The foreign language courses offered by the School of Languages, Literacies and Translation can be taken by students as optional or compulsory courses or to fulfil the number of units required for graduation. Students are not allowed to register for more than one foreign language course per semester. They must complete at least two levels of a foreign language course before they are allowed to register for another foreign language course. However, students are not required to complete all four levels of a foreign language course. 

This is a course at the elementary level. Students are introduced to a vocabulary of about 200 words. They are taught forms of greeting and enquiry, the writing of Chinese characters, the pronunciation of characters in Hanyu Pinyin and the memorisation of texts. Students are also taught to construct sentences and to translate from Chinese into Bahasa Melayu and vice versa.

LAC200 - Chinese Language II

This is a continuation of LAC100. Students are introduced to a vocabulary of about 250 new words. They are taught the writing of Chinese characters, the pronunciation of characters in Hanyu Pinyin and also the complex form of Chinese characters. They will be exposed to the 214 radicals and learn that the change of radicals in a character leads to a change in the meaning of the character. They will also be taught to write moderately long (about 180 words) compositions, to memorise the texts used and to translate the texts and dialogues.

LAC300 - Chinese Language III

This course is an extension of level 200; it aims to consolidate learners’ command of Chinese grammatical structures and a vocabulary of about 275 Chinese words. Learners are taught dialogues with  various daily situations, as well as idioms and simple grammar in simple text. In addition, the learners are also taught to write compositions of about 200 words and translate short simple texts. Elements of Chinese culture related to literature will be introduced at this level. 

LAC400 - Chinese Language IV

This is an extension of level 300 and also the final course of the Chinese language course series. Learners are taught to converse, to give speeches, and to learn a vocabulary of about 325 words.  Learners are also exposed to authentic Chinese texts from magazines and newspapers, which include a variety of idioms and sayings to involve more complex grammar. In addition, learners are taught to write compositions of about 300 words and to translate more difficult texts. Simple cultural elements related to philosophy and classic literature are also introduced at this level.