Welcome to
Elementary Mandarin Chinese 101 Home page
Chinese 101/101C (13625/13626), Fall 2009

Instructor: Li Bu Larson, M.A. in ESL
Time & Place: MWF 4:30-5:45 PM; JR 301
Tel: Ex. 3467 (message only); Ex. 2019 (office)
Office Hours: MW 4:00 PM – 4:30 PM
Office: ST 432
libu.larson@csun.edu
URL: http://www.csun.edu/~ll51106/libu.html

Course Description and Objective:

Chinese 101 is a course of elementary Mandarin for non-native Chinese speakers. The students
with prior knowledge of Chinese are not eligible for taking this course. It aims at developing
students' elementary communicative skills and knowledge of the Chinese language and culture.

In this semester, students will learn the Chinese phonological system, the basic conversational
topics, vocabulary and grammar. They will also learn how to read and write Chinese characters.
The proficiency level that the students will reach by completing this course is Novice Mid based
on the ACTFL's (the American Council on Teaching Foreign Languages) proficiency guidelines.

About 14 lessons will be covered in the first semester. The number of characters students will
learn is approximately 150. The teaching schedule and content may be changed based on students'
learning ability and progress. Any schedule and content changes will be posted on the class web page.

Chinese word processing ability is one of the objectives of this course. Students will learn how to
type Chinese texts using Chinese word processor.

The class time will be used for instructor's lecturing and students' activities including listening,
speaking, reading and writing. Students are expected to complete the assigned homework and study the covered contents after class.

In order to learn how to write characters, students can take advantage of the Workbook, or the computer aided multi-media learning software CyberChinese or Learning Chinese Online web page (see below).

Required Textbook:

• Practical Chinese Reader Book I (Simplified character edition) by Beijing Language Institute, The Commercial Press LTD.

• FUN with PCR, by Peggy Wang, EALS, 2008

• Chinese Character Writing Sheets (http://www.uvm.edu/~chinese/characte.htm), Book I and II or

Practical Chinese Reader I & II: Writing Workbook (Traditional character edition) edited by Teng, Shou-hsin. Boston: Cheng & Tsui Company, 1990.

• CHIN 101 Study Guide and Homework (including character practice sheets and homework sheets), available online (http://www.csun.edu/~ll51106/101.html)

Recommended Learning Tools:

• Dictionary:

Concise English-Chinese/Chinese-English Dictionary, The Commercial Press & Oxford , University Press, 2008.

• Software and CD ROM:

•  Pinyin Master I, II (CD Rom) by Prof. Li Sanpao & Jeff Winters, in JR 316 (Language Lab.)
• IMC Chinese Word Processor, installed in JR 316 (Language Lab). It can also be downloaded from  (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/recommended/ime/install.asp)
• CyberChinese - a multimedia CD-ROM program for learning PCR. It contains 30 lessons
  with video and audio clips. ( Order information )
• Chinese software for Windows – 金山词霸（http://www.google.cn/rebang/product/dictionary/dictionary.html）
• Web sites:

• Chinese 101 class page - http://www.csun.edu/~ll51106/101.html
• E-mail, chat and etc. in Chinese - http://www.langoo.com/

Language Lab:

Lab attendance is an important part of taking the course. Since the class meeting time is limited, most work will be done by students in the lab: learning Pinyin, listening to the recording of the texts and viewing the video clips of the lessons, learning to write and type characters and doing exercises and homework.

Homework:

The homework will be assigned in class or will be emailed to you on every Monday. Please hand in your homework on every Friday.

Tests:

All tests and examinations (midterm and final) are obligatory. The tests will be given on the assigned days only. No requests for taking the tests before or after the set dates will be honored without a valid excuse or documentation.

Students’ Responsibilities:

• Attend every class on time
• Participate in class activities
• Hand in assignments on time

Chinese 101 Grading System:

Midterm: 10 %	Quizzes (5%*4): 20%	Active Participation: 15 %
Written Final: 30 %	Oral Presentation: 10%	Written Assignment: 15%

Course Schedule: (The teaching schedule and content may be changed based on students' learning ability and progress.)

Week	Monday	Wednesday	Friday
1. 8/24 – 8/29	Introduction & L1, HW 1	Lesson 1	Lesson 2
2. 8/31 – 9/4	Lesson 2, HW 2	Lesson 2	Lesson 3, HW 3
3. 9/7 – 9/11	Labor Day Holiday	Lesson 3	Lesson 3 & Quiz 1
4. 9/14 – 9/18	Lesson 4, HW 4	Lesson 4	Lesson 4
5. 9/21 – 9/25	Lesson 5, HW 5	Lesson 5	Lesson 5, Oral Presentation 1
6. 9/28 – 10/2	Lesson 6, HW 6	Lesson 6	Lesson 6 & Quiz 2
7. 10/5 – 10/9	Lesson 7, HW 7	Lesson 7	Lesson 7
8. 10/12 – 10/16	Lesson  8, HW 8	Lesson 8	Lesson 8, Oral Presentation 2
9. 10/19 – 10/ 23	Lesson 9, HW 9	Lesson 9	Midterm Exam (L 1 - L 9)
10. 10/26 – 10/30	Lesson 10, HW 10	Lesson 10	Lesson 10
11. 11/2 – 11/6	Lesson 11, HW 11	Lesson 11	Lesson 11 & Quiz 3
12. 11/9 – 11/13	Lesson  12, HW 12	Veteran’s Day (11/11)	Lesson 12, Oral Presentation 3
13. 11/16 – 11/20	L 13, HW 13.1, HW13.2	Lesson 13	Lesson 13 & Quiz 4
14. 11/23 – 11/27	Lesson 14, HW 14.1	Lesson 14	Thanksgiving
15. 11/30 – 12/4	Lesson 14, HW 14.2	Lesson 14	Lesson 14
16. 12/7 – 12/11	Review	Oral Final	No instruction
17. 12/14	Written Final, 5:15 p.m. – 7:15 pm

Online References:

1. Study Guides, PCR Book I, Lesson 1 - 14, by Tim Xie, CSULB
2. Audio and Video,  PCR Book I, Lesson 1-14, audio and video files
3. Strokes of Chinese Characters, by Li-Bu Larson, CSUN
4. Animated characters Lesson 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 by Tianwei Xie, CSULB
5. How to write 1 - 10 in Chinese, by EALC, USC
6. Basic Radicals, (you may need Chinese fonts to view) by EALC, USC
7. More Practice Chinese Characters on Line, by EALC, USC
8. Chinese Character Writing Sheets, Book I and II
9. Chinese Flash Cards,  can be used as a study aid along with PCR Book 1-3
10. Chinese  Character Dictionary, a character finding tool that can be used to help locate characters and words that are used in Practical Chinese Reader, books I, II and III.
11. Pinyin Practice (Univ. of Iowa)
12. A is for Love, a set of Flash Cards for learning Chinese
13. Some Chinese Characters, a few randomly chosen Chinese words are here just for you to look at.
14. Top 300 Chinese Characters, (you may need Chinese fonts to view this page) by Li-Bu Larson, CSUN
15. Maps of China
16. Chinese History Timeline
17. A Timeline - The Chinese Dynasties, By Li-Bu Larson, CSUN
18. Chinese Reading World (Beginning Level) by Univ. of Iowa, Chinese Program
19. Chinese Reading, (Big 5 fonts) by EALC, USC
20. Chinese Festivals
21. CHINESE NEW YEAR LANTERN FESTIVAL, Online Exercises on Grammar and Vocabulary, by KylieHsu, CSULA
22. Conversational Mandarin Chinese Online  (Level I, big 5 version) (Fifteen Units in Pinyin, English, Characters and Exercises with sound), by Tim Xie, CSULB
23. Relatives, Relatives' Pictures and Proper Address, (new) by Li-Bu Larson
24. Chinese Way to Go, by Emily Yih
25. Student Work, (Big5 fonts) by EALC, USC
26. E-mail, chat and etc. in Chinese , http://www.langoo.com/
27. Beyond Class Activities, by Li-Bu Larson, CSUN
28. 金山词霸
29. Download Chinese Word Processing (NJstar)
30. Prinstine Communications
31. Download IMC Chinese Word Processor

Other Policies:

1. Apart from the guidelines, efforts and progress made will be taken into consideration.
2. No make-up quiz or test will be given unless the student can give notice beforehand.

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Li Bu Larson
August 16, 2009