Chinese 1 is designed for students with little or no prior experience in Mandarin. The course focuses on real-life communication, beginning with listening and speaking and gradually integrating reading and writing. Through a communicative approach built on high-frequency vocabulary and core language structures, students develop a strong foundation for continued study and long-term success. Student progress will be measured through performance-based tasks, rubric-guided assessments, and objective evaluations.
Chinese 2 and 2 Honors reinforces and expands upon the communicative skills established in Chinese I. Practical oral use of the language, as well as further development of listening and reading comprehension skills, are emphasized to promote a lifelong interest in the Chinese language and culture. Pedagogical and authentic materials are integrated to allow students to better grasp the Chinese language by introducing easy-to-control language items before moving on to the more difficult or complicated ones. Students will regularly use phonetic pinyin systems to type in Chinese characters on the computer. Progress in language acquisition will be assessed through a combination of rubric-specific, performance-based activities and objective evaluations.
Chinese 4 / 4 Honors builds on students’ prior knowledge with a strong focus on advancing real-world communication skills. The course introduces a wider range of authentic vocabulary and more complex grammatical structures, while emphasizing meaningful, real-life tasks that require students to share ideas, opinions, and perspectives on topics connected to their own experiences. Students will continue to use pinyin input to type Chinese characters for writing assignments.
Assessment is based on a balanced combination of performance-based activities—guided by clear rubrics—and objective evaluations, ensuring that students are evaluated on both their practical language use and overall language growth.
AP Chinese is designed to strengthen and refine students’ language proficiency while preparing them for the AP Chinese Language and Culture Exam in May 2026. Students will engage in extensive practice across all language skills—listening, speaking, reading, and writing—while also deepening their understanding of Chinese culture through a wide range of topics and presentations.
The course includes explicit instruction on test-taking strategies to help students successfully approach the different types of questions found on the AP exam. Assessments are conducted through a blend of rubric-based performance tasks and multiple-choice practice modeled after the AP exam format.
College Board’s AP Classroom serves as the primary instructional platform, supplemented by authentic listening and reading materials, as well as teacher-developed resources, to further strengthen comprehension, cultural knowledge, and overall proficiency.