Introduction to Chinese Language and Culture

Course goals

• speak basic Chinese at a beginner’s level,
• read around 200 Chinese characters and write 100 Chinese characters,
• summarize the generals of Chinese culture and history,
• discuss the complexities involved in modern Chinese day-to-day life.

Relationship between assessment and learning goals:

In this course, the final course grade is based on five elements: quizzes/assignments, a final oral exam, a final written exam (listening, reading and writing), a presentation and an essay.

1. Quizzes/assignments: the quizzes test how well you have mastered the new words and characters (in total 200 characters for reading and 100 characters for writing), while the assignments help you to exercise how to use the words in contexts.
2. Final oral exam: this tests your pronunciation and ability to make basic dialogues and describe simple situations in Chinese. 
3. Final written exam: this tests your listening, reading and writing skills at a basic level. 
4. Presentation: this helps you to have a general overview of one period in Chinese history or a cultural element, and tests your ability to present and discuss the topic.
5. Essay: this gives you the chance to gain insight into one cultural/historical/political topic that you are interested in, and to be able to discuss the complexities involved in modern Chinese day-to-day life.

Content

This course counts towards the UCU Language & Culture requirement. UCINTCHI13 is the track starter for China Studies.

China is hot. It is in the news almost every day; high school curricula often now include Chinese courses. This is not exactly surprising, considering China is a vast country experiencing an economic boom threatening to rock the country’s cultural base that has been developing for a millennia.
This course integrates Chinese language and culture, by using materials from Chinese culture, history and actuality to support language teaching. It was designed especially for those UCU students following a track in Chinese language and culture and preparing for their study abroad program in China. It is, however, also suitable for all students interested in Chinese language and culture.

Format
Language and culture classes meet twice a week for 1 hour and 45 minutes, one part of which is devoted to language acquisition, and one part to culture. However, these components are integrated as much as possible. Language skills are tested every two weeks through written quizzes on Thursday. The culture component will be graded on the basis of presentation, class participation and one short essay on topic of the student’s choosing. The final exam consists of both a written and oral section.

All quizzes and assignments together count for 20% of your final grade. You will already receive a partial grade for some of these quizzes before the midterm break so you know how you’re doing. At the end of the course, this partial grade will be corrected to include the additional quizzes you did during the remainder of the course.

Enrolment
For visiting students from other UU faculties or other institutions, please refer to https://www.uu.nl/en/organisation/university-college-utrecht/how-to-apply/visiting-students for the general application procedure.
Please note UCU's different semester dates: https://students.uu.nl/en/university-college-utrecht/academics/academic-calendar
Once you've submitted supporting documentation, your admission is by permission of the course coordinator.