A basic introduction to speaking, listening, reading and writing Modern Standard Chinese. Includes intensive student-oriented drills in pronunciation. Hanyu Pinyin is introduced, an internationally recognized system of phonetic spelling for Chinese.
Students enrolling in this course are usually heritage learners who have a fluent spoken level of Chinese. They will continue to build their skills in reading and writing Mandarin Chinese on various topics.
Basics
In this class you will learn basic Mandarin Chinese vocabulary, structures and pronunciation. You will learn to greet people, introduce yourself and others, talk about your family and friends, count numbers, ask for directions, order food in a restaurant, and express likes and dislikes.
You will build on your 111 class training, developing fundamental listening, speaking and reading abilities. You will also study approximately 250 new words and 30 grammar patterns. Continued development of mastery over Pinyin pronunciation and computer-based exercises are an important part of this course. Class activities may include calligraphy competitions and Chinese movie shows to enhance students’ knowledge of language and culture.
This accelerated first-year course is designed for students who are of non-Chinese heritage or were raised in a non-Chinese-speaking environment and can communicate in Chinese orally on topics of general interest, and who can read simple passages in written Chinese. Topics will include everyday vernacular Chinese, and more formal language and cultural studies.
Pinyin
Pinyin was invented by Zhou Youguang in the 1950s and is now the standard romanization for the Chinese language. It is used all over the world and is taught in all Chinese schools before learning Chinese characters. It has greatly improved the ability for non-native speakers to learn Chinese and has also allowed illiterate Chinese people to read their own language.
Each character in pinyin consists of one syllable, and a syllable consists of an initial and a final. The initials are like consonants in English, while the finals carry tone marks. There are 23 consonants and 35 vowels, including 6 simple and 29 compound vowels.
For example, if you see a syllable that has the final -iou, this indicates that the syllable is in a flat or level tone. If a syllable ends in a dummy vowel (like m+iou), it means the tone is falling then rising.
Tones
Tone in Chinese is a crucial concept, as it determines the meaning of a word. There are four tones (plus a neutral tone) and each has a unique pitch level. Syllables with different tones have a different pronunciation as well.
Some students might think that tones are not as important as everybody claims, especially if they make mistakes and can’t hear the difference between their own tones. But that’s only because they haven’t practiced enough tones!
The best way to train your ears is by listening to clearly pronounced words and sentences. Try listening to a radio station that focuses on Chinese news, music or culture programs, or even watch some YouTube videos with subtitles in Chinese. It’s also a good idea to listen to your classmates and friends who speak Chinese, as they are likely to pronounce their own words correctly. Getting your tones right is one of the most challenging things to learn in Chinese, but it’s definitely worth the effort! You can learn more about this on ripetizione cinese.
Vocabulary
Developing your vocabulary is one of the most important aspects of learning chinese. A wide repertoire of words allows you to express yourself more clearly, and also helps improve listening skills by enabling you to better understand spoken Chinese. It also makes it easier to understand written chinese by allowing you to recognize and appreciate various nuances and contexts in texts.
The syllable structure of Chinese is unique in that it has a nucleus (which can be monophthong, diphthong, or even a triphthong in some varieties), preceded by an onset (consonant or consonant + glide), and followed by a coda consonant. These morphemes form words, and each word has its own meaning.
To learn vocabulary more efficiently, it is helpful to use flash cards or create mnemonic devices to help you remember them. Also, you should try to practice your new words on a daily basis and never give up! You will see that with persistence, you can easily master the basic Chinese language.