Chinese Courses: 2012-2013
CHINESE 1. Introduction to Chinese. Year. Mrs. Ku. 5 meetings weekly. Block B. For students with no previous or limited experience with Chinese. Mandarin Chinese is the language of instruction, and English is only used to help in the explanation of grammar. Simplified characters are taught in most lessons but traditional characters are also introduced. Pinyin, the standard Romanization pronunciation system, is used. This course develops listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Materials include textbook, workbook, audio CDs, DVDs, periodicals, websites, and language computer programs. Students attend one language laboratory session weekly.
CHINESE 2. Intermediate Chinese. Year. Mrs. Ku. 5 meetings weekly. Block A. Prerequisite: Chinese 1 or its equivalent. Like Chinese 1, this class is taught in Chinese, and English is used only for grammatical explanations. This course continues to develop listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Typing will be added into the curriculum. Materials include textbook, workbook, audio CDs, DVDs, periodicals, websites, and language computer programs. Students attend one language laboratory session weekly.
CHINESE 3. Advanced Chinese Part I. Year. Mrs. Ku. 5 meetings weekly. Block D. Prerequisite: Chinese 2 or its equivalent. Like Chinese 1 and 2, this course is taught in Chinese, and English is used only for grammatical explanations. Students learn more complex sentence patterns and vocabulary through conversation on a range of practical topics. This course continues to develop listening, speaking, reading, writing and typing skills. The students routinely converse with teachers and classmates, create oral presentations, and write dialogues and compositions on what they have learned. Materials include textbook, workbook, audio CDs, DVDs, periodicals, websites, online programs, and language computer programs. Students attend one language laboratory session weekly.
CHINESE 4. Advanced Chinese Part IIa. Fall. Mrs. Ku. 4 meetings weekly. Block TBA. Prerequisite: Chinese 3 or its equivalent. This course is taught almost entirely in Mandarin Chinese and interweaves the study of Chinese language and culture. Students learn more complex sentence patterns and vocabulary through the use of a wide range of primary resources. The course addresses themes of contemporary and historical Chinese culture in sport, fashion, cuisine, ceremony, festivals and travel.
CHINESE 5. Advanced Chinese Part IIb. Spring. Mrs. Ku. 4 meetings weekly. Block TBA. Prerequisite: Chinese 4 or Permission of the Department. This course is taught almost entirely in Mandarin Chinese and develops the students’ awareness of social and environmental issues, including societal changes brought about by China's economic development, the origin and evolution of Chinese characters, famous people and their contributions to society, and Chinese literature and arts.
CHINESE 10. Advanced Placement Chinese Language and Culture. Year. Mrs. Ku. 5 meetings weekly. Block TBA. Prerequisite: Chinese 3 and Permission of the Department. This course provides students with ongoing and varied opportunities to further develop their proficiencies across the full range of language skills. This course is designed for those students who are interested in deepening their immersion into the language and culture of the Chinese speaking world. The course prepares students for the Advanced Placement Examination in Chinese Language and Culture.
