This course is a continuation of Beginning Chinese II or the equivalent. The goal is to train you to function successfully in Chinese culture because we assume that you are interested in interacting with Chinese people in a way that will permit you to pursue professional goals in some segment of a Chinese society. Whether you are speaking, reading, or writing, your daily performance will be the crucial factor in how well you do in this class.
We endorse performance-based learning and assessment; if you do what we ask of you on a daily basis, you will learn Chinese. Our evaluation (i.e., your grades) will be based on your daily performances, including doing certain amount of what is known as “cold reading” where a student is expected to memorize a short paragraph by heart and write it out. We do language, not merely learn it.
The basic training you receive should enable you to enlarge your vocabulary beyond the scope of the textbook. It is your responsibility to make sure that you know what transpires in class and raise questions if you do not. The class is only as good as we make it.