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CHINESE 111-1 : Elementary Chinese (Elementary Chinese)

Description

This three-session sequence of beginning college level Chinese is designed for true beginners with no previous background in the language. This course is an introduction to Chinese, its basic grammar, pinyin system, vocabulary, usage, and the Chinese writing system. It also focuses on developing basic communicative skills and knowledge of the Chinese culture. There will be extensive student-oriented practice in pronunciation, conversations, listening comprehension, and sentence structures in class. Our goal is to lay the solid ground work for your study of Chinese whether you plan to have a concentration in Chinese or to satisfy a language requirement. Upon satisfactory completion of the course, students are expected to reach Novice-High level of the ACTFL proficiency guidelines. (http://actflproficiencyguidelines2012.org)

Registration Requirements: Except for Chinese 111-1, students must pass the preceding course with C- or above, or must be placed into the course by the departmental placement test.

Learning Objectives: By the end of the course, students will be able to: • Have a good command of the pronunciation system of Mandarin Chinese. • Have a good command of Chinese characters in both handwriting and typing. • Use Mandarin Chinese to carry out conversations on daily-life topics (e.g., food preference, hobbies and activities, shopping, visiting a doctor, Chinese culture and relationships. • Write short passages on the topics above. • Gain and demonstrate cultural knowledge discussed in the units.

Teaching Method: There will be extensive student-oriented practice in pronunciation, conversations, listening comprehension, and sentence structures in class. English will be used mainly for instruction on sentence structures and patterns. Interaction between instructor and among students will be in Chinese.

Evaluation Method: Attendance and participation; Written assignments; Dictations; Oral quizzes; Written quizzes; Final exam

Class Materials (Required):

For Chinese 111-1 and 111-2: Textbook and Workbook: Modern Chinese 1A Simplified Characters (second edition) Publisher: Better Chinese ISBN: 978-1-60603-573-3 (textbook); 978-1-60603-572-6 (workbook) Price: $64.99 (textbook) $ 34.99(workbook)

For Chinese 111-3: Textbook and Workbook: Modern Chinese 1B Simplified Characters (second edition) Publisher: Better Chinese ISBN: 978-1-60603-578-8 (textbook) 978-1-60603-579-5 (workbook) Price: $64.99 (textbook) $ 34.99(workbook)