I'm an entering 1st year medical student at Mac. I am interested in learning Mandarin and have a background in it as I speak a mixture of mandarin and english at home. My spoken mandarin is good enough to get by while travelling and I have a native accent. but my reading and writing are probably worse around a HSK1 or 2 level.

Ideally I would like to become fluent in Mandarin. I'm not sure if I can take undergraduate level Mandarin courses at Mac as a medical student, what other ways are there to learn Mandarin? I know the Confucius institute was shut down a few years ago so that isn't an option anymore.

Take a mandarin course?

McMaster Elective Course for 1st Year Students

CHINESE 1Z06 A/B - Mandarin Chinese for Beginners

6 unit(s)
An intensive beginner’s course in modern standard (Mandarin) Chinese designed for students with no prior knowledge of the language. The focus is on developing proficiency in the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. In addition to general knowledge about China and Chinese culture, students will be exposed to some basic Chinese script.
Four hours; two terms
Not open to native speakers of Chinese.

Alternative search for options around Hamilton using the internet or find a website online that will teach you what you need to know for free.

Youtube

get an Asian chick. that's how i learned french.

You're right. The Confucius Institute was shut down a few years ago. The reasons were a bit convoluted, but the result is that we now have very little formal instruction available in Mandarin at McMaster. There are informal ways to learn Mandarin elsewhere, but you would probably like to get academic credit. My suggestion is to investigate the University of Toronto. See what's available in the summer. Something might fit in.

Originally Posted by First

but my reading and writing are probably worse around a HSK1 or 2 level.

Facebook can help you with this. I had a similar problem and i joined a facebook page that speaks that language. Initially, I struggled a lot trying to read and understand, but eventually I picked up my reading skills and now I'm very good at it. Once you develop good reading skills you will be able to write and generate your own ideas.
It takes time so you have to be patient.

Thanks for the responses everyone, i'm looking for a course/tutor or something more formal just to keep me motivated because I tend to very easily lose track/get distracted. From what i've heard I probably will just stick to something less formal since any UG classes may interfere with my classes at school.

Its so unfortunate the confucius institute is gone, probably would've been a good place to learn.

Chinese 1Z06 is listed for Fall and Winter 2015-16. It's introductory Mandarin for non-Chinese speakers. It is listed for Monday nights, 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. I tried to register for it through Mosaic, but was blocked. Not exactly sure why, but I'm fairly sure that situation will not remain a hurdle. I understand that the Confucius Institutes are really a slightly-disguised arm of the Chinese government. That might explain some of the funny things that happened that got them kicked out of McMaster. Some other universities are apparently willing to put their principles aside in order to accept what appears, on the surface, to be a gift.

The Confucius institute was eliminated because of someone who complained that she wasn't hired or fired because she was Falun Gong. The thing is, she may have been or she not have been since some people use that to get refugee status in Canada.

Whether or not its true though i'm not interested in the politics, i just want somewhere to learn mandarin. If Mac took down the confucius institute they should try and fund some more chinese classes as i'm sure there is interest.

Any agency wanting to operate here need to respect Ontario labour laws, especially at a university where scrutiny is more intense and informed. Whatever the infraction was, I am not privy to. However it must have been serious enough to outbalance an ongoing gift of language and civilization classes. As it is, McMaster's Linguistics and Languages department has difficulty providing various language courses to satisfy the requirements of its own programme. Mandarin is a special case, because I believe there is an appreciable number of students of Chinese background on campus who would be interested. However, it needs to be recognized that an introductory course for non-Chinese speakers would be different from an advanced course for those with prior reading knowledge of Mandarin or other Chinese languages. We have a course in literary Chinese in the Religious Studies department, but the pre-requisite is two years of modern Chinese. Yes, some more courses in Mandarin would be quite welcome.