CCN courses aim at everyone who wants to learn Chinese in a fast and practical manner, to speak and to read. We offer Chinese courses at all levels, given by highly qualified and experienced Chinese teachers. Our school semesters start each year in September and February in Utrecht, Amsterdam, Amersfoort, and Almere. You will learn the basics of Mandarin, a.k.a. Peking-Chinese. This is the language which is also taught in Chinese schools. In our courses, you will learn not only to speak and to understand everyday Chinese, but you will also learn to recognize 300-1000 Chinese characters; a skill, essential for reading headlines, shop windows, Internet pages, and even short letters. Chinese is a tone or assonance language. In practice, this means that the same word can have up to five totally different meanings if you pronounce it with another tone. In our courses, extra attention will be given to pronunciation training, so that you will recognize the tones, and be able to pronounce them yourself. Beyond the lesson hours in school, you can exercise your listening and speech skills with books and CDs in a very effective, easy and pleasant fashion. We ensure the highest quality. At the end of your study period, the CCN can provide you with a Record of Study. This document is available in English and Chinese, reflects your studied hours at the CCN, the used study materialsm, and your grades.