Chinese

This is a knowledge-based course introducing Chinese language and culture. The course is designed for CUHK students (both local and international) who are interested in Chinese language and culture; the theories, practices and situations of teaching and learning Chinese as a second language (including Putonghua and Cantonese learning); the importance of culture in Chinese as a second language learning; and the language situations in Hong Kong and in Mainland China.

This course begins with basic classical primers and steadily leads students to read more difficult and complicated literary Chinese writings in the Qin, Han, Tang, and Song Dynasties. The ultimate objective is to foster students’ literary Chinese reading ability. With classical poems and articles of all the past dynasties as the main materials, this course teaches step by step the methods for reading literary Chinese. This course is taken by local students as well as international students from around the world with varrying degrees of Chinese language ability.

The course develops proficiency in listening, speaking, reading and writing that builds off already existing advanced proficiency in Chinese and further hones that proficiency through weekly discussion of student and instructor selected articles. Class groups present articles found in newspapers, magazines, or online each class. Assessment: attendance and participation, quizzes, assignments , exam.

This course overviews the cultural traditions of China. It provides a deeper understanding of Chinese life in the traditional era and examines the "Great tradition" and the "Small tradition" of Chinese society and their relevance to the present. Topics include early Chinese world view, Chinese religiosity, Chinese symbolism, Chinese names, Chinese festivals, and folk customs. The course provides a better appreciation of the linkage between Chinese traditions in the past and modern society. 

This is a beginning Chinese language course consisting of two main components, conversation and Chinese characters. Vocabulary items, sentence patterns and short texts are taught. Students acquire basic communicative skills to deal with simple daily situations.