This is an introduction to Mandarin Chinese. It is designed as an intensive 15-week course for students who wish to build a solid foundation for the study of the Chinese language. Emphasis will be on listening and speaking, but instruction on reading and writing characters will be included. Through the study of Chinese language, students will gain a better understanding of China’s culture and customs.

The course will begin with simple words and phrases, coupled with the study of Pinyin—the standard Romanization system that provides for proper pronunciation and intonation. We will add Chinese vocabulary, sentence patterns, and written characters each week. Both traditional (used in Taiwan and Hong Kong) and simplified characters (used in China) will be taught. Each week’s lesson will be based on a typical conversation topic, so that students can apply what they learn in the classroom to practical, daily situations.

All students are expected to attend weekly lecture classes and do daily online drills. By the end of the course, students should be able to recognize and write 150 characters, compose short sentences with correct grammatical structure, and engage in a number of basic everyday conversations.