Beginning Chinese 2 — Instructor-Led for Independent Learners

Fall 2024 registration is now open. Classes begin the week of August 26, 2024.

14 weeks of Zoom classes and online course materials. Less than $7.00 per class!

Beginning Chinese 2 is a course for adult learners who have completed Beginning Chinese 1 or its equivalent, and want to continue learning Mandarin. This course is taught by Carnegie Mellon University faculty. This course is right for you if you have some experience speaking Mandarin and you would like to be able to practice speaking with an instructor. In this course, you will learn to make requests, order food, show people around, and make travel plans.

Participants can earn a certificate of completion if they meet the requirements.

Categories: All Course Materials (independent learners), Instructor-led Modern Language courses for independent learners, Language and Speech (independent learners)

Description

Beginning Chinese 2 is an introductory Mandarin Chinese course for independent learners, authored by Dr. Sue-mei Wu of Carnegie Mellon University. The course aims to help beginners continue to develop competence in listening, speaking, reading, writing, and Chinese culture. Each of the units is centered around an authentic video in Chinese. Students interact with the audio elements of the videos and are encouraged to explore the traditional and/or simplified character representations throughout the course.

Each lesson includes helpful vocabulary and grammar structures for topics such as making invitations, making requests, going to a restaurant, going shopping, showing people around, talking about hobbies, making travel plans, going to the doctor, renting an apartment, and talking about future plans. Cultural readings and videos help learners to make connections between Chinese culture and their own culture(s). Lessons culminate in a lesson test where learners can practice that lesson’s content.

Click here for information on instructor-led language courses

Additional software or materials required:

You will be required to use videoconferencing software, such as Zoom, which you will be able to use for free with the link that your instructor provides you.

Lesson structure:

Each lesson includes helpful vocabulary and grammar structures for navigating greetings and introductions, describing one’s family and friends, and talking about daily activities. Cultural readings and videos help learners to make connections between Chinese culture and their own culture(s). Lessons culminate in a lesson test where learners can practice that lesson’s content.

Instructor-led course features

Instructor-Led Courses

$97per student

Instructor-led OLI courses enable independent learners to study a subject over a 15-week period with a weekly live class on Zoom with their instructor and peers. Courses are:
- Taught by a Carnegie Mellon University Instructor
- Not self-paced. There will be weekly deadlines and students will complete approximately one lesson per week.
- Include a certificate of completion
Includes the learning materials and assessments, weekly live class on Zoom (60 minutes), weekly emails, and the ability to contact the instructor for questions
Certificate of Completion (70% or more on exams) or Certificate with Distinction (90% or more on exams) available to learners meeting the requirements
*If your teacher gave you a Course Key, do not use an Independent Paid course because your teacher will never see your work.

Important dates

You can register in Beginner Chinese 2 — Instructor-Led for Independent Learners at any time through August 29, 2024.

Start date: August 27, 2024
End date: December 9, 2024

NOTE: Please visit the Zoom class schedule tab for information on your live Zoom meetings

Zoom class schedule

Meet with your instructor and peers via Zoom:

Thursdays from 4-5:00pm Eastern Time (ET)

Use a time zone conversion tool to convert this to your local time.

What students will learn

By the end of this course, students will learn to:

Identify the main ideas in a conversation and a written text
Use written and oral phrases to talk about the past, present, and future
Make cultural comparisons through writing and speaking about health, vacation, and political opinions
Give and receive advice about a variety of topics

Learning objectives by module

Unit 1: Invitations

Module 1: Main Content

- - Make and accept invitations to events

Module 2: Listening

- - Translate sentences from Chinese to English

Module 3: Grammar

- - Talk about days months and years
  - Use the preposition 為 to talk about how to do something for somebody

Module 4: Reading Exercises

- - Recognize times and dates from a short text

Module 5: Consolidation Exercises

- - Describe street signs

Module 6: Culture Link

- - Make cultural comparisons about dating

Module 7: Unit Test

Unit 2: Making Requests

Module 8: Main Content

- - Request information in formal and informal contexts

Module 9: Listening

- - Recognize the pinyin used for new vocabulary words

Module 10: Grammar

- - Use optative verbs to discuss wish, desire, obligation, capability, possession, or permission
  - Use 多 to express continued action
  - Use 先…然後…再 to express actions in a sequence

Module 11: Reading Exercises

- - Identify supporting information in a short text

Module 12: Consolidation Exercises

- - Identify how to make and respond to a request

Module 13: Culture Link

- - Discuss differences between public restrooms in the US and China

Module 14: Unit Test

Unit 3: Restaurant

Module 15: Main Content

- - Decide where to go to eat with a friend
  - Order food at a restaurant

Module 16: Listening

- - Translate the main ideas from an audio source.

Module 17: Grammar

- - Employ 還是 and 或者 to express alternative choices
  - Use 杯瓶盤碗雙 as measure word classifiers
  - Employ 極了 as an intensifier

Module 18: Reading Exercises

- - Analyze supporting information in a text.

Module 19: Consolidation Exercises

- - Interpret a Chinese menu

Module 20: Culture Link

- - Discuss the differences between Chinese food and Western food

Module 21: Unit Test

Unit 4: Shopping

Module 22: Main Content

- - Employ vocabulary to talk about clothing and sizes

Module 23: Listening

- - Distinguish prices for a variety of items when listening to an audio source

Module 24: Grammar

- - Determine when to employ 量詞: 件, 條, 雙 as measure word classifiers
  - Use reduplication of verbs with 看
  - Employ “好+V: “好看,好吃”; “好學, 好開””

Module 25: Reading Exercises

- - Distinguish the main idea based on a short text

Module 26: Consolidation Exercises

- - Recognize key words in a short conversation about clothing

Module 27: Culture Link

- - Compare cultural wedding traditions

Module 28: Unit Test

Unit 5: Showing People Around

Module 29: Main Content

- - Ask and describe where things are located

Module 30: Listening

- - Respond to cardinal directions

Module 31: Grammar

- - Use position words ( 前後左右上下裡外旁 (邊), 中間, 對面) to describe where things are located
  - Express location with 在, 有 and 是

Module 32: Reading Exercises

- - Employ context clues to understand new words

Module 33: Consolidation Exercises

Describe one’s housing arrangements

Module 34: Culture Link

- - Compare and contrast principles of interior design (i.e., Fengshui)

Module 35: Unit Test

Unit 6: Hobbies & Sports

Module 36: Main Content

- - Describe one’s hobbies, sports, and interests

Module 37: Listening

- - Identify what others enjoy doing when listening to audio

Module 38: Grammar

- - Employ 得 to tell how an action is performed
  - Use the ordinal numbers to describe in what order actions occurred
  - Give examples with 比如
  - Use 最 to indicate a superlative

Module 39: Reading Exercises

- - Recognize vocabulary for the different sports

Module 40: Consolidation Exercises

- - Describe cultural leisure practices

Module 41: Culture link

- - Compare and contrast sports culture in China and one’s own culture

Module 42: Unit test

Unit 7: Travel Plans

Module 43: Main Content

- - Discuss weather and seasons

Module 44: Listening

- - Identify the supporting details in an audio segment

Module 45: Grammar

- - Explain events that are about to happen with 就/快要……了
  - Use 離 +很遠(近) to indicate distance
  - Talk about vehicles with 坐, 騎and 開

Module 46: Reading Exercises

- - Recognize vocabulary for travel expressions

Module 47: Consolidation Exercises

Describe travel plans

Module 49: Unit Test

Unit 8: An Illness

Module 50: Main Content

- - Talk about sickness and going to the doctor

Module 51: Listening

- - Recognize pinyin for common expressions

Module 52: Grammar

- - Describe past action and new situations with 了
  - Indicate possession, degree, and adverbs with 的, 得 and 地

Module 53: Consolidation Exercises

- - Identify vocabulary for discussing illness

Module 54: Culture Link

- - Compare and contrast health practices in China and one’s own culture

Module 55: Unit Test

Unit 9: Renting an Apartment

Module 56: Main Content

- - Discuss lodging details and costs

Module 57: Listening

- - Translate the main ideas of a short audio

Module 58: Grammar

- - Indicate motion with 趨向補語
  - Stress effects of an action with Ba 把 construction

Module 59: Reading Exercises

- - Identify the causes and effects in a short text

Module 60: Consolidation Exercises

- - Identify the causes and effects in a short audio

Module 61: Unit Test

Unit 10: Future Plans

Module 62: Main Content

- - Talk about plans for the future
  - Describe work and study

Module 63: Listening

- - Understand conversations related to the future

Module 64: Grammar

- - Review measure words
  - Review conjunctions
  - Review verb aspects

Module 65: Reading Exercises

- - Recognize the details in a short text

Module 66: Consolidation Exercises

- - Identify future plans
Module 67: Unit Test

Course Author:

Sue-mei Wu, Carnegie Mellon University

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

System requirements

OLI system requirements, regardless of course:

internet access
an operating system that supports the latest browser update
the latest browser update (Chrome recommended; Firefox, Safari supported; Edge and Internet Explorer are supported but not recommended)
pop-ups enabled
cookies enabled

Some courses include exercises with exceptions to these requirements, such as technology that cannot be used on mobile devices.

This course’s system requirements:

Videoconferencing software