The Certificate Course in Chinese Language may be taken in the Putonghua stream or the Cantonese stream.  The courses are intended for those whose mother‑tongue is not Chinese.  They are taught by experienced teachers, who are native speakers of Chinese, and provide balanced training in listening, speaking, reading and writing in Chinese.  There are l5 hours per week of instruction in classes with a limited number of students.

Curriculum
The curriculum for the Certificate in Chinese Language extends over two years comprised of three terms each year. The First Examination is held at the end of the first year and the Certificate Examination is held at the end of the curriculum.
The curriculum for the Certificate in Chinese Language consists of the following:

 Putonghua Stream
 Year One
1.Listening Comprehension I
  Students are required to listen to simple dialogues in various situations to strengthen their ability to follow conversations on different topics carried out by native speakers.
  2.Spoken Chinese
 This course familiarizes students with pinyin romanization, pronunciation, tones, intonation, sentence patterns and situational conversations.
 3.Reading and Writing
  Students learn basic modern Chinese grammar, read and write about 1000 Chinese characters and some proverbs.  They are taught how to use Chinese dictionaries.
  4.Composition I
  Composition class starts in the third term.  Students write one composition each week and a special hour is allocated to commenting on their work.  Compositions start off at about 100 characters and gradually increase to 400 characters.
Year Two
1.Listening Comprehension II
  The objective of this course is to enhance each student’s listening ability.  By the end of the course, students will be able to understand conversations at normal speed carried out by native speakers.
   2.Topical Discussions
  Equipped with the basic oral language skills acquired during the first year, students are encouraged to engage in more complex dialogues on special topics.  These topics range from everyday subjects to Chinese history and economics.  Students must deliver short speeches on special topics in class.
3.Selected Reader
Vocabulary building is one of the main tasks in this course.  In addition to basic sentence structures, students will learn more than 700 words, about 180 phrases, up to 100 special nouns, 40 proverbs, synonyms and antonyms.
4.Newspaper Readings
Students are guided in reading local and China newspapers.  The aim of this course is to raise each student’s ability to read Chinese newspaper headlines and, eventually, articles in their entirety.
 5.Composition II
This course is designed to strengthen the student’s grasp of various styles of writing including narrative, argumentative, expressive and commentarial.  Students are asked to write a composition every other week.
       
Cantonese Stream
Year One
1.Listening Comprehension I
In this course, simple situational dialogues will help students expand their range of expressions and examine the problems that foreign learners commonly have in understanding Cantonese
2.Spoken Cantonese
This course aims at enhancing the student’s ability to cope with conversations in everyday situations.  The main activities include accurate pronunciation and tones, the practice of sentence patterns and drills in the Yale romanization system.
3.Written Chinese I
Students learn basic sentence patterns and grammar in modern standard Chinese.  About 1,000 commonly-used Chinese characters are introduced.  Students are taught how to use Chinese dictionaries. 
 4.Composition I
This course will be offered in the third term.  It helps students develop their ability to write simple paragraphs before moving on to 200-character essays.
Year Two
1.Listening Comprehension II
This course helps students understand different situational conversations, weather reports, news, advertisements and announcements from radio and television.
2.Topical Discussions
This course gives students further practice in sentence patterns and natural expressions, story telling, and enhances their communication skills.  Students engage in discussions on special topics ranging from social issues to beliefs and practices in Chinese culture.  Students are required to prepare and deliver short speeches in class on special topics.
3.Written Chinese II
This course helps students enrich their vocabulary through an intensive study of modern written texts and to master sentence structure and grammar of Chinese.
4.Newspaper Readings
This course equips students with the basic skills for reading local Chinese newspaper articles and enhances their reading comprehension.  Specialized terms for various news topics are introduced.
5.Composition II
This course provides training in writing well-structured essays and creative pieces as well as writing on practical subjects.  Students are guided in writing 400-character essays.