CHINESE FOR NON-CHINESE LANGUAGE BACKGROUND STUDENTS I

This course is designed for students with non-Chinese speaking background and exchange students from overseas. It introduces the Chinese language and Chinese culture through practical use of the language, with a particular emphasis on oral communication. Learning activities are focused on developing students' listening and speaking skills to build confidence in using Putonghua for daily communication. Some reading of high frequency Chinese characters is integrated into the learning activities. Topics include the basic knowledge of Hanyu Pinyin, the phonology of Putonghua, using Hanyu Pinyin to help pronunciation, understanding and conducting simple conversations for social purposes, dealing with questions at an elementary level, recognizing the most frequently used Chinese characters in daily use context, and the elements of Chinese culture.