
Chinese Language Centre (CLC) 漢語中心
Chinese Help Desk (Cantonese/ Mandarin)
漢語輔導平台(廣東話及普通話)
Academic Year 2023-24
The Chinese Language Centre (CLC) - Chinese Help Desk (CHD) provides UGC-funded students with a variety of services to help them develop their Chinese (Cantonese/Mandarin) language skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The CHD is a valuable opportunity for both local and international students to reinforce what they have learned in Chinese language courses, and to communicate with the teachers on various topics to improve their Chinese proficiency in the various skill areas.
Types of CLC CHD service:
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1:1 Consultation (Mandarin/ Cantonese)
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Mandarin
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Putonghua Enhancement (for local students)
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[Elementary level] Mandarin as a foreign language (for international students)
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[Intermediate level] Mandarin as a foreign language (for international students)
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[Advanced level] Mandarin as a foreign language (for international students)
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Cantonese
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Cantonese for Non-native Chinese Speaking Learners
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Cantonese for Mandarin Speaking Learners
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- Workshops Series (Mandarin/ Cantonese)
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Study Group[For students of Mandarin courses(CHIN9501-08)/Cantonese courses(CHIN9511-12)]
Application Form for Study Group
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Starting from Sep 19, you can begin booking CHD's service which will be available from Sep 25 - Nov 3, 2023
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The 1:1 consultation/ workshops/ study group will be provided by face-to-face mode only, online mode through ZOOM will not be provided
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Chinese Language Centre's CHD will provide consultation/workshops for Cantonese starting from Semester 1, 2023-24
General Information
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The teacher will inform you the venue after the confirmation email is sent to you. Please contact clcchd@hku.hk if you did not receive it before the consultation.
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Students may book total FIVE sessions (1:1 consultation/workshops) per week now with only THREE CHD-1:1 consultations at most, so students may book 5 sessions of workshops per week. Students who booked over three CHD 1:1 consultation will be cancelled
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Each CHD-1:1 consultation session lasts for 30 minutes (at the maximum) (25 mins consultation + 5 mins online survey)
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The Chinese Help Desk is operated by the University Grants Committee (UGC) funds, therefore CHD is available for students of HKU’s UGC-funded programmes only (undergraduate, research postgraduate (full-time MPhil/PhD) and government-funded taught masters). If you are a student of a self-financed Taught Postgraduate Programmes, CHD is not able to serve you and your booking will be cancelled
Online Booking System (for 1:1 consultation or workshop)
Rooms (1:1 consultation/workshop) (Only for booked consultation/workshop)
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MB104, 1/F, Main Building
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MB104A, 1/F, Main Building
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MB105A, 1/F, Main Building

Chinese Language Centre's CHD Themed Workshops (all workshops will be delivered by face-to-face mode):
A workshop requires minimum numbers of 3 participants and we will cancel a workshop due to low bookings
The Chinese script workshops for beginners
Date and Time:
Session 1: Sep 28 (Thu) 3:00-4:00pm/4:00-5:00pm
Session 2: Oct 5 (Thu) 3:00-4:00pm/4:00-5:00pm
Session 3: Oct 12 (Thu) 3:00-4:00pm/4:00-5:00pm
Session 4: Oct 18 (Wed) 3:00-4:00pm/4:00-5:00pm
Session 5: Oct 26 (Thu) 3:00-4:00pm/4:00-5:00pm
Host Teacher: Ms. Chen Jia
Target Students: Beginners and elementary level students; Students of CHIN9501 and CHIN9502 or equivalent level
Learning Outcome(s):
In the workshops, we will figure out why Chinese characters look the way they do, and how a Chinese character has been put together. We will practice recognizing and writing them as well. (The Chinese characters in the workshop are based on the CHIN9501 course.)
Chinese traditional musical instrument
Date and Time: Oct 26 (Thu) 4:00-5:00pm
Host Teacher: Ms. Yang Yuying
Target Students: Students with basic Chinese listening and speaking ability
Learning Outcome(s): Understanding of musical instruments featured in traditional Chinese culture and understanding of Chinese classical music
Survival Chinese I - Pinyin/ greeting expressions
Date and Time: Oct 31 (Tue)/ Nov 1 (Wed)/ Nov 2 (Thu) 5:00-6:00pm
Host Teacher: Ms. Xu Zhuoran
Target Students: Students who do not take mandarin courses at school but would like to gain more exposure to the language; Students who hope to do more exercise on pronunciation and mandarin Pinyin system
Learning Outcome(s): To know what Pinyin is and be able to pronounce the alphabets in Pinyin system; To know some frequently used greeting expressions in daily life
Survival Chinese II - Demonstrative pronouns
Date and Time: Nov 14 (Tue)/Nov 15 (Wed)/ Nov 16 (Thu) 5:00-6:00pm
Host Teacher: Ms. Xu Zhuoran
Target Students: Students who do not take mandarin courses at school but would like to gain more exposure to Chinese language; Beginners who hope to improve their mandarin pronunciation
Learning Outcome(s): To know how to use demonstrative pronouns (this, that) in Chinese; To know some frequently used expressions in daily life
36 characters: Basic Characters in Chinese
Date and Time: Nov 16 (Thu) 4:00-5:00pm
Host Teacher: Ms. Yang Yuying
Target Students: Students with basic Chinese listening, reading and speaking ability
Learning Outcome(s): Understand and learn 36 basic Chinese character and improve your basic vocabulary
Introduction to Cantonese Romanization system (Jyutping)
Date and Time:
Session 1: Nov 7 (Tue) 5:30-6:30pm
Session 2: Nov 14 (Tue) 5:30-6:30pm
(The content of Session 1 & 2 is different)
Host Teacher: Mr. Roy Yu
Target Students: Beginners (for Mandarin speakers)
Learning Outcome(s): Basic concept of Jyutping
Survival Cantonese (Daily Conversation Practice)
Date and Time:
Session 1: Nov 10 (Fri) 3:30-4:30pm (for Mandarin speakers)
Session 2: Nov 17 (Fri) 3:30-4:30pm (for Foreign Language speakers)
Target Student: Beginners
Host Teacher: Mr. Roy Yu
Learning Outcome(s): Improve daily conversation
Mandarin Sentence and Cantonese Sentence
Date and Time: Nov 28 (Tue) 3:30-4:30pm
Host Teacher: Mr. Roy Yu
Target Students: Beginners or above (for Mandarin speakers)
Learning Outcome(s): Improve knowledge about Cantonese Grammar
Points to Note:
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You must use your OWN University ID to book the CHD 1:1 service. You will be asked to show your ID when you attend consultations. No consultation will be delivered in cases where the HKU ID of the person attending does not match the UID under which the consultation was booked.
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Feedback will not be given to students who fail to attend their booked consultation.
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You must make your reservation at least one working day (Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays) before the consultation
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Please send documents you would like to discuss during the consultation, if any, to the consultation teacher at least one working day (Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays) prior to your scheduled consultation.
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Please be reminded to select the appropriate advisor or peer-consultant. Our advisor and peer-consultant are exclusive for tutoring of either Cantonese or Putonghua
Cancelling the consultation:
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If you would like to cancel the booking for 1:1 consultation, please inform the consultation teacher or Chinese Language Centre (clcchd@hku.hk) at least 24 hours before your consultation by email.
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If you would like to cancel the booking for group session/ workshop, please inform the Chinese Language Centre (clcchd@hku.hk) at least 24 hours before the workshop.
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If you fail to cancel the timeslot at least 24 hours before your consultation, and you do not attend the consultation, then you will be recorded as absent. If you are absent from two CHD sessions without a valid, documented reason (e.g., illness), you will not be able to book for any consultations, and any future sessions you have already booked will be cancelled.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact clcchd@hku.hk
Meet Our Team



Ms. Jia Chen
Advisor
(Mandarin)

Mr. Roy Yu
Peer Consultant
(Cantonese)
Ms. Zhuoran Xu
Peer Consultant
(Mandarin)
