The federally funded Piedmont International Business Program of Lynchburg College has begun offering conversational Mandarin Chinese for people whose business activities bring them into contact with Chinese speakers. The course has three phases: an 8-week fall session with an enrollment of 11 students; two 8-week sessions offered in winter and spring with enrollments of three and four, respectively; and the class offered the next academic year with two 12-week sessions with an enrollment of three students from the previous year. Expectations of student achievement were adjusted downward as the program developed, with the classes largely paced by the students. This flexible approach to studying language is found to have merit for some people in the business world, although the unique problems of teaching this constituency are also found to require a unique approach on the teacher's part. (MSE)