Programme overview
Introduction:
Business Chinese for beginners with pinyin, tones, meetings and banquet etiquette is a 5-day course for procurement, sourcing, project, sales and coordination staff that ends with a Mandarin Meeting Phrasebook and an HSK Level 1 Self-Study Path. Organisations that buy from or build with Mandarin-speaking contractors and suppliers often depend on one interpreter, so greetings, prices, delivery dates and courtesies are lost or misread and relationships stay purely transactional. Nominees start with no Chinese at all and practise every phrase through daily role-play with tone feedback. CoreConcept Training Center delivers this business Chinese course.
Course Objectives:
- Pronounce Mandarin syllables from pinyin with the four tones, the neutral tone and the main tone change rules
- Greet partners, introduce oneself and address counterparts by surname and title in the correct order
- Exchange numbers, dates, times, prices and quantities when requesting quotations and confirming orders
- Handle taxi, hotel, restaurant, office visit and short meeting exchanges, and open and hold simple telephone calls
- Recognise common simplified characters on signs and business cards, and send short courteous messages and emails
- Apply Chinese business etiquette for card exchange, gifts, banquets and indirect negotiation signals while protecting face
Target Audience:
- Procurement and sourcing staff responsible for requesting quotations and following up orders with Mandarin-speaking suppliers
- Project and engineering staff responsible for coordinating site work and inspections with Mandarin-speaking contractors
- Sales and business development staff responsible for receiving delegations and maintaining partner relationships
- Coordinators and executive assistants responsible for arranging visits, travel, meetings and hospitality for Mandarin-speaking guests
- Quality and logistics staff responsible for factory visits, shipment checks and day-to-day supplier contact
Course Outline:
Day 1: Pinyin, the Four Tones and First Greetings
- Pinyin Initials and Finals Chart for Mandarin Sound Recognition
- Four Tone Marks and Neutral Tone Listening Discrimination Drills
- Third Tone Sandhi and Yi and Bu Tone Change Rules
- Ni Hao, Nin Hao and Xie Xie Courtesy Formulas
- Self-Introduction With Shi, Jiao and Question Particle Ma
Day 2: Numbers, Dates, Prices and Money
- Chinese Numbers to Ten Thousand With Wan Place Value
- One-Hand Number Gestures Six to Ten in Price Talks
- Year Month Day Date Order, Weekdays and Clock Times
- Kuai, Yuan and Duoshao Qian Price and Quotation Phrases
- Measure Words Ge, Jian and Xiang for Ordering Quantities
Day 3: Travel, Dining, Office Visits and Meeting Mandarin
- Taxi, Hotel Check-In and Airport Survival Phrase Set
- Restaurant Ordering Phrases With Dietary Restriction Requests
- Office and Factory Visit Vocabulary for Site Inspections
- Meeting Opening, Agenda Points and Agreement Phrases With Keyi
- Telephone Openers Wei and Qing Shao Deng for Holding Calls
Day 4: Messaging, Characters, Emails and Chinese Business Etiquette
- Instant Messaging Courtesy Phrases and Voice Note Conventions
- Simplified Characters on Signs, Exits, Lifts and Business Cards
- Short Email Template With Zunjing De Salutation and Sign-Off
- Title Plus Surname Address, Gift Giving and Card Exchange Protocol
- Guanxi, Mianzi and Indirect Refusal Signals in Negotiation
Day 5: Role-Play of a Supplier Meeting and Banquet Dinner
- Banquet Seating Order, Ganbei Toasting and Host Courtesy Rules
- Role-Play Supplier Meeting With Prices, Dates and Quantities
- Role-Play Banquet Dinner With Toasts, Ordering and Small Talk
- Recorded Tone Accuracy Review Against the HSK Level 1 Word List
- Mandarin Meeting Phrasebook and HSK Level 1 Study Path Completion
Skills You Will Gain:
- Mandarin Tone Pronunciation
- Pinyin Reading
- Number and Price Language in Mandarin
- Business Travel and Dining Mandarin
- Simplified Character Recognition
- Mandarin Telephone and Messaging Courtesy
- Chinese Business Etiquette
- Banquet Hosting and Toasting
Why Attend This Course:
- Deliver a Mandarin Meeting Phrasebook and HSK Level 1 Self-Study Path to the line manager or procurement lead as the basis for continued learning
- Judge when a supplier's indirect reply signals refusal and when to move a point to a later meeting or the banquet table
- Reduce misread prices, quantities and dates in quotations, and the loss of face that weakens supplier relationships
- Pass on number gestures, title forms and banquet toasting rules to colleagues who travel to partner sites
Conclusion:
Back at work, the participant gives the line manager or procurement lead the Mandarin Meeting Phrasebook and HSK Level 1 Self-Study Path, built around the unit's real suppliers, products and visit plans. The manager can use it to decide who greets delegations, who joins routine calls with contractors and who travels to partner sites without an interpreter for everyday exchanges. After the first visit or supplier call, the unit should review which phrases worked, which tones caused confusion and which study targets to set next.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
What do participants need before the business Chinese for beginners course?
No prior Chinese is needed. Participants should bring examples of supplier messages, quotation items and visit plans from their own work, so the phrasebook uses their real products and quantities. Installing a pinyin keyboard on a phone or laptop before the course helps with the messaging practice.
How does business Chinese for beginners differ from a general Mandarin course or an intermediate business Chinese course?
It teaches only the Mandarin a beginner needs at work: tones, greetings, numbers, prices, visits, meetings, calls, messages and etiquette. General Mandarin courses spread over everyday topics for months, while intermediate business Chinese courses assume character reading and run full negotiations in Mandarin.
Why do tones matter so much in business Chinese for beginners?
Tones change meaning: the same pinyin syllable said with a different tone becomes a different word, so a misheard tone can turn buy into sell. Accurate tones also signal respect and make Mandarin-speaking partners more willing to continue the conversation in their language.
What do participants take back from the business Chinese for beginners course?
Participants take back a Mandarin Meeting Phrasebook with greetings, number and price phrases, meeting and telephone openers, message templates and banquet toasts, plus a recorded tone review and an HSK Level 1 Self-Study Path setting daily practice targets after the course.