Chinese 101                                                                                                                             Fall 2009

 

Course Name: Beginning Chinese I (10AM: with background, 11AM:  no background)

 

With background=some exposure to some dialect of Chinese from home or other environments; may not be able to speak Mandarin)

 

There are two tracks for the first two years of Chinese instruction, one for people with some background and another for those who start without any prior exposure to Chinese.  It is to your advantage and to the benefit of all other students that you sign up for the right track.  The two tracks have different priorities: the ‘with-background’ track focus more on reading and writing (i.e., literacy in Chinese), whereas the ‘no-background’ track will need to work on all four skills. 

 

Instructor: Dr. Zheng-sheng Zhang

Office: BA326;

Office hours: MTTh: 12:00-1:00 and by appointment

Phone: 594-1912 (w/voice mail);

Fax: 594-4877 (attn. Zhang); 

Email: zzhang@mail.sdsu.edu

 

SDSU Chinese Program: http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/chinese

Other General Tools: http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/chinese/tools.html

 

Textbook:      

Yao et al. : Integrated Chinese Level 1, Part 1(3rd Edition), Cheng & Tsui.

Workbook for Level 1, Part 1,

 

Supplemental online materials (http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/chinese/ICL1P1.htm):

            Text with sound clips

            Animated characters made with E-stroke

            Interactive translation exercise

            Pinyin puzzle

            Character puzzle

 

Help with tones and Pinyin:

Wavesurfer: http://www.speech.kth.se/wavesurfer/ (free download)

Interactive Pinyin Practice: www.pinyinpractice.com

 

Help with character analysis:

            http://zhongwen.com/

 

Help with character writing:

Free Animated characters: http://www.csulb.edu/~xie/azi/page1.htm

E-stroke: http://www.eon.com.hk/estroke/ (demo download)

  

Help with character typing:

Typing Chinese with MS Word (for tests/homework, except character-writing practice):

How to configure your PC: http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/chinese/ChineseXP.htm

How to use: http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/chinese/MsWordChinese.htm

 

Typing Chinese with Njstar (for tests/homework, except character-writing practice):

Demo version download: www.njstar.com.au

How to use: http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/chinese/njstar.htm

Some tips: http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/chinese/njstartip.htm

 

Language Lab (where you will practice, do homework, and take tests):

BA410 (Mac Wing, please reboot and use pc mode)

BA419 (PC wing,)

 

Requirements:

Character writing (turn in photo copies of workbook pages): 10% (over 1.2% each)

Oral assignments (both hard copy and online submission): 15% (about 2% each)

Written assignments (both hard copy and online submission): 15% (about 2% each)

Chapter tests: 30% (6 in all, 5% each)

Mid-term (take-hone and in-class; oral and written): 10%

Final (take-hone and in-class; oral and written): 10%

Attendance/participation: 10%

 

The Lesson Cycle (8 class hours for each chapter):

Presentation/explanation of key points

Presentation/explanation of key points

Presentation/explanation of key points, character writing due

Practice of key points

Practice of key points, oral homework due

Practice of key points, Feedback on oral homework, written homework due

Review of key points, Feedback on written homework, test preparation

Chapter test (oral, written)

 

Important rules:

No copying of homework from classmates!

No make-up work unless with valid excuse!

 

Important test dates:

10/20: Mid-term

12/18: 8:00-10:00 Final for 10am class

12/14: 10:30-12:30 Final for 11am class

 

Note on Test-taking:

All tests will be taken in the language lab (BAM 410).  Please familiarize yourself with typing and recording by doing some homework assignments there first. 

You need to download tests from the Blackboard site; so bring user name/password for the tests.

 

CSU Employee Furloughs - Impact on Classes

This year across this campus and around the CSU system some class days will be cancelled because of furloughs. A furlough is mandatory un-paid time off; faculty and staff on each CSU campus are being "furloughed" two days per month.

 

These cancelled class days are marked on your syllabus below. It is important to recognize that these days off are not holidays. Instead, they are concrete examples of how massive state budget cuts have consequences for you as students and for me as a faculty member.

 

The CSU has suffered chronic under-funding for at least 10 years. This year the budget cuts are the worst in the history of the CSU system -- $584 million or 20% of our budget.

 

The CSU administration is attempting to deal with these cuts with huge increases in your student fees (32%), elimination of your classes, and lay-offs of faculty and other university employees.

 

In addition to paying higher fees, you will be affected by reduced services and classes. The library will have shorter hours. Many campus support services will be decreased or eliminated. It will be more difficult to get signatures to meet deadlines. Classes you need may have been cut from the class schedule or are full. 

 

Day to day Calendar (subject to changes; homework due dates and tests dates in bold)

 

Week 1:

 

August 31         Monday, Introduction

September 1     Tuesday, Lesson 1

September 2     Wednesday, Lesson 1,

September 3     Thursday, Lesson 1, character homework due

September 4     Friday (furlough day)

 

Week 2:

 

September 7     Monday, ( Holiday)

September 8     Tuesday, Lesson 1, oral homework due

September 9     Wednesday, Lesson 1, written homework due

September 10   Thursday, Lesson 1

September 11   Friday, Lesson 1, test 1

 

Week 3:

 

September 14   Monday, Lesson 2

September 15   Tuesday, Lesson 2

September 16   Wednesday, Lesson 2, character homework due

September 17   Thursday, Lesson 2

September 18   Friday (furlough day)

 

Week 4:

 

September 21   Monday, Lesson 2, oral homework due

September 22   Tuesday Lesson 2, written homework due

September 23   Wednesday Lesson 2

September 24   Thursday Lesson 2, test 2

September 25   Friday Lesson 3

 

Week 5:

 

September 28   Monday, Lesson 3

September 29   Tuesday, Lesson 3, character homework due

September 30   Wednesday, Lesson 3

October 1        Thursday, Lesson 3, oral homework due

October 2        Friday (furlough day)

 

Week 6:

 

October 5        Monday, Lesson 3, written homework due

October 6        Tuesday, Lesson 3

October 7        Wednesday, Lesson 3, test 3

October 8        Thursday, Lesson 4

October 9        Friday, Lesson 4

 

Week 7:

 

October 12      Monday, Lesson 4, character homework due

October 13      Tuesday, Lesson 4

October 14      Wednesday, Lesson 4, oral homework due

October 15      Thursday, Lesson 4, written homework due

October 16      Friday (furlough day)

 

Week 8:

 

October 19      Monday, Lesson 4

October 20      Mid-term (in-class portion)

October 21      Wednesday, Lesson 5

October 22      Thursday, Lesson 5

October 23      Friday, Lesson 5, character homework due

 

Week 9:

 

October 26      Monday, Lesson 5

October 27      Tuesday, Lesson 5, oral homework due

October 28      Wednesday, Lesson 5, written homework due

October 29      Thursday, Lesson 5

October 30      Friday, Test 4

 

 

Week 10:

 

November 2     Monday, Lesson 6

November 3     Tuesday, Lesson 6

November 4     Wednesday, Lesson 6, character homework due

November 5     Thursday, Lesson 6

November 6     Friday, Lesson 6, oral homework due

 

Week 11:

 

November 9     Monday, Lesson 6, written homework due

November 10   Tuesday, Lesson 6

November 11   Wednesday, (holiday)

November 12   Thursday, Lesson 6, Test 5

November 13   Friday (furlough day)

 

Week 12:

 

November 16   Monday, Lesson 7

November 17   Tuesday, Lesson 7

November 18   Wednesday, Lesson 7, character homework due

November 19   Thursday, Lesson 7

November 20   Friday, Lesson 7, oral homework due

 

Week 13:

 

November 23   Monday, Lesson 7, written homework due

November 24   Tuesday, Lesson 7

November 25   Wednesday, (furlough day)

November 26   Thursday (Holiday)

November 27   Friday (Holiday)

 

Week 14:

 

November 30   Monday, Lesson 7, Test 6

December 1     Tuesday, Lesson 8

December 2     Wednesday, Lesson 8

December 3     Thursday, Lesson 8 character homework due

December 4     Friday Lesson 8

 

Week 15:

 

December 7     Monday, Lesson 8, oral homework due

December 8     Tuesday, Lesson 8 written homework due

December 9     Wednesday, Lesson 8

December 10   Thursday, Final review

December 11   Friday, Final review