As black ink flows from a brush, a Chinese character is formed, taking the shape of two rivers converging into one strong and boundless river. This is the Chinese character 永 (pinyin: yǒng) meaning eternal. It implies that the river is connected to the past yet stretches out into the future, much like how the Chinese language has carried on for millennia, with the earliest records of primitive Chinese characters found engraved on oracle bones dating back over 3,000 years ago. The language has survived the passage of time and has evolved into the rich and fascinating language it is today.

Those who wish to learn and understand Mandarin can now do so by applying for online lessons at the China Cultural Centre in Malta by simply sending an email to zhaofei831@gmail.com. The classes are being offered to students at different levels of proficiency and will begin in October.

The most challenging yet rewarding aspect of discovering the Chinese language is learning about the visually enchanting and beautiful Chinese characters or symbols, also known as hànzì. The Chinese language does not have an alphabet but instead is composed of a system of hànzì. Each hànzì represents a syllable, which may represent a word on its own or form part of a word containing more than one syllable. Radicals, which are the building blocks within a Chinese character, may reveal hints to the meaning behind the character and may suggest how it should be pronounced.

Another intriguing difference between the Chinese language and Romance languages is that it is a tonal language, meaning that the intonation or pitch of each Chinese character affects its meaning. If anyone reading this has the slightest blessing of a musical ear, you may have an advantage over adjusting to a tonal language at a faster pace. Surprisingly, Chinese grammar is free from complicated grammar, with no verb tenses, no plurals and no gender conjugation, unlike many European languages.

Once you succeed in speaking or reading a few sentences in Chinese, you will feel satisfied and elated, which in turn will encourage you to continue your journey towards fluency. Studying such an interesting and vast language will without doubt also lead you to discover the beauty and warmth of Chinese culture.

To many, China remains a mysterious and majestic country thousands of miles away. Will you give in to your curiosity and take the next step to learn more?

The China Cultural Centre will also be offering classes in the Erhu, also known as the Chinese violin, Chinese painting, the Chinese strategy board game called Chinese Go and martial arts.