CN 105 - Elementary Chinese Language and Culture II
This semester length course serves as an introduction to Modern Standard Chinese (Mandarin) as a foreign language for beginners. The main goal for this course is for students to acquire a culturally contextualized working knowledge of and essential skills in introductory Chinese. The course aims at developing four basic skills, reading, writing, listening, and speaking, and at building a solid foundation in preparation for more advanced studies.
This is a college level course and is available for 11th, 12th and college students only.
Prerequisite: CN100 or approval by BSN Instructor
Enduring Understanding
After successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
1. Have a good mastery of the pinyin system so that they can pronounce and transcribe correctly all sounds used in modern standard Chinese;
2. Have a good command of basic strokes and the stroke-order for writing Chinese characters;
3. Read short and simple texts and write approximately 350 characters;
4. Master basic sentence patterns and use them to produce their own sentences;
5. Be able to conduct simple conversations.
Course Design
- Lecture presentation.
- Reading and interpretation of written material and in-class exercises, including discussion using that material.
- Oral repetition to refine pronunciation.
- Listening comprehension with tapes and DVDs.
- In-class writing and translation drills.
- Research project on cultural aspects of the Chinese-speaking-world.
- Speech presentation, pair and group work about cultural aspects of China and other Mandarin-Chinese-speaking places and communities.
- Film viewings and cultural discussions.
Additional Resources Needed
Required Textbooks:
- Integrated Chinese, Level 1 Part 1 Textbook, Simplified Characters Third Edition Yuehau Liu, Tao-chung Yao, Nyan-Ping Bi, Liangyan Ge, Yahohua Shi
Publisher: Cheng & Tsui Published: 2008
ISBN-13: 9780887276385
Publisher link
- Integrated Chinese, Level 1 Part 1 Workbook, 3rd Edition (Simplified) Yuehau Liu, Tao-chung Yao, Nyan-Ping Bi, Liangyan Ge, Yahohua Shi Publisher: Cheng & Tsui Published: 2008
ISBN-13: 9780887276408
Publisher link
- Integrated Chinese, Level 1 Part 1 Character Workbook, 3rd Edition (Simplified and Traditional) Yuehau Liu, Tao-chung Yao, Nyan-Ping Bi, Liangyan Ge, Yahohua Shi Publisher: Cheng & Tsui Published: 2008
ISBN-13: 9780887276484
- Integrated Chinese, Level 1 Part 1 Audio CDs, 3rd Edition (Ind) Publisher: Cheng & Tsui Published: 2008 Format: Audio CD
ISBN-13: 9780887276422
Required Technology:
- Computer that meets the minimum system requirements listed on the Live Classroom page
- Internet connection (Broadband preferred)
- Headset with microphone combination
- E-mail account (recommended)
- Printer
- Scanner or access to a fax machine (Your school should have this available for you
- DVD Player (in PC or consumer player)
- Web camera for computer optional +(recommended
- Writing tablet (recommended)- Bamboo [Small] Pen tablet with pen only - $70 - from Amazon.com
Content Topics
Unit 1
Review of Chinese 1 Topics
Unit 2
Text: Making Appointments
Unit 3
Text: Studying Chinese
Unit 4
Text: School Life
Unit 5
Text: Shopping
Unit 6
Text: Talking About the Weather
Unit 7
Text: Transportation
Key Skills
Listening
- Listen to recordings of each lesson after studying the vocabulary list;
- Do listening comprehension based on more mini-dialogues or solo narrations.
Speaking
- Ask concrete, personal questions related to our daily lives. By stringing together short questions and answers, students will be able to construct their own mini-dialogues, practice in pairs or take turns asking or answering the questions;
- Express own opinions on a number of topics in paragraph-length discourse
Reading comprehension
- Read sentences the instructor provides; answer questions.
- Read the short passage which is related to the lesson learned.
- Read slightly modified authentic materials, such as a personal ad or movie listings.
Writing and Grammar
- Clearly understand the important grammar points
- Answer questions or complete sentences using specific grammatical forms.
- Translate sentences or paragraphs given by the instructor.
- Write simple compositions on daily topics after expressing orally.
- Vocabulary quizzes.
- Write statements based on information given in class by the instructor or induced by audio and audio visual materials.
- Demonstrate correct character writing on Character workbook.
- Write or read basic dialogues emphasizing cultural aspects of the Mandarin-Chinese-speaking-world.
- Present one project related to Chinese culture.
Assessments
- Attendance, regular practice/drills and classroom participation: 20%
- Home work: 15%
- Project: 5%
- Quizzes: 10%
- Midterm: 20%
- Final: 30%