Chinese Class


For Students With Chinese Speaking Environment at Home

The following classes (Kindergarten, 1-12 Grades) are towards those who have Chinese-speaking environment at home. The class will be most taught in Chinese, and textbooks do not have English translation. The focus of the class is not limited to the speaking, also includes reading and writing. Usually, kids need help on homework from someone who are fluent in both spoken and written Chinese.

1. 1-12 Grades: (two 50 minutes lessons each week)

Textbooks: The textbook used is Zhong Wen, published by Ji Nan University. It is designed for students learning Chinese overseas. It has vol.1 to vol.12.

Learning Path: The grade of class is named after the volume number of the textbook, for example, 2nd grade uses vol.2, and 8th grade use vol.8, and so on. Each semester, each class finishes half of one volume, thus it finishes the whole book in one year. Starting Grade 9, one volume of the textbook will be taught per semester. That is, the 9th grade student will finish both vol.9 and vol.10, while the 11th grade student will finish both vol.11 and vol.12. Therefore, all 12 volumes of the textbook will be taught in 10 years of study. Each semester contains 15 weeks of lectures including one mid term exam and one final exam. Quizzes are given through out the semester. Homework is assigned for each week.

PinYin: PinYin is an integral part of the curriculum. The text is a set of two books: one textbook and one exercise book. Students learn PinYin at the same time they learn the regular language texts. It is taught using the PinYin textbook during the first 4 volumes of the regular texts. After that, starting from vol. 5 of the regular book, PinYin will still be emphasized and reviewed.

Requirements:

  1. for the 1st grade, a student must be 6 years of age or older by the time the semester begins. If within 3 months, please ask principal for approval.
  2. to understand some Chinese.
  3. New Student: If a student has learned Chinese from other similar Chinese schools in U.S., he/she can directly go to a class of his/her current level. In this case, please use the textbook as a reference. If he/she has never had Chinese language education before, his/her age will be used to assign him/her to a class. If under 7, he/she may consider first grade. Otherwise, consult school for an appropriate class.

2. Kindergarten Classes: (two 50 minutes lessons each week)

Goal: The class is designed to prepare students getting used to the formal Chinese learning environment which begins at 1st grade. It is designed to make students interested in Chinese at early ages. There is no formal textbook for this class. But teachers will use pictures, simple Chinese characters, some basic PinYin through out the course.

Kindergarten requirement:

  1. 5 years of age or older by the time semester begins.
  2. to understand some Chinese