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Chinese Language I (Beginner) Course

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Course Outline

The basic course starts from the most basic elements of Chinese – the four tones, initials and finals in pinyin which constitute its phonetic system. Students then learn the basic strokes of Chinese characters and build up a simple awareness of how its phonetic system is related to its writing one. While gaining strength in their language foundation, students will learn to use Chinese from the very beginning, e.g. greetings and partings, asking for directions, eating out in restaurants, bargaining, inviting and declining, etc. Upon finishing the course, learners may grasp some 500 basic words and a considerable number of sentence patterns so that they will effectively communicate with Chinese people in day-to-day situations. With cultural elements embedded, the course will enable students to build their communicative skill not only upon learning authentic Chinese, but also, to a certain extent, understanding Chinese society and culture.

The following outline is subject to flexible reschedule and reorder as well as additions as the specific course progressing.

Unit 1 (Period 1-4) Learn typical greetings (1)  Phonetics: Initials b p m n l h ; finals a o e i u ü Oral Practice: Pronunciation drills & Conversations Listening Practice: from supplementary materials Basic strokes of Chinese characters: 6 of them Cultural Notes: “Have you eaten?” VS. “Hi! / Hello!” in Passing Greetings

Unit 2 (Period 5-8) Learn typical greetings (2) Phonetics: the four tones; Initials: l h Finals: ao en ie in ing uo Oral and Listening Practice Grammar: word order in Chinese sentences Learn and write basic Chinese characters Cultural Notes: Hanyu and Putonghua

Unit 3 (Period 9-12) Learn the basic way to ask what someone wants Phonetics: Initials: d t g k f; Finals: ei ou an ang eng iao iou(-iu) Oral Practice: Pronunciation drills & Conversations Listening Practice: from supplementary materials Grammar: Adjective Predicate & “Yes-no” questions Sing a Chinese Folk Song: The Jasmine Flowers

Unit 4 (Period 14-16) A Summary made in the form of oral and Listening practices.

Unit 5 (Period 17-20) Learn how to ask about sb’s nationality and how to identify people Phonetics: Neutral tone; Initials: zh ch sh r Finals: -i ai uai ong Oral Practice: Pronunciation drills & Conversations Listening Practice: from supplementary materials Cultural Notes: Safe Questions to ask in Chinese vs English

Unit 6 (Period 21-24) Learn how to introduce your friends to each other phonetics: Half third tone: combination of tones Oral Practice: Pronunciation drills & Conversations Listening Practice: from supplementary materials Learn and write basic Chinese characters Cultural Notes: Stories behind the pictographic Chinese characters.

Unit 7 (Period 25-28) Learn asking for permission and asking for sb’s name Phonetics: Initials: j q x Finals: ia ian iang uei(-ui) uen(-un) üe üan Oral Practice: Pronunciation drills & Conversations Listening Practice: from supplementary materials Cultural Notes: Quotations from Confucius (1)

Unit 8 (Period 29-32) Learn the basic way to tell the time Subsidiary Listening and Speaking practice - Time Grammar: Sentences with “是” Cultural Notes:Stories behind the pictographic Chinese characters.

Unit 9 (Period 33-36) Learn asking for directions and looking for someone Phonetics: Initials: z c s Finals: -i er iong ua uan uang ün Final “er” and retroflex ending Oral Practice: Pronunciation drills & Conversations Listening Practice: from supplementary materials Cultural Notes: Quotations from Confucius (2)

Unit 10 (Period 37-40) Learn making an apology and asking about sb’s occupation Subsidiary Listening and Speaking practice – Asking the way Grammar: Questions with an interrogative pronoun Cultural Notes: Stories behind the pictographic Chinese characters. Sing a Chinese Folk Song:

Unit 11(Period 41-44) Phonetics: Pronunciation Review Grammar: Review Sentences with a verbal predicate Characters: Combination of strokes Cultural Notes: Read and learn a Chinese classical poem

Unit 12 (Period 45-48) Learn making suggestions, comments and asking sb to repeat something Subsidiary Listening and Speaking practice – Eating out in a restaurant Summary: third tone change; tone change of “不” and“一” Cultural Notes: Beijing Opera, Shanghai Opera and Yue Opera

Unit 13 (Period 49-52) Learn how to describe the symptoms of illness and buy medicine in the pharmacy Subsidiary Listening and Speaking practice – Seeing doctors Grammar: “ 一下” Pattern drills & Making sentences by pictures Cultural Notes: Quotations from Confucius (3)

Unit 14 (Period 53-56) Learn how to leave addresses; Learn talking about one’s major Reading and Paraphrasing Grammar: Attributives expressing possession Cultural Notes: Stories behind the pictographic Chinese characters.

Unit 15 (Period 57-60) Learn how to talk about one’s major, occupation Grammar: V/A – not – V/A questions; abbreviated questions with “呢” ; The position of adverbs “也” and “都” Learn a line from Analects of Confucius

Unit 16 (Period 61-64) Learn how to talk about one’s family members Subsidiary Listening and Speaking practice – Chinese families Grammar: “还”，”太”, “二” or “两” Cultural Notes: Personal Names

Unit 17 (Period 65-78) Learn how to talk about hobbies Numbers from 11 to 100 and solving math problems verbally Grammar: Numeral-measure words as attributives: “几 ” or “多少”; The position of question words in Chinese Learn a Chinese folk song

Unit 18 (Period 69-72) Learn how to extend one’s good wishes Listening and speaking practice Cultural Notes: Address Terms in Chinese and English

Unit 19 (Period 73-76) Learn how to celebrate sb’s birthday; asking about sb’s age and birthplace Reading and Paraphrasing Grammar: Sentence with a nominal predicate; “好吗?” in a question Cultural Notes: customs in designating each year to one of the 12 animals; “Longevity noodles” ; birth of place, etc

Unit 20 (Period 77-80) How to make an appointment Learn how to say the days of the week Grammar: Words expressing time as adverbials Structure of Chinese Characters (2) Cultural Notes: The Layout of the Chinese dialects

Unit 21 (Period 81-84) Shopping expressions: Learn how to talk about money & ask the price and bargain; the unit measurements of daily commodities Grammar: Prepositional phrase “在” “跟” Sentences with double objects (1) 给 送 The adverb “很” Cultural Notes; Currency RMB

Unit 22 (Period 85-88) Learn expressing permission or prohibition; expressing ty Learn reading and writing note “便条” Grammar: Sentences with “会” “能” “可以” “应该” Cultural Notes: Loanwords in Chinese

Unit 23 (Period 89-92) Learn how to talk about one’s health, desire and express need or necessity Grammar: subject-predicate structure as predicate, alternative questions, modal verbs 要，想，愿意 Cultural Notes: Learn a line from Analects of Confucius

Unit 24 (Period 93-96) Talking about sth that has happened, renting a flat, asking for suggestions, making a phone call and invitations Grammar: “多” and “少” as attributives, “Pr/N+ 这儿/那儿“ to indicate location, verb phrases as attributives; Particle “了”；Modal verbs: 可能， 会 Cultural Notes: telephone etiquette and accept or refuse invitations

Unit 25 (Period 97-100) Review, Summary and suggestions for further learning Pinyin, Grammar, Oral and Listening practice

ANNUAL HOLIDAYS *

There will be no lectures on scheduled Public Holidays

• Spring Festival Holidays
• 30 Jan-10 Feb
• Labour day Holiday
• 1 May-6 May
• Dragon Boat festival
• 4 Jun-7 Jun
• Moon cake festival
• 10 Sep -12 Sep
• National Day Holiday
• 1 Oct-7 Oct
• Christmas Holidays
• 18 Dec 2011-10 Jan 2012

* Subject to confirmation and change

Tuition fees may be submitted by cash, bank card or credit card. With the original receipt, a refund in full can be made if the prospective student notifies us in writing of his/her withdrawal from the course one week before the commencement date. If using a foreign bank card, a non-refundable charge of approximately 3.1% of the tuition fee (about RMB140) will be deducted by the bank to cover transaction costs.

For inquiry, please contact us at (86 21)6448 1620 6448 1768 or 64480011*1065, or send email to china-studies@hotmail.com.

Address: Room 106, No. 2088 Kaixuan Road, Shanghai (close to Panyu Rd. and Wuzhong Rd), 5 minutes walk from Yishan Rd. Station (Exit 4) or Hongqiao Rd. Station (Exit 2) of Metro Line 3 and Line 4. 

Please check our Lecture Calendar for Course Schedule.

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