Summer Intensive Chinese Program

Ordering Your Books

  • There is no bookstore on campus. You may order textbooks through the vendor of your choice.
  • Order early so your books have time to arrive before the session begins.
  • Use your score from the diagnostic test as a guide. If you're unsure, you may want to purchase two sets of books and send one back after the session begins.

Elementary Chinese

The elementary class is designed for students with no or minimal knowledge of Chinese. The class uses a communicative approach to engage students in the learning process. Students are introduced to the Chinese pronunciation system (pinyin), basic grammar, and commonly-used Chinese characters. A typical day starts with a warm-up for the presentation of new material. After learning and practicing new material, students engage in functional and communicative activities, such as informal dialogue, role-play, and presentation to practice listening, speaking, reading, and writing  The goal is to improve students' overall ability to understand and use the language accurately and appropriately.

Elementary-Level Textbooks

**Please check with Chinese Coordinator before purchasing materials**

Required

Basic Spoken Chinese: An Introduction to Speaking and Listening for Beginners (Book & DVD)
Edition: 1st
ISBN-10: 0804840156
ISBN-13: 9780804840156
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

Basic Spoken Chinese Practice Essentials: An Introduction to Speaking and Listening for Beginners
Edition: 1st
ISBN-10: 0804840148
ISBN-13: 9780804840149
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

Basic Written Chinese: Move From Complete Beginner Level to Basic Proficiency (Book & CD)
Edition: 1st
ISBN-10: 0804840164
ISBN-13: 9780804840163
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

Basic Written Chinese Practice Essentials: An Introduction to Reading and Writing for Beginners (Book & CD)
Edition: 1st
ISBN-10: 0804840172
ISBN-13: 9780804840170
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

Intermediate Chinese

The intermediate class is designed for students with at least one year of recent college-level Chinese studies. Specifically, students should have the ability to understand and participate in questions and answers of everyday situations, to read and write sentences and short paragraphs on simple topics, have knowledge of basic sentence structures, and the ability to read and write, at least, the 400-500 most commonly used Chinese characters. Students are required to take a placement test at the start of the program. Placement is determined by students' language proficiency level, not the length of their previous studies.

The class uses a communicative approach to engage students in the learning process. A typical day starts with a warm-up for the presentation of new material. After learning and practicing new material, students often engage in interactive and functional activities, such as dialogues, role plays, problem solving, and discussions to practice listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The instruction is designed to improve students' overall ability to understand and use the language accurately and appropriately.

Intermediate-Level Textbooks

**Please check with Chinese Coordinator before purchasing materials**

Required

A New China: An Intermediate Reader of Modern Chinese
Edition: Revised
ISBN-10: 0691148368
ISBN-13: 9780691148366
Publisher: Princeton University Press

Supplementary CBI Materials (by Curriculum Coordinator)

Advanced Chinese

The Chinese advanced-level course is a content-driven course designed to provide students with the skills necessary to function effectively in both academic and professional environments. By the end of the program, students should achieve a level of proficiency that will enable them to express facts and opinions and engage in discussion on a broad range of topics related to Chinese society, culture, politics, history and other relevant content. This course will help students understand both formal and informal speech patterns, gather important information from news reports and interviews from radio and television broadcasts, read online news releases, and comprehend the gist of short book chapters and other authentic reading materials. Finally, this program should improve students' ability to write in Chinese. Upon completion of the program, students should be able to reproduce at least 2000 Chinese characters, use computers to type an essay in Chinese, and produce handwritten assignments ranging from 500-1000 words.

Advanced-Level Textbook

**Please check with Chinese Coordinator before purchasing materials**

Required

All Things Considered: An Advanced Reader of Modern Chinese
Edition: Revised
ISBN-10: 0691153108
ISBN-13: 9780691153100
Publisher: Princeton University Press

Supplementary CBI Materials (by Curriculum Coordinator)

Contact

SILP Chinese Language Coordinator