Center
for Chinese Language and Culture Studies
(Mandarin
Training Center)
National
Taiwan Normal University
Course:
Practical Audio-Visual Chinese Vol. I
Description:
This volume is designed for
those who have no basic knowledge of Chinese and ideograph. There are 25 lessons
in this book. Each lesson contains 2 paragraphs of conversation, and another
narrative since lesson 9. Syntax practice and combination practice also play an
important role in this book. Students who use this book can acquire language
skills in modern Chinese, from listening and speaking to reading and writing.
The
content of conversation varies a lot, including everyday greetings, self
introduction, shopping, entertainment, travelling, talking about weather, sports
and more. All texts are articulated in MPS(Mandarin Phonetic Symbols) and Pinyin
system. English translations are also provided for student’s reference.
This
volume comes complete with student’s workbook, audio tapes and video
cassettes. It is suited for a six-month course at ten hours a week of classroom
instruction. After completing this text, students should have learned
approximately 615 Chinese characters, 890 vocabulary words and 90 grammatical
patterns.
Course: Practical Audio-Visual Chinese
Vol. 2
Description:
This book uses
dialogues between university students about their campus activities and
associated holidays, to allow students to be able to use Chinese to have a
variety of assorted discussions. Given
that situations are different in each country and that in recent years more
Americans have been studying Chinese, the compilers of this book have chosen
America as a backdrop and the teaching material is different than other Chinese
textbooks.
This book also
gives brief instructions of Taiwan’s history, geography, society and few
Chinese customs, in the hopes that students will learn differences between
Chinese and non-Chinese culture.
The book has 28 chapters, and is suited for a 25-week course, but
instructors can choose to skip certain lessons.
After completing this book, students should have learned approximately
900 Chinese characters and more than 1,800 vocabulary words.
More than 250 grammatical patterns are also included.
Course:
Practical Audio-Visual Chinese Vol. 3
Description:
This
volume, which follows “Practical Audio-Visual Chinese Vol. 1&2”, is
designed to help the students upgrade their language skills and widen their
knowledge of Chinese culture and customs simultaneously.
This
volume consists of 20 lessons. 17 lessons of Narrative constitute the main part
and 3 lessons are presented in the form of broadcast play. The content varies a
lot, including Chinese culture, traditional drama, philology, medicine, science,
environmental sanitation, consumption, relaxation, and etc. Each lesson consists
of 8 parts: (1) main text (2) vocabulary (3) idioms (4) sentence patterns (5)
questions for discussion (6) practice exercises (7) reading and discussing (8)
selected reading(optional). This compilation encourages students to express
themselves by actually using Chinese.
This
volume could be finished in 6 months for a 10-hour course per week. A
student’s workbook and video tapes are available for more practices.
Course:
Far East Everyday Chinese Vol. I
Description:
This
volume is designed for English-speaking people to learn Chinese as a second
language. With its 12 chapters, it provides the learners with texts in modern
standard Chinese. Each of them is equipped with a variety of exercises in
phonetics, grammar, contextual meaning and usage to help the learners improve
their communicative skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing, and
achieve the objective of second language acquisition.
Each
chapter is constituted by 9 sections, which are (1) dialogues (2) vocabulary (3)
notes (4) grammar (5) aural comprehension drill (6) variety exercises (7) try to
guess (8) authentic material (9) translation of the dialogues. Within these
sections, (5), (7), and (8) are worth being introduced especially because of the
intention of adopting the metacognitive strategy into a language textbook.
This
volume comes complete with a student workbook, a teacher’s manual, a character
guide, tape cassettes, and multi-media material.
Course:
Far East Everyday Chinese Vol. II
Description:
This
Book II, following the Far East Everyday Chinese Book I, maintains its
authenticity and practicality to meet the needs of efficiency- demanding
learners in accordance with the philosophy of the former compilation. The goal
of this volume is to provide materials, with 12 units, to facilitate the
learners to improve their communicative skills in listening, speaking, reading
and writing in modern standard Chinese in daily life.
Each
chapter is constituted by 10 sections, which are (1) dialogues (2) vocabulary
(3) notes (4) grammar (5) aural comprehension drill (6) variety exercises (7)
reading comprehension (8) try to guess (9) authentic material (10) translation
of the dialogues. Section (7) is a new portion comparing to Book I. It is
composed of the vocabulary used in the text, in the form of realistic documents,
such as letters and diaries, and is followed by questions based on the
narrative. The main goal of this section is to enhance learners’ reading
ability with their increasing amount of vocabulary.
Like
Book I, this volume also comes complete with a student workbook, a teacher’s
manual, tape cassettes, and multi-media material.
Course:
Beginning Chinese Readings
Description:
This
course is designed for those who can speak and understand Chinese but cannot
read or write Chinese characters. Lessons
focus on real life experiences. The
teaching material does not resemble other beginning Chinese texts because it is
not restricted to fundamental elements of learning Chinese and its content is
not as simple as primary school textbooks.
There
are 14 lessons in the book suited for a 14-week course.
Each lesson contains text, vocabulary and usages, grammar and sentence
pattern, supplemental information. A
supplementary reading is applied as review after every three lessons. Besides,
the exercise book includes writing characters, sentence patterns, making
sentence, character correction and word games, providing various practice for
students.
After
completing this text, students should have learned approximately 700 Chinese
characters and more than 1500 vocabulary words. More than 150 grammatical patterns are also included.
Course:
Practical Chinese Dialogues II
Description:
This
volume contains 24 lessons in total. Each of them consists of six parts: (1)
text (2) words and phrases (3) practice of vocabulary usage (4) syntax and
grammatical notes (5) oral practice (6) questions and discussions.
The
text is based on everyday situations which foreign students might run into,
including registration, banking, shopping, talking about weather, getting a job,
renting a house and more. Students will learn 520 new characters through this
book. All texts are articulated in MPS(Mandarin Phonetic Symbols), and all the
vocabulary in the Yale Romanization system also.
This
book is suited for a 150-hour course. The learners who finished this book would
have no difficulties for ordinary conversations. Student’s workbook and audio
tapes are optional choice.
Course:
Chinese Moral Tales
Description:
All
the essays in this book are adapted from literary Chinese, such as Mengzi, Mozi,
Hanfeizi, and etc. The essays are rewritten to colloquial style, but not in a
completely spoken form, so that they can serve as a bridge between oral and
reading comprehension.
This
book consists of 20 lessons, and is suited for a 5-7 month course according to
the reaction of the students. The morals of the essays in this book still exist
in the modern society, so some newspapers could be properly used as a
supplementary materials.
This
book is designed for foreigners, therefore all the vocabulary, idioms and
grammars are translated into English. In addition, there are examples showing
their use in current Chinese. MPS(Mandarin Phonetic Symbols) and the Yale
Romanization system are both used in this book. After completing this book, the
amount of the new words should have increased by 400.
Course:
Taiwan Today
Description:
This
volume reflects the lives in Taiwan, and it also represents the variety of
Taiwan culture, including Chinese martial arts, night markets, traffic jam,
local festivals, the relationship with Mainland China and etc. Students who use
this book can know more about Taiwan culture as long as the language
proficiency.
The
main texts of this book are presented in a written style, while most of the
exercises are in spoken form.
There
are 12 chapters in this book. Each of them contains text, vocabulary, grammar,
exercises and supplementary materials, which bring extra vocabulary correlated
with the text and introduce every aspect of Taiwan culture.
Pinyin
system is used in this book, and English translations are applied through out
the book. As for the characters, both traditional and simplified ones are used.
This
volume is suited for a 3-month course.
Course:
Chinese Folk Tales Vol. 1
Description:
This
volume collects 20 old Chinese folk tales, which reflect the philosophy of
ancient Chinese. Since it is designed for foreigners, every single lesson comes
with vocabulary, idioms, grammars and practices. MPS (Mandarin Phonetic Symbols)
and the Yale Romanization system are used for articulating all the vocabulary.
All idioms are well explained and examples are adequately compiled for students
to practise them.
Chinese
Folk Tales is devided into 2 volumes, and volume 1, which is comparatively easy,
could be finished in 3 months. After completing these 2 volumes, students should
have learned more than 2000 words which are frequently used, and have increased
their reading comprehension apparently.
Course:
Chinese Customs and Traditions
Description:
This
book is an intermediate text. The main goal is to make the students increase
their knowledge of Chinese customs and traditions, such as the main festivals,
the principles of human relationship, wedding ceremony, funeral, and every
aspects of ordinary living. Students could learn around 500 new characters and
get a rough sketch of Chinese customs.
Each
lesson starts with the main text, and is followed by new characters, vocabulary
and idioms. MPS(Mandarin Phonetic Symbols) and the Yale Romanization system are
both denoted for all characters and vocabulary. English translation, examples
and exercises are also provided to let the students master their usage.
This
book could be done in a 3-month course.
Course:
Chinese Folk Tales Vol. 2
Description:
This
volume consists of 20 lessons, which are all well-known Chinese folk tales,
including moral tales, myth and legends.
The
stories in this volume have a tendency of literature, drama, poetry and
philosophy, but vocabulary is basic and practical. Although it is written in a
colloquial style, it is not in a completely spoken form. Some literary written
form is used in this volume; therefore, it is very helpful not only for students
who plan to learn literary Chinese, but also for those who want to appreciate
Chinese movies, television dramas, prose, novels, and even for improving writing
skill.
Each
lesson in this volume contains text, vocabulary, idioms, sentence patterns and
practices. MPS(Mandarin Phonetic Symbols) and the Yale Romanization system are
both denoted. English translations and examples are also added.
Because
the stories in this volume are relatively long, they need more time for the
class instruction. It might recquire 6 months to complete.
Course:
Radio Plays
Description:
This
book is composed in a script form. All texts are taken from real broadcast
plays. It is suited for students who already have certain conversational ability
and still want to improve their speaking skill.
All
vocabulary in this book is articulated in PINYIN, and explained mainly in
English.
This
book consists of 15 lessons. The content is very vivid and interesting. It can
help the students improve their listening comprehension and
teach them how to express themselves effectively. Using sentence-final
particals to express delicate feelings is a good example.
This
book could be finished in around 100~120 hours. A recorded cassette is also
available for more listening practice.
Course:
Practical Business Conversation I, II
Description:
This
book is a revised version. New topics, such as electricity business, investment,
was added. The new version has 24 lessons in total, and is devided into 2
volumes. Each one consists of 12 lessons, and is suited for a 3-month course.
The
new version fills in some current concepts of business, and classroom activities
as well. For the convenience of overseas learners, the phonetic signs has been
changed into Pinyin system. A vocabulary index is also added in the end of the
book, in both Pinyin and stroke count list. A professional jargons index is also
included.
Each
lesson contains 4 parts: text(conversation), vocabulary, substitution drills,
and classroom activities. The main purpose of this book is to introduce the
basic vocabulary and jargons in the business circle.
This
book is suited for students who have already finished “Practical Audio-Visual
Chinese Vol. 1&2”. After completing both I and II of this text, students
should have learned 920 vocabulary words.
Course:
Practical Newspaper Readings I, II
Description:
The
textbook is devided into 2 volumes. Each one consists of 16 lessons, and could
be finished in about 3 months.
The
news reports in this book are selected from both local
and international newspaper reports multifariously from 1999 to 2000, and are
directly cut from newspapers in original print in order that students could be
familiar with Taiwan newspapers.
Each
lesson consists of 2-4 newspaper reports, vocabulary(English explanation and
examples included), proper nouns, patterns, various exercises, questions and
discussions. Both MPS(Mandarin Phonetic Symbols) and Pinyin system are used.
Students who finished both volumes of this text should have learned
approximately 2100 practical news vocabulary, 300 proper nouns, and 50 sentence
patterns. Besides, they should have gained the ability to abstract the main idea of newspaper
reports, and to understand some basic Chinese syntactic peculiarities, such as
abbreviations, function words, prefix, suffix, and synonyms.
Lists
of organization of central government and news agencies are appended in the end
of the book. Vocabulary index sorted by Pinyin and stroke are also provided.
Course:
Stories from Chinese History Vol. 1&2
Description:
Stories
of this book are selected from various Chinese historical documents, from the
ancient Qin dynasty to the Republic of China, which represent essence of Chinese
culture.
The
book is devided into 2 volumes. Each volume contains 20 lessons, and could be
finished within 3-4 months.
All
the vocabulary and idioms in this book are accompanied by English translations,
examples and grammatical terms to make them easier to learn. MPS (Mandarin
Phonetic Symbols) and the Yale Romanization system are both used.
Students
who use this book could increase their reading ability satisfactorily.
Furthermore, they could understand the traditional spirits and the historical
process of China through the Chinese language.
Course:
Thought and Society
Description:
Thisbook
brings together 10 essays written in colloquial style on a broad range of
topics. The essays are interesting, relevant to contemporary Chinese culture and
life in modern Taiwan, and originally published in journals, newspapers, or
anthologies.
The
two chief objectives of the book are to aid the students in making the
transition from prepared materials written for textbook use to authentic
materials written for native speaker, and to elevate Chinese proficiency of
students from daily life functions to discourse on substantive matters.
This
book consists of 10 chapters, and is suited for a course of 3-4 months. Pinyin
system is used in this book. After completing this book, students should have
learned approximately 1500 vocabulary, 80 sentence patterns, plenty of idioms,
and obtained a good knowledge of both Chinese traditional thoughts and concepts
about daily lives, modern society, economics, and current issues in Taiwan.