Curriculum

Foundation - (New Concept Chinese 1, five mini chapters including Lessons 1-10)

Introduces the fundamentals of the Chinese language including Pinyin, four tones, eight basic strokes, and elementary grammar. Each lesson will include basic reading, writing, listening and speaking exercises.

• Topics - greetings, nationalities, occupations, and favorites

• Objectives - pronouns, use of “to be”, simple sentence structure, interrogative words, Chinese last name and first name positions, and numbers 1-10

High Beginner - (New Concept Chinese 1, seven mini chapters including Lessons 11-40)

Builds upon the foundation begun in previous level and focuses on expanding students’ vocabularies and knowledge of phrases. Each lesson will focus on reading in Chinese characters with writing exercises accompanied with listening and speaking topics.

• Topics - family, looking for things, simple directions, compliments, Chinese holidays, Chinese food, transportation, travel, time, activities, descriptions, weather, and visiting a doctor

• Objectives - use of “to have”, particle words, month/date/week/year/seasons vocabulary, use of “how” and “what”, measure words, and numbers 11-100, adverbs, expressing and asking for opinions, reduplication of verbs, and prepositions

Intermediate - (New Concept Chinese 2)

To begin with this level, students must have completed the New Concept Chinese 1 book and/or have a solid foundation and understanding of the basics of the Chinese language. A stronger emphasis will be placed on speaking and building conversational skills from this level forward. Students will also continue to expand their knowledge of written Chinese characters and will be given assignments to improve their writing skills.

• Topics - travel, hotels, food and drinks, special skills, permission and forbiddance, direction of an action, watching movies, security check, contests, talking about studies, making comments

• Objectives - uses of the preposition “with”, uses of the verbs “want” and “can”, the adverb “still”, verbs indicating direction, uses of the interrogatives “what” & “where”, pivotal sentences, and comparisons (comparatives and superlatives)

Advanced - (New Concept Chinese 3)

Builds upon previous levels in regards to vocabulary expansion, oral comprehension improvement, and conversation practice. Upon completion of this level, students will be able to converse in everyday situations and would be able to communicate both effectively and comfortably if they were to travel to China. Students will also complete complex written assignments to reinforce character acquisition. Advanced reading materials such as short stories and news articles will be utilized to help students become more comfortable in their understanding of the written language. Video materials such as news clips and snippets from films will be used to help students become familiar with current topics and colloquial language.

• Topics - customs and habits, seeking employment, life and work experience, giving gifts, renting an apartment, holidays, and plans

• Objectives - describing similarities, verbs in the past tense, the use of “although---yet”, forming sentences with two objects, descript degree, the use of “If”, the use of “because----so”, passive sentence structure, and future tense structure

Beginner-Low Intermediate Mixed Convo - (no textbook needed)

This class is conducted mostly in Mandarin and is designed for students who are not yet fully comfortable speaking the language but would like to practice and improve. We especially encourage students who feel stronger in their reading and writing to join this class to work on their speaking skills. The class has a strong oral component but also aims to help students better understand certain grammar points, build their vocabularies, and learn some idiomatic phrases and slang. Audio and written materials such as magazine articles, short stories, and video segments will be used to prompt conversations. Students’ interests are taken into account and grammar topics will be addressed as needed. All resources will be either provided or suggested by the instructor.

High Intermediate-Advanced Mixed Convo - (no textbook needed)

This class is conducted entirely in Mandarin and is designed for students who are comfortable speaking the language but would like to practice their skills and continue to improve. We aim to help students increase the fluidity of their speech, expand their vocabularies, become more well-versed on various topics, refine their accents, learn idiomatic phrases and slang, etc. Students interested in joining this class should be proficient in high intermediate grammar at minimum and should be open to discussing a wide variety of topics with classmates. Audio and written materials such as magazine articles, novels, and short film segments will be used to prompt conversations. Students’ interests are taken into account and grammar topics will be addressed as needed. All resources will be either provided or suggested by the instructor.