Chinese Grammar “先……然后”

我要先在这儿学习半年，然后在中国工作。（wo yao xian zai zhe er xue xi ban nian, ran hou zai zhong guo gong zuo.）

In Chinese, the adverb “先” is often used before the adverb “然后”, to indicate the sequence of two events. The frist clause expresses the action that has been done first or the event that has taken place first. The second clause expresses the action that has been done or the event that has taken place after it, e.g:

昨天我们先去参观了天安门，然后又去了故宫。

我们先去喝咖啡，然后再回宿舍。