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Minds Abroad Beginners’ Survival Chinese Syllabus

 Length of the course: 9 weeks

Program Description: This course is for absolute beginners or those who know just a few words of Chinese. Emphasis is placed on tone differentiation and pronunciation as well as survival language skills so that students will develop both the good habits and confidence that come from successfully completing daily tasks in learning Mandarin. In addition, students will be able to read and write simplified Chinese characters and conduct short dialogues in Chinese.  This curriculum consists of three courses: reading and writing, listening and speaking and a third course that focuses on developing these 4 essential Chinese skills through discussing and learning about Chinese culture.  Classes are held 4 days a week for a total of 15 hours.  See below for a week-by-week breakdown of the priorities for each week:

Week One:
Students will learn pinyin, tones and spelling rules of pinyin this week. Basic words and survival topics will also be taught through practice in pronunciation and reading pinyin. The main aim of this week is to lay a foundation for the following week’s study. The Chinese culture course will focus on China’s culinary tradition and how it relates to Chinese culture as a whole.

Homework:
Writing and pronunciation practice of vocabulary

Week Two:
Students will learn five well-selected survival topics and related new words. Role playing and many other activities are arranged to practice useful dialogues. Some idiomatic expressions will be introduced and students will study the Chinese zodiac.

Homework:
1. Writing and pronunciation practice of vocabulary.
2. Practice dialogs with partner.

Week Three:
Students will continue to learn another five well-selected survival topics and related new words. Role playing and many other activities are arranged to practice useful dialogues. Additionally, students will review what has been learned. More idiomatic expressions and Chinese culture will be introduced.

Homework:
1. Writing and pronunciation practice of vocabulary.
2. Practice dialogs with partner.

Week Four
Students will review simplified Chinese characters and study more commonly used characters this week. The focus will be on character recognition and vocabulary expansion. Chinese cultures and idiomatic expressions will continue to be covered.

Homework:
1. Writing and pronunciation practice of vocabulary.
2. Practice dialogs with partner.

Week Five:
This week is designed to strengthen the communicative skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Students will have more activities with the teacher.

Homework:
1. Writing and pronunciation practice of vocabulary.
2. Practice dialogs with partner.

Week Six:
The same as Week Five. Also, students will be exposed to more situations to help develop their communication skills. Upon completion of this week, students should be able to communicate with the local Chinese people in daily dialogues.
 
Homework:
1. Writing and pronunciation practice of vocabulary.
2. Practice dialogs with partner.

Week Seven:
This week focuses on expanding vocabulary (both oral and written words). Our experienced teacher will make summaries of commonly used word categories. This will help students to remember many words effectively.

Homework:
1. Writing and pronunciation practice of vocabulary.
2. Practice dialogs with partner.

Week Eight:
During this week, students will review what has been learned in the previous two months. There will be more activities with our teacher, and the teacher can tailor the lessons according to the individual student’s requirements.

Homework:
1. Writing and pronunciation practice of vocabulary.
2. Practice dialogs with partner.

Week Nine:
Students will continue to review the topics they have learned in the preceding weeks and then will be given a test to evaluate what they have learned in the course of their studies.

Homework: Review and preparation for final exam.

Who is Minds Abroad?
Minds Abroad is a Mandarin school that provides a Chinese language study program in Kunming China. To learn Chinese with Minds Abroad, We offer a high quality Chinese language study program to students from all over the world who want to study abroad in China. With a well-designed curriculum and professional Chinese teachers, our Chinese classes aim at maintaining top Chinese teaching quality and maximizing your experiences of learning Mandarin in an interesting and effective way.