Elementary Chinese I

Catalog description

This course is the first part of a one-year elementary-level Chinese course designed for students who have no or almost no knowledge of Mandarin Chinese. It is designed to develop language skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing as it relates to everyday life situations. The objectives of the course are: (1) to master the Chinese phonetic system (pinyin and tones) with satisfactory pronunciation; (2) to understand the construction of commonly used Chinese Characters (both simplified and traditional) and learn to write them correctly; (3) to understand and use correctly basic Chinese grammar and sentence structures; (4) to build up essential vocabulary; (5) to read and write level appropriate passages (100-150 characters long); and (6) to become acquainted with aspects of Chinese culture and society related to the course materials. Prerequisite: None. Fulfillment: General Elective.