(CHNS 101 & 102) Text: New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (2nd ed, ISBN 978-7-5619-2623-9) Years: Fall 2012-Spring 2015 (Coordinator Fall 2014-Spring 2015)
Course Description: Chinese 101 and 102 are elementary language courses that aim to impart basic language skills to students without prior language experience in Mandarin Chinese. In 101 Students are introduced the pinyin system (phonetics), basic writing rules of simplified Hanzi (characters), and simple sentence structures. After completing this course, students will be able to understand/produce simple conversations and read/write short texts in Hanzi. 102 continues to train students’ listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in basic Chinese. Expanded reading and writing skills are developed by engaging the class in more complex written topics. Class instruction and discussion are primarily conducted in Chinese to develop students’ oral communication skills.
Course Requirements: 1. Students are required to attend every class and participate in drills and discussions; 2. Homework assignments consist of daily writing tasks and speaking tasks by lesson through Speak Everywhere (SE), an innovative tool for learners to practice spoken Chinese with a computer and a microphone; 3. Oral skills are further trained through three meet-ups with a language partner (native speaker), and about 4 office visits to instructors to complete speaking tasks; 4. Computer lab assignments are due by the end of every computer lab class and test students' typing and online communication skills; 5. In-class pop quizzes are given every other week throughout the semester; 6. One oral exam (two parts, an interview and a skit-performance), 4-6 tests, one midterm exam, and one final exam are given in each semester.