Chinese Courses

       (under construction)
      CHIN105

      Elementary Chinese (I) (Mandarin)

      This course provides a basic training in Chinese (Mandarin) in the four language skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Specifically, it aims to help students achieve an elementary level of proficiency in Chinese character writing/recognition, pronunciation (Pinyin Romanization), basic daily conversation, and basic reading. The course focuses on:
      • the basic grammatical structure of the language;
      • Chinese character writing/recognition (simplified characters);
      • Basic Conversation (speaking & listening comprehension) covering such topics as: greeting, introduction/self-introduction, talking about family, hobbies, and daily activities, asking for information, making appointments, making phone calls, telling time and dates;
      • Reading simple, short paragraphs (in simplified characters).

      By the end of the semester, students should have commanded around 310 characters and phrases to engage in a basic daily conversation.
       
       
      CHIN106
      Elementary/Intermediate Chinese (II) (Mandarin) 
      This course is a continuation of CHIN105. The purpose of the course is to help students continue their study of the Chinese language in all four areas of language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Specifically, it aims to help students achieve an elementary to intermediate level of proficiency in Chinese character writing/recognition, pronunciation, daily conversation and basic reading. The course focuses on:
      • Grammar --- master basic sentence structures for the purpose of daily conversation, basic reading;
      • Conversation & Listening Comprehension --- respond to oral questions, engage in simple conversations in a variety of real-life situations such as shopping, school life, talking about the weather, dining, asking directions, attending a party;
      • Reading --- read short passages or notes concerning daily life in both characters (simplified version) and Pinyin;
      • Writing --- continue to practice writing simplified characters. 

      By the end of the semester, students should have commanded around 250 new characters and/or phrases in order to engage in a basic daily conversation.
      Prerequisite: CHIN105.
       
       
      CHIN107

      Intermediate Chinese (I) (Mandarin)

      This course is designed to help students continue their study of the Chinese language in all four areas of language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing at an intermediate level. The course accentuates a continued practice of Chinese character writing, grammar, vocabulary building, daily conversation, reading and basic writing (brief narration and description). The course is focused on:
      • Grammar --- master advanced sentence structures for the purpose of daily conversation, basic writing and reading;
      • Conversation & Listening Comprehension --- respond to oral questions, engage in simple conversations in a variety of real-life situations such as traveling, talking about sports, seeing a doctor, dating, asking for directions, attending parties, chance meeting at a post office, renting an apartment;
      • Reading --- read short passages or notes concerning daily life in both characters and Pinyin;
      • Writing --- write short paragraphs (narration and description)

      By the end of this session, students should have commanded around 350 new characters and/or phrases in order to engage in a sophisticated daily conversation
      Prerequisite: CHIN106.
       
       

       
      CHIN200

      Intermediate Chinese (II) (Mandarin) 

      This course aims at a further development of all four language skills which the students have acquired from the 100-level CHIN courses. In particular, the course emphasizes a further study of advanced Chinese grammar and basic essay writing. In this course students will not only learn authentic Chinese in terms of idiomatic usages, familiar sayings, and sophisticated grammar structure, but get to know Chinese society and culture as well. Both simplified and traditional Chinese character versions will be used in this class. Students can choose whichever version they like. All the quizzes, tests, and exams will appear in both versions.

      By the end of this course, students should have commanded around 250 new words and/or phrases in order to engage in a linguistically and culturally sophisticated communication in Chinese.
      Prerequisite: CHIN107.
       

       CHIN 205 

      Chinese Conversation 

      This course is designed for students who have learned basic language skills from CHIN107 or beyond (CHIN200). The course aims to develop conversational skills in Mandarin Chinese by means of oral reports on and discussions of a variety of topics; including family, school, and work life. Students will use exciting materials for group discussion including excerpts from the newspaper and TV news, in addition to the textbook. The course will require grammar review and written work where appropriate. Also offered as an Honors course.

      Prerequisite: CHIN107.
      FLLT321

      Anti-Heroes in Modern Chinese Literature

      This course introduces students to the image of anti-heroes in modern Chinese literature, a counter-tradition endemic to the heroic discourse in Confucian orthodoxy and the government-endorsed ideology of socialism. Through studying the literary representation of various types of anti-heroes: the aesthete, the self-abandoned, the marginal woman, the estranged, the defeated, the superfluous, the social outcast, etc., the course examines the trajectory of a modern anti-hero literature, one that was born of modern Chinese writers’ endeavor to search for an individual “self” vis-à-vis a collective identity. The course demonstrates how the sociopolitical conditions of modern China have shaped this anti-hero literature and how societal transformations have yielded value alternatives. The comparative perspective the course adopts will enable students to have a profound understanding of how the literary representation of anti-heroes is historicized and contextualized. Selected films will be shown to complement and enhance such study.

      Prerequisites: None. Fulfills Multicultural Requirement. Honors Section available.

       
       
      FLLT321

      Love, Death, and Gender in Chinese Films

      This course introduces students to the treatment of recurring themes in Chinese films such as those related to various forms of love, death, and gender roles. Specifically, the course examines issues of love (passion, desire, and revenge), death, sexuality, masculinity and femininity in relation to those of duty (filial piety, loyalty to the state, etc.), politics and nationalism. The course, in particular, focuses on the issues of gender politics and female sexuality of various ideological persuasions and psychological dispositions and on how such issues are articulated cinematically. The cinematic representation of these themes is studied both from historical and contemporary perspectives. The course not only introduces students to Chinese culture/society through the cinematic viewpoint, but acquaints them with a knowledge of Chinese film aesthetic and filmmaking on the other. The comparative approach adopted in the course will enable students to explore and appreciate differences and similarities between Chinese and Western cultures in terms of the issues to be discussed. 

      Prerequisites: None. Fulfills Group A Arts & Science requirement. Honors Section and A&S Second Writing Option also available.

       

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      Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
      103 Jastak-Burgess Hall, University of Delaware,
      Newark DE 19716-2550
      (302) 831-6882

            For questions and/or comments, please contact Renee Dong.