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Course Description

Summary

All the children of one's parents' siblings are all just called cousin in English. However in Chinese there is a different word for each particular relationship. This stems from how in traditional Chinese Confucian culture each individual's duties and obligations towards others are dictated by their relationships, with family relationships being the most important. But then in Chinese everyone is da jia, literally big family. By studying the etymology and morphology of the most basic Chinese characters students will simultaneously gain insights into traditional Chinese cultural values. This course introduces students to spoken and written Mandarin Chinese, paying particular attention to practical vocabulary and sentence patterns. Students learn the Pinyin (romanized) system of writing and to read and write the most basic Chinese characters. After they master 200 characters, students are able to create skits and write short essays about their daily lives. By the end of the term they are able to recognize up to 500 Chinese characters.