Chinese 1

A tonal language spoken by approximately one-fifth of the entire world population, Mandarin Chinese is the official language in the People’s Republic of China. Chinese, with its unique writing system, has also influenced many vernacular languages in East Asia. In this introductory course, you will begin to explore one of the oldest written languages in the world, as well as the richness and profound cultural history of China and the Chinese people. Learning about a completely different culture and language from your own will help you gain new perspectives and enrich your global understanding.

The course is designed for students to learn the Pinyin pronunciation system for listening and speaking, and Chinese characters in simplified form, for reading and writing. The course presents the basic grammatical structures and patterns of Chinese, as well as vocabulary presented in a cultural context on such topics as greetings, food, colors, hobbies, and many more.

Emphasis will be placed on students developing the basic skills to begin having conversations in Chinese, along with a solid foundation in the keyboard writing system, in order to prepare students for the next level of learning. The course adheres to ACTFL’s World-readiness Standards for Learning Languages (communication, connections, comparisons, culture, and community) through interpersonal, interpretative, and presentational modes. The curriculum is blended with cutting-edge web-based interactive activities to promote more personalized learning and carry the interactive learning experience beyond the virtual classroom setting itself. To provide context and make students’ learning more relevant, Chinese culture topics will be introduced throughout the course, including the arts, literature, customs, and the history of Chinese-speaking people.

Acknowledgements

In addition to the enrollment fee, this course has an Additional Course Fee of $80.

Please Note: This course contains an end-of-course proctored exam. Instructions for students to identify an appropriate adult proctor are included in the course lessons.

Course Objectives

Students who enroll in Chinese 1 will be working towards the Novice-Mid proficiency level as defined by ACTFL. By the end of the course students will be able to:

Demonstrate a command of the Chinese Pinyin (phonetic) system to pronounce and apply tones accurately, and to type Chinese characters.
Understand simple instructions and conduct conversations on daily topics in Chinese.
Read level adequate texts (sentences or paragraphs) in Chinese from a vocabulary of 500 simplified Chinese characters.
Type short responses and paragraphs in Chinese with proper syntax and sentence patterns, utilizing a vocabulary of 500 simplified Chinese characters.
Develop and demonstrate a basic understanding and awareness of Chinese culture and civilization.

Additional Requirements

Students will need access to a device with headphones, microphone, and camera.
Students will be expected to record and upload videos of themselves speaking in target language in order to exhibit proficiency in the speaking domain using a video tool within the course platform.
Students will need access to select YouTube videos throughout the course.