Mandarin language courses in Melbourne, Australia?

[Redeye]

Greetings to all forum members from a newbie.

A quick query -

I have no experience learning Mandarin, and limited experience with other (non-English) languages. I am resident in Melbourne - Australia and I am looking to start an introductory course in Mandarin. I am returning to university next year to pursue a degree (Politics/Chinese) and I would like to get an initial feel for the language.

There are several organizations in Melbourne offering different courses in Mandarin/Putonghua of different lengths, as well as private tuition. An introductory / general conversational course is the sort of level I am thinking about.

Can anyone suggest or recommend a particular course or organization within Melbourne? Has anyone studies here within a private course?

Yes, I realise the best way to study Mandarin is to go to China for 12 months, but we've all gotta start somewhere.

I'd appreciate any suggestions -

Cheers,

Redeye

[Panglei]

Hi,

I started my Chinese studies in Australia by taking part-time (4hrs a week -2hrs on 2 weeknights every week) at TAFE. It was a great introduction and the teachers were all well qualified native speakers. I'm not sure if these courses are available in Melbourne but it's worth a look. They focus on basic communication skills but also give a gentle introduction to characters.

Good luck

[nubix]

1. http://www.accschinese.com

2. http://www.redcrane.com.au/

I trained at ACCS (1) for 8 terms and found them to be excellent.

Red Crane (2) , I am told, is similar to ACCS.

Both offer Spring/Summer intro and intensive courses as well as their normal classes.

3. http://www.union.unimelb.edu.au/?shortcourses/10.html

I do not know anything about the Melbourne Uni courses

http://www.cae.edu.au/ search for Mandarin. As it is near the end of the year the courses are limited but CAE does offer a modest range of corses throughout the year (levels 1A-12B). I know a teacher from one of the CAE levels and I get the impressionthat the course is OK.

[atitarev]

Hi Tony (aka Nubix),

How are you? 好久不见！ You should mention the Chinese language meetups in Melbourne too. What happened to them, actually? I only get notifications for the paid meetups.

I am planning to on a Chinese course too, need to solve one problem first.