarin Chinese—needed for short visits to countries where English isn't widely spoken, or if you wish to 'go local'—those studying Mandarin Chinese usually go in different directions at this point, depending on what they need. Those who have benefited from these Mandarin Chinese classes have been those investing in or buying property overseas, those married to overseas nationals, people setting off on a round-the-world trip, enthusiasts for Mandarin Chinese culture and those hoping to pass a specific exam in Mandarin Chinese. Enquire now about our Mandarin Chinese Courses or Take A Free Mandarin Chinese Level Test
These Mandarin Chinese Lessons are intended for people who really need to learn Mandarin Chinese to help make that difference in their work. For beginners, it will be useful to learn greetings and basic business etiquette; at higher levels, reading and then writing become more important. Typical students include those involved in import/export, international negotiations and acquisitions, jobseekers in multinational companies where an additional language is required, and those working with international colleagues, academia and government. Even in our most basic lesson for Beginners, students should expect to end the lesson with basic telephone Mandarin Chinese and Mandarin Chinese e-mail skills for communication as well as survival Mandarin Chinese required for short visits to a country. Enquire now about our Mandarin Chinese Courses or Take A Free Mandarin Chinese Level Test
The Mandarin Chinese lessons are also available for 2 or more people studying together (Two-to-One Mandarin Chinese Lessons or Small Group In-Company Mandarin Chinese Lessons). All participants must have the same level, the same business or general language needs and be able to study at the same time in the same location. The booking must be made for all participants at the same time. Listen & Learn does not recommend group classes of more than 6-8 people though In-Company Taster Mandarin Chinese Lessons can be run with up to 12 people. Enquire now about our Mandarin Chinese Courses or Take A Free Mandarin Chinese Level Test
Our native speaker qualified Mandarin Chinese language teachers can train you and your colleagues at your office or home at a time to suit you. Classes can be any day of the week (even weekends) in the morning, afternoon or evening. In certain circumstances, if your home or office is not available, you can take your classes at the trainer's office. Course books are provided. Enquire now about our Mandarin Chinese Courses or Take A Free Mandarin Chinese Level Test
The Mandarin Chinese lessons are also available for two or more people studying together (Two-to-One Mandarin Chinese Lessons or Small Group In-Company Mandarin Chinese Lessons). All participants must have the same level, the same business or general language needs and be able to study at the same time in the same location. The booking must be made for all participants at the same time. Listen & Learn does not recommend group classes of more than 6-8 people though In-Company Taster Mandarin Chinese Lessons can be run with up to 12 people. Enquire now about our Mandarin Chinese Courses or Take A Free Mandarin Chinese Level Test
Teresa Teng was a very popular artist in the 1970s and her music is still played today throughout China, especially in karaoke bars. This is a very catchy, romantic song where the poetic persona describes the moon and its qualities, while comparing it to her loving heart. Listening to this song will help you understand cultural aspects of the language (such as the importance of Chinese New Year), which is essential to become truly fluent in Mandarin. Why not try to sing out loud and practise your pronunciation while having fun?
Listen and susbcribe here!If you are a fan of rap and are studying Mandarin Chinese at the moment, you can combine your passions to learn new vocabulary and grammar! For example, “Hide the Band” is a song about the music world and how bands struggle to become successful, so it is a great track to get acquainted with vocabulary about music, such as singer (Gēshou), agent (Dàili rén) and microphone (Màikèfeng). The song is fast-paced and includes a lot of slang and colloquial pronunciations, so it might be best for advanced students who are already used to Chinese intonation.
Listen and susbcribe here!Are you looking for a song to increase your Mandarin ability while learning more about Chinese beliefs and traditions? Then, you should not miss “The Drunken Beauty” by Li Yu Gang. This piece tells the story of a man and a woman who meet at a party and instantly fall in love with each other. You will find plenty of descriptive adjectives, as each poetic persona describes what they like in the other person. It does not include any complicated grammar structures or extravagant vocabulary, so you will be able to understand the song, even if you are just a beginner!
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Chinese Skill tries to cover every aspect of language learning in just one app. The activities it proposes are engaging and fun, so you can learn vocabulary, pronunciation, and other aspects of Mandarin in a meaningful way. Instead of being categorised by vocabulary items, the app’s mini-lessons are organised by level. So, if you are a beginner, you will start with the Chinese characters, an introduction to grammar rules and basic, everyday vocabulary. It also includes lessons for intermediate and advanced students, so you can take advantage of this app regardless of your proficiency.
Discover the app and practise!Podcasts are great materials with which you can develop your listening skills in a foreign language, such as Mandarin Chinese. With Chinese Pod, you will find more than a hundred podcasts organised by level or theme, so you will surely find something interesting and relevant to you and your interests. The best part is that most podcasts include a transcript in both Chinese and English, so they are suitable for everyone, even absolute beginners.
Discover the app and practise!Have you ever needed an offline Mandarin Chinese dictionary and couldn’t find one? Pleco is what you are after. This is a great app that will provide you with definitions of the words you look up, while its premium version includes a handwriting recognizer which uses the phone’s camera to quickly translate written or printed words. And you can even use it to test your own writing accuracy. Plus, each term stored in the app is accompanied by an audio recording, so you learn how to pronounce them correctly, as well.
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