Chinese: 1st Year College Chinese I

A study of Mandarin Chinese designed to give students the fundamentals of the sound and writing systems for developing modern Chinese communicative skills. No prior knowledge expected.

Open to degree and PACE students; Fourth hour required online

https://www.uvm.edu/~chinese/chin001-ECC.htm

CHIN 1100 “The First Year College Chinese I” aims to enable students to begin and/or continue to learn Mandarin Chinese with joy and efficiency. Specifically, this course is designed to help students build a solid foundation of the sound and writing systems of Modern Chinese, as well as to develop further communicative skills in Mandarin. Topics included are greetings, expressing gratitude, identifying people or objects, introducing friends and family, expressing feelings, asking for one’s opinions, making requests, making suggestions, etc. By the end of the semester, students will: 1) Master the Chinese phonetic system through Chinese rhythmic verses and be able to speak Chinese with correct pronunciation; 2) Gain a systematic understanding of the structures of Chinese characters so as to recognize and write them correctly; 3) Understand the basic Chinese grammatical concepts so as to monitor one’s own Chinese language production; 4) Be aware of aspects of Chinese culture imbedded in the Chinese language. Textbook: Essential College Chinese Book 1 by Yin and Sun (ISBN 9787561950296).

This is a hybrid course that contains both face-to-face and online components. Students are expected to meet three times a week in class and do online practice during the week. A typical week includes: 1) Monday (face-to-face): Pronunciation training via rhythmic verses; 2) Wednesday (face-to-face): Character recognition and writing practice; 3) Thursday (online & one-on-one practice): Online practice and/or weekly/biweekly one-on-one practice with your instructor; 4) Friday (face-to-face): Integrated practice and weekly review.

Attendance, homework, quizzes, speaking tests, and final exam.