| SES # | BEFORE CLASS ACTIVITIES | IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES | HOMEWORK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Course Introduction. Pinyin: Tones and Initials. Handout: Pinyin (part 1). | Read pp. 1-12 of the Pinyin handout. Learn the Pronounceable Initials Chart (Table 3 on p. 4) in the Pinyin handout (part 1) by heart. | |
| 2 | Write out the Pronounceable Initials Chart. Pinyin: Finals and Spelling Rules. Pinyin exercises in the Pinyin handouts. Handout: Pinyin (part 2). | Read pp. 12-18 of the Pinyin handout (Part 2). Learn the Finals and Spelling Rules in the Pinyin handout by heart. Using Pinyin, with tone marks, handwrite a composition of no less than 120 syllables about your hometown. You may write about what your hometown is, what you think one's hometown means to him/her, what kind of a place your hometown is; what you like to do in your hometown, and so on. Please write on every other line and leave 1.25-inch margins for each piece of paper you use. | |
| 3 | Hand in your written assignments. Quiz: Pinyin Dictation. Characters: Strokes, Stroke Order and Radicals. Character exercises in Lesson 1 and Lesson 2. Handout: Lesson 1 and Lesson 2 of Learning Chinese: The Character Text by J. K. Wheatley. | Read pp. 1-28 of Learning Chinese: The Character Text (Lessons 1 and 2). Learn the big characters on pp. 6, 8-9, 11, 15, 17-18 by heart. | |
| 4 | Dictation: 20 of the big characters on pp. 6, 8, 9, 11, 15, 17, 18 with Pinyin. Character exercises in Lesson 3. Handout: Lesson 3 and Lesson 4 of Learning Chinese: The Character Text by J. K. Wheatley. | Read pp. 29-40 of Learning Chinese: The Character Text (Lesson 3). Review the Pinyin handout and characters in Lesson 1 and Lesson 2 of Learning Chinese: The Character Text. For the quiz on session 5, you need to: - know the Pinyin system well - learn the big characters in Lessons 1-2 by heart There will be the following types of questions in the quiz: - transcribing characters to Pinyin - transcribing Pinyin to characters - answering questions with characters | |
| 5 | Brief review: the Pinyin system. Brief review: Lesson 1 and Lesson 2 of Learning Chinese: The Character Text. Exercises in Lesson 4 of Learning Chinese: The Character Text. Quiz 1: 15-minute quiz on Pinyin and characters in Lesson 1 and Lesson 2 of Learning Chinese: The Character Text. | Read pp. 41-49 of Learning Chinese: The Character Text (Lesson 4). Learn the big characters on pp. 29, 32, 41-42, 45, 48 by heart. Use the characters in Lessons 1-4 to handwrite 4 sentences of no less than 20 characters each. Then transcribe your sentences into Pinyin with tone marks. Write about different things in each sentence, e.g. Chinese names, Chinese currency and American currency, your siblings, your family, and so on. Please write on every other line and leave 1.25-inch margins for each piece of paper you use. | |
| 6 | Hand in your written assignments. Dictation: 20 of the big characters on pp. 29, 32, 41-42, 45, 48 with Pinyin. Character exercises in Lesson 5 and Lesson 6. Handout: Lesson 5 and Lesson 6 of Learning Chinese: The Character Text by J. K. Wheatley. | Read pp. 51-72 of Learning Chinese: The Character Text (Lessons 5 and 6). | |
| 7 | Converting between Full-form and Simplified Characters. Character exercises in Lesson 7. Handout: Converting between Full Form and Simplified Characters; Lesson 7 and Lesson 8 of Learning Chinese: The Character Text by J. K. Wheatley. | Review pp. 73-84 of Learning Chinese: The Character Text (Converting between Full-form and Simplified Characters; Lesson 7). Learn the big characters on pp. 51-52, 55, 61, 64-65 by heart. Use the characters in Lessons 1-8 to handwrite a paragraph of no less than 120 characters on your family background. (The more you write, the better you will memorize the characters!) Please write on every other line and leave 1.25-inch margins for each piece of paper you use. | |
| 8 | Hand in your written assignments. Dictation: 20 of the big characters on pp. 51-52, 55, 61, 64-65 with Pinyin. Character exercises in Lesson 8. | Review pp. 85-101 of Learning Chinese: The Character Text (Lesson 8). | |
| 9 | Vocabulary quiz: You will need to transcribe two sentences into Pinyin with tone marks. The characters will be all from the reading materials from Lessons 1-8. Character exercises in Lesson 9. Handout: Lesson 9 of Learning Chinese: The Character Text by J. K. Wheatley. | Review the Pinyin handout and Learning Chinese: The Character Text. For the quiz on session 10, you need to: - know the Pinyin system well - learn the big characters in Lessons 1-6 by heart - be able to recognize other characters in Lessons 1-9. There will be the following types of questions in the quiz: - transcribing characters to Pinyin - transcribing Pinyin to characters - answering questions with characters - reading comprehension | |
| 10 | Review: Pinyin and characters. Quiz 2: 35-minute quiz on Pinyin and characters covered in the past three and a half weeks. | Preview Lesson 1 of A Primer for Advanced Beginners of Chinese. | |
| 11 | Preview L1 Read "Grammatical Points" and "Sentence Patterns and Word Usage" on pp. 10-14. Study the Vocabulary on pp. 2-4. Learn the L1 (PDF) required characters by heart (check Appendix III on pp. 249-279 for character stroke order). Make sure you know the other L1 (PDF) characters by sight. Read the text on p. 6. Write on your book the answers to the questions in the exercises on pp. 6-7. Read Dialogue 1 on p. 8, Dialogue 2 on p. 9 and study "Expressions Used in Class" on p. 20. | Vocabulary quiz on L1 (PDF) characters. L1 (PDF) text. Dialogues 1 and 2. | |
| 12 | Written assignments (please write on every other line and leave 1.25-inch margins for each piece of paper you use if you do not use the calligraphy grid.) (PDF): - Handwrite a sentence for each of the entries in "Sentence Patterns and Word Usage" on pp. 13-14 on a piece of paper and hand them in in class. Highly recommended: calligraphy grid. (PDF) - Using the L1 (PDF) text structure as a model, handwrite an article on "The Names of People in *Country*" (i.e., "*Country*rén de xìngmíng") of no less than 120 characters. It can be any country of your own choice. Highly recommended: calligraphy grid. (PDF) If you want to use a word you know how to say but not how to write, try Appendices I, II on pp. 209-248, or use a dictionary. If you don't have a dictionary, type in Pinyin for the "Search Dictionary" section at Zhongwén Zìpu. | Hand in your written assignments. L1 (PDF) exercises on pp. 15-19. | |
| 13 | Preview L2 Read "Grammatical Points" and "Sentence Patterns and Word Usage" on pp. 30-32. Study the Vocabulary on pp. 22-24. Learn the L2 (PDF) required characters by heart. Make sure you know the other L2 (PDF) characters by sight. Read the text on p. 26. Write on your book the answers to the questions in the exercises on pp. 26-27. Read Dialogue 1 on p. 28, Dialogue 2 on p. 29, and study "Expressions on Money" on p. 38. | Dictation of L1 (PDF) required characters. Vocabulary quiz on L2 (PDF) characters. L2 (PDF) text. Dialogues 1 and 2. | |
| 14 | Written assignments (please write on every other line and leave 1.25-inch margins for each piece of paper you use if you do not use the calligraphy grid.) (PDF): - Handwrite a sentence for each of the entries in "Sentence Patterns and Word Usage" on pp. 30-32 on a piece of paper and hand them in in class. Highly recommended: calligraphy grid. (PDF) - Using the L2 (PDF) text structure as a model, handwrite an article on "The Family in *Country*" (i.e., "*Country*rén de Jiatíng") of no less than 120 characters. It can be any country of your own choice. Highly recommended: calligraphy grid. (PDF) | Hand in your written assignments. L2 (PDF) exercises on pp. 33-37. | |
| 15 | Prepare a 3-minute talk on each of the following topics: My Name - Find out the origin of your family name and the meaning of each character in your name. (In order for Chinese characters on a web page to display properly, go to View of your browser, and choose Traditional Chinese Big5 (in this case) or Simplified Chinese GB for Character Set or Encoding.) - Do you have more than one name? Why? - Why do you think you were given your name? - Etc. My Family - Do you have a big family (parents, siblings, and grandparents) living together? - Do your relatives live close by or far away? - What is the significance of family to you? | Dictation of L2 (PDF) required characters. Talks: My Name Talks: My Family Further discussion | |
| 16 | Review L1 (PDF) and L2 (PDF). Make sure you can reproduce the required characters from memory and recognize the other characters by sight. Review the grammatical points, sentence patterns and word usage, and exercises as well. | Quiz 3 | |
| 17 | Preview L3 Read "Grammatical Points" and "Sentence Patterns and Word Usage" on pp. 47-50. Study the Vocabulary on pp. 40-42. Learn the L3 (PDF) required characters by heart (check Appendix III on pp. 249-279 for character stroke order). Make sure you know the other L3 (PDF) characters by sight. Read the text on pp. 43-44. Write in your book the answers to the questions in the exercises on pp. 43-45. Read the Dialogue on p. 45, and study "Expressions on Locations" on p. 20. | Vocabulary quiz on L3 (PDF) characters. L3 (PDF) text. L3 (PDF) Dialogue. | |
| 18 | Written assignments (please write on every other line and leave 1.25-inch margins for each piece of paper you use if you do not use the calligraphy grid.) (PDF): - Write a sentence for each of the entries in "Sentence Patterns and Word Usage" on p. 50. Highly recommended: calligraphy grid. (PDF) - Using the L3 (PDF) text structure as a model, write an article on a country, a US state, or any other regions of your own choice. Focus on the topographic features, which has a direct impact on its weather and the diet of its people(s). Highly recommended: calligraphy grid. (PDF) If you want to use a word you know how to say but not how to write, try Appendices I, II on pp. 209-248, or use a dictionary. If you don't have a dictionary, type in Pinyin in the "Search Dictionary" section at Zhongwén Zìpu. For a comprehensive collection of quality on-line resources for learning Chinese, check out Dr. Tianwei Xie's Learning Chinese Online page. | Hand in your written assignments L3 (PDF) exercises on pp. 51-55. | |
| 19 | Preview L4 Read "Grammatical Points" and "Sentence Patterns and Word Usage" on pp. 66-72. Study the Vocabulary on pp. 58-60. Learn the L4 (PDF) required characters by heart. Make sure you know the other L4 (PDF) characters by sight. Read the text on pp. 61-62. Write on your book the answers to the questions in the exercises on pp. 62-63. Read Dialogue 1 on p. 64, Dialogue 2 on pp. 64-65, and study "Expressions on Time" on p. 79. | Dictation of L3 (PDF) required characters. Vocabulary quiz on L4 (PDF) characters. L4 (PDF) text. L4 (PDF) Dialogues 1 and 2. | |
| 20 | Written assignments (please write on every other line and leave 1.25-inch margins for each piece of paper you use if you do not use the calligraphy grid.) (PDF): - Handwrite a sentence for each of the entries in "Sentence Patterns and Word Usage" on pp. 70-72. Highly recommended: calligraphy grid. (PDF) - Handwrite in Chinese "a mythical story" you know. Its origin can be of any country or region of your own choice. You may use English for people's names or names of places. Highly recommended: calligraphy grid. (PDF) | Hand in your written assignments. L4 (PDF) exercises on pp. 33-37. | |
| 21 | The CMS-BFA Forum. The BFA delegation will bring animated short films produced by their students. | Go to the CMS-BFA Forum | |
| 22 | Prepare a 2-minute talk on each of the following topics: My State/ My Native Country/ My Parents' Native Provinces... - Topographic features - Weather - Diet - Etc. A Mythical Story - The story - The moral of the story, or the impact of the story on the culture of its people - What do you make of the story? | Dictation of L4 (PDF) required characters. Discussion: CMS-BFA Forum Discussion: My state/ My native country/ My parents' native provinces.... Discussion: A mythical story Reading practice | |
| 23 | Review L3 (PDF) and L4 (PDF). Make sure you can reproduce the required characters from memory and recognize the other characters by sight. Review the grammatical points, sentence patterns and word usage, and exercises as well. | Quiz 4 | |
| 24 | Preview L5 Read "Grammatical Points" and "Sentence Patterns and Word Usage" on pp. 89-92. Study the Vocabulary on pp. 82-83. Learn the L5 (PDF) required characters by heart (check Appendix III on pp. 249-279 for character stroke order). Make sure you know the other L5 (PDF) characters by sight. Read the text on pp. 84-85.Write in your book the answers to the questions in the exercises on pp. 84-85. Read Dialogue on p. 88, and study "Expressions on Weather" on p. 98. | Vocabulary quiz on the L5 (PDF) characters. L5 (PDF) text. Dialog. | |
| 25 | Written assignments (please write on every other line and leave 1.25-inch margins for each piece of paper you use if you do not use the calligraphy grid.) (PDF): - Handwrite a sentence for each of the entries in "Sentence Patterns and Word Usage" on p. 92. Highly recommended: calligraphy grid. (PDF) - Use your imagination and handwrite your own story of "Tian hé Dì" ("The Sky and the Earth"). Pay special attention to cohesiveness. (cf. Understanding the Text Structure on pp. 86-87). Highly recommended: calligraphy grid. (PDF) If you want to use a word you know how to say but not how to write, try Appendices I, II on pp. 209-248, or use a dictionary. If you don't have a dictionary, type in Pinyin in the "Search Dictionary" section at Zhongwén Zìpu or use an on-line dictionary listed in Learning Chinese Online. | Hand in your written assignments. L5 (PDF) exercises on pp. 93-97. | |
| 26 | Preview L6 Read "Grammatical Points" and "Sentence Patterns and Word Usage" on pp. 108-110. Study the Vocabulary on pp. 100-02. Learn the L6 (PDF) required characters by heart. Make sure you know the other L6 (PDF) characters by sight. Read Text 1 on p. 103 and Text 2 on p. 104. Write on your book the answers to the questions in the exercises on pp. 105-06. Read Dialogue on p. 107, and study "Expressions on Commonly Used Measure Words" on pp. 117-18. | Dictation of L5 (PDF) required characters. Vocabulary quiz on the L6 (PDF) characters. L6 (PDF) texts 1 and 2. Dialog. | |
| 27 | Written assignments (please write on every other line and leave 1.25-inch margins for each piece of paper you use if you do not use the calligraphy grid.) (PDF): - Hanwrite a sentence for each of the entries in "Sentence Patterns and Word Usage" on pp. 109-10. Highly recommended: calligraphy grid. (PDF) - The "Writing" exercise on p. 114. Think about the over-all structure before you handwrite it. Highly recommended: calligraphy grid. (PDF) | Hand in your written assignments. L6 (PDF) exercises on pp. 111-16. | |
| 28 | Prepare a 3-minute talk on each of the following topics: My own story of "Tian hé Dì" ("The Sky and the Earth") The Person I Like the Best | Dictation of L6 (PDF) required characters. Discussion: "Tian hé Dì" Discussion: The Person I Like the Best Reading exercises | |
| 29 | Review L5 (PDF) and L6 (PDF). Make sure you can reproduce the required characters from memory and recognize the other characters by sight. Review the grammatical points, sentence patterns and word usage, and exercises as well. | Quiz 5 (on L5 (PDF) and L6 (PDF)) | |
| 30 | Preview L7 Read "Grammatical Points" and "Sentence Patterns and Word Usage" on pp. 130-33. Study the Vocabulary on pp. 120-22. Learn the L7 (PDF) required characters by heart (check Appendix III on pp. 249-279 for character stroke order). Make sure you know the other L7 (PDF) characters by sight. Read the text on pp. 123-24.Write in your book the answers to the questions in the exercises on pp. 125-27. Read the dialog on p. 128, and study "Expressions on Travel" on p. 142-43. | Vocabulary quiz on L7 (PDF) characters. L7 (PDF) text. L7 (PDF) dialog. | |
| 31 | Written assignments (please write on every other line and leave 1.25-inch margins for each piece of paper you use if you do not use the calligraphy grid.) (PDF): - Handwrite a sentence for each of the entries in "Sentence Patterns and Word Usage" on pp. 132-33. Highly recommended: calligraphy grid. (PDF) - Handwrite an essay about a historical site, a building, a subway system, a theatre, etc. You may use English for proper nouns. Be sure to include when, where, how, and why it was built, its historical significance and its impact today. Pay special attention to cohesiveness. (cf. Understanding the Text Structure on pp. 126-27). Highly recommended: calligraphy grid. (PDF) If you want to use a word you know how to say but not how to write, try Appendices I, II on pp. 209-248, or use a dictionary. If you don't have a dictionary, type in Pinyin in the "Search Dictionary" section at Zhongwén Zìpu or use an on-line dictionary listed in Learning Chinese Online. | Hand in your written assignments. L7 (PDF) exercises on pp. 134-41. | |
| 32 | Preview L8 Read "Grammatical Points" and "Sentence Patterns and Word Usage" on pp. 155-58. Study the Vocabulary on pp. 146-48. Learn the L8 (PDF) required characters by heart. Make sure you know the other L8 (PDF) characters by sight. Read the text on pp. 150-51. Write on your book the answers to the questions in the exercises on pp. 151-52. Read Dialog 1 on p. 153, Dialog 2 on p. 153-54, and study "Expressions on Campus Life" on pp. 164-65. | Dictation of L7 (PDF) required characters. Vocabulary quiz on L8 characters. L8 (PDF) text. L8 (PDF) dialogs. | |
| 33 | Written assignments (please write on every other line and leave 1.25-inch margins for each piece of paper you use if you do not use the calligraphy grid.) (PDF): - Handwrite a sentence for each of the entries in "Sentence Patterns and Word Usage" on pp. 157-58. Highly recommended: calligraphy grid. (PDF) - Handwrite an essay entitled "Chénggong" (Success). Be sure to define "success" in your own terms, and explain how you think one can become successful. Pay special attentin to the over-all structure. Highly recommended: calligraphy grid. (PDF) | Hand in your written assignments. L8 (PDF) exercises on pp. 159-63. | |
| 34 | Prepare a 3-minute talk on each of the following topics: A Historical Site / A Building / A Sybway System / A Theatre... "Chénggong" (Success) | Dictation of L8 (PDF) required characters. Discussion: "Sites" Discussion: "Success" Reading practice | |
| 35 | Review L7 (PDF) and L8 (PDF). Make sure you can reproduce the required characters from memory and recognize the other characters by sight. Review the grammatical points, sentence patterns and word usage, and exercises as well. | Quiz 6 (the last one!) | |
| 36 | Preview L9 Read "Grammatical Points" and "Sentence Patterns and Word Usage" on pp. 175-77. Study the Vocabulary on pp. 168-70. Make sure you know all the L9 characters by sight. Read the text on pp. 171-72.Write in your book the answers to the questions in the exercises on pp. 172-73. Read the dialog on p. 174, and study "Expressions on Asking for Directions" on p. 182. | 10 True or False questions on L9 text and dialog. L9 text. L9 dialog. | |
| 37 | Work on your end-of-term essay (PDF) due by 3 pm on session 39. Early submissions are welcome. No other written assignments. | L9 exercises on pp. 178-81. | |
| 38 | Preview L10 Read "Grammatical Points" and "Sentence Patterns and Word Usage" on pp. 193-96. Study the Vocabulary on pp. 184-87. Make sure you know all the L10 characters by sight. Read the text on pp. 188-89. Write on your book the answers to the questions in the exercises on pp. 189-90. Read the dialog on p. 191, and study "Expressions on Shopping" on pp. 204. | 10 True or False questions on L10 text and dialog. L10 text. L10 dialog. | |
| 39 | Work on your end-of-term essay (PDF) due by 3 pm in this session. Early submissions are welcome. No other written assignments. | L10 exercises on pp. 197-203. 15-minute course evaluation. |