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HAY RIVER - Chinese is not as difficult a language to learn as some people may think.

That's according to Albert Guo, who is currently offering Chinese classes in Hay River.

Anyone interested in learning to speak Chinese should not be scared away by thinking it would be too tough to learn, he said. "It is not as hard as they imagine."

Guo, who works as a special needs assistant at Diamond Jenness secondary school (DJSS), said no one specifically asked him to offer the classes.

"But some people said to me they are interested in the language," he added.

So he began offering the classes earlier this month.

"My goal is to provide the opportunity for people to learn a wonderful language," he said.

The two-hour classes are held on Saturday afternoons and Wednesday evenings at the offices of the Association Franco-Culturelle de Hay River. They will run until Dec. 3, for a total of 22 hours. Seven people attend the classes.

None of the students had any knowledge at all of the Chinese language when they started.

Elizabeth Scheper is taking the course with her 15-year-old son.

"It's hard work, but it's a lot of fun," she said.

Scheper said she can say hello in Chinese, introduce herself, ask how someone else is doing and say some other basic phrases, along with counting to 10. She can also write some Chinese characters

"I think Chinese is a language you have to study for more than a few weeks," she said, although she added Guo is offering a great introduction.

Jan McNeely, another member of the class, said she has never before studied Chinese.

McNeely, a special needs assistant at DJSS, said one reason she is taking the classes is to "make new connections in the brain."

She also said she will be going to China in April with members of the school's travel club.

"I thought it would be nice to learn a few words," she said.

While she said she is having a difficult time learning the different sounds of Chinese, McNeely said, "I'm totally enjoying it."

Guo is introducing the students to all aspects of the Mandarin form of the Chinese language, including basic characters, word structure, pronunciation and grammar.

"You can't expect in a short time for students to learn many, many things," he said.

However, he said in one recent class a student spoke 20 sentences in Chinese.

Guo explained Chinese is an ideograph-based language, meaning it uses symbols, and the shapes of the symbols offer a lot of clues to their meanings.

The 46-year-old, who is from the city of Kunming in southwestern China, knows all about learning another language - English.

"Before I came to Canada, I think I could speak maybe 300 sentences," he said, adding that, while he has good reading and writing skills in English, speaking and comprehension are still a challenge.

Guo, who taught math and computer science at a university in his homeland, arrived in Canada in late 2006 with his teenage son.

They first lived in Calgary before moving to Hay River in October of last year.

After the classes are completed, Guo said he hopes to get the students together in informal settings so they can continue to learn Chinese.

Guo said it is possible he may offer more classes sometime in the future. "It depends on how many people are interested and if I have the time."