Mandarin Chinese Lessons in Brisbane

The Chinese community is one of the biggest foreign-born groups in Brisbane. The history of Chinese immigration goes as far back as the 1860s when the first Chinese miners came to the city. However, it was in the 1970s, when the government relaxed the immigration restrictions, that the city welcomed the biggest numbers of Chinese immigrants who brought their culture, customs and traditions to Brisbane. Nowadays, the Chinese influence can be felt in many parts of the city, but especially in Sunnybank and Sunnybank Hills area, colloquially known as Brisbane’s Chinatown. On top of that, you’ll probably hear many residents speaking Mandarin Chinese, as it’s the most commonly used language in the city after English, with an estimated 52,939 speakers according to the 2016 census.

As you can imagine, if you choose to learn such a widespread language in the city, the way you experience Brisbane will change for the better. Whether you’re looking to become more employable or you want to build friendships with members of the Chinese community, learning their fascinating language is one of the best things you can do for yourself!

Learn Mandarin Chinese for Work and Travel

Chinese is a valuable skill to have in any career. As the language with the most native speakers in the world, it’s one of the most sought-after languages by most companies, who are always looking for bilingual applicants that can help them attract potential clients in the Chinese market and improve their business relationships with big Chinese multinationals. In Brisbane, there are many job positions that are exclusive for Chinese speakers like Client Service Associate for Morgan Stanley, Customer Sales Support for Mercury Glass and Facilities Operations Specialist for Cushman.

Learning Chinese can also help you expand your business in the city, as you’ll be able to meet potential clients, employers or employees within the big Chinese local community. What’s more, by connecting to some of these people, you may be able to find job opportunities in Asia, and even move to some of the Chinese-speaking countries like Taiwan, Singapore and Macau.

Learn Mandarin Chinese for Social

If you want to immerse yourself in Chinese and other Asian cultures, you can’t miss the BrisAsia Festival in February. This amazing festival promotes Asian art, culture and cuisine across more than 50 events every year, including live performances, all sorts of workshops and talks that showcase members of these local communities. Among the festival’s highlights, The Laneway Tea Festival offers a great chance to try different teas from China and other parts of the world, as well as enjoy free classes, tea readings and fun games where you can win all sorts of prizes. Another great event that is part of the festival is BrisAsia Love Songs, a lovely way to celebrate Valentine’s day in the city at the magical Brisbane Botanical Gardens, where you and your significant other can listen to wonderful Asian songs in their original language and discover talented singers and bands. Lastly, if you love fashion and want the chance to meet some of the best Chinese designers in the area, the BrisAsia Fashion event is just what you’re looking for. This event takes place at the Fortitude Music Hall, located at 312 Brunswick Street, and it features more than twenty designers from Asian and Indigenous communities that celebrate their heritage through fashion.

Learn Mandarin Chinese for Culture

In Brisbane, you’ll find many events where you can meet native Chinese speakers that can help you take your skills to the next level. One of them is the language exchange event organized by Brisbane Chinese / English language and cultural exchange at the 3 Monkeys Coffee and Tea house, located at 58 Mollison Street. Here you’ll be able to make new friends over coffee as well as have conversations in Chinese in a casual and relaxed atmosphere. The event is completely free, but it is recommended that you buy something to eat or drink to support the cafe.

Another great way to meet new people interested in the Chinese culture is to attend the Chinese Food event held by Brisbane Foodies, a local group of food lovers that meets regularly to explore the cuisine of different cultures. In this event, you’ll be able to taste some of the most delicious traditional Chinese food at the Super Bowl Chinese Restaurant, located at 185 Wickham St.

Where to learn Mandarin Chinese in and around Brisbane?

Language learners in Brisbane can’t miss the amazing resources available at the Brisbane City Council Library, located at 266 George Street, which has one of the biggest language collections in the area. If you’re a Chinese learner, you should check out their e-book collection on their website which has many art, science and travel magazines that are great to expand your vocabulary. On top of that, if you visit one of the many library branches you can find around the city, you’ll find classic novels like The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens translated into Mandarin Chinese, which is great for advanced learners who are skilled enough to read in Mandarin and want to analyse and compare the English and Chinese versions of this classic novels.

However, as useful as these learning materials are, the best way to learn a challenging language like Chinese is with the help of a teacher. Fortunately, here at Listen & Learn we have the best native Chinese teachers that can help you develop your skills by creating a completely personalised language course just for you. All you have to do to start your journey to becoming multilingual is send us a quick enquiry now and one of our team members will get in contact with you within the next 24 hours to answer all of your questions.