21G.101 / 21G.151 Chinese I (Regular), Spring 2006

Abstract

This subject is the first semester of two that form an introduction to modern standard Chinese, commonly called Mandarin. Though not everyone taking this course will be an absolute beginner, the course presupposes no prior background in the language. The purpose of this course is to develop: Basic conversational abilities (pronunciation, fundamental grammatical patterns, common vocabulary, and standard usage) Basic reading and writing skills (in both the traditional character set and the simplified) An understanding of the language learning process so that you are able to continue studying effectively on your own. The main text is Wheatley, J. K. Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin. Part I. (unpublished, but available online). (Part II of the book forms the basis of 21G.102 / 152, which is also published on OpenCourseWare.) Chinese Sequence on OCW OpenCourseWare now offers a complete sequence of four Chinese language courses, covering beginning to intermediate levels of instruction at MIT. They can be used not just as the basis for taught courses, but also for self-instruction and elementary-to-intermediate review. The four Chinese subjects provide the following materials: an online textbook in four parts, J. K. Wheatley's Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin; audio files of the main conversational and narrative material in this book; and syllabi and day-by-day schedules for each term. Course sequnce on OCW. CHINESE COURSES COURSE SITES Chinese I (Spring 2006) 21G.101/151 Chinese II (Spring 2006) 21G.102/152 Chinese III (Fall 2005) 21G.103 Chinese IV (Spring 2006) 21G.104