Core Courses
The Language Centre offers a wide variety of classes, including courses for the absolute beginner to advanced student, and also a Chinese Culture class.
Each class uses the textbooks and teaching materials listed on the following chart. Students are placed in courses based on their Chinese ability and the course content. Students can expect to advance to higher-level courses semester by semester. Courses not only help students improve their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills; the Centre also offers newspaper courses, business Chinese and classical Chinese courses. Furthermore, the Centre also offers courses in Taiwanese.
The Chinese Culture Course introduces the student to Taiwanese languages, local customs, Chinese martial arts, religion, architecture, and the traditional arts.
Upon registration at the beginning of the semester, the Language Centre will separate students according to their ability into beginner, intermediate and advanced classes. Classes will be five to eight students, so every student can expect to have classmates of very similar Chinese ability. This creates the ideal language-learning environment for all students, and ensures that everyone can achieve maximal progress.
| Class Level | Class Focus | Class Materials and Texts |
|---|---|---|
| Introductory | Speaking and Listening, Daily Communication Skill |
A Course in Contemporary Chinese (1), Practical Audio-Visual Chinese (1), Tunghai Audio-Visual Chinese |
| Basic | Conversation and Reading, Writing Simple and useful words |
A Course in Contemporary Chinese (2), Practical Audio-Visual Chinese (2) |
| Intermediate / High-Intermediate |
Speaking and Listening, Daily Communication Skill |
A Course in Contemporary Chinese (3)~(4), Practical Audio-Visual Chinese (3)~(4), Tunghai Picture Stories, Mini Radio Plays |
| Reading, Cultural Knowledge | Taiwan Today, Taiwan Society and Culture, Chinese Folk Tales | |
| Grammar, Writing | One Hundred Sentence Patterns | |
| Advanced | Speaking and Listening | A Course in Contemporary Chinese (5)~(6), Practical Audio-Visual Chinese (5), Business Chinese, Mini Radio Plays |
| Reading, Cultural Knowledge | Taiwan Today, Taiwan Society and Culture, The Roads Taken: Readings in Chinese Newspaper (1)~(2), Newspaper Selections, Short Story Reader, Prose Reader, Introduction to Classical Chinese |
|
| Composition | Writing Primer | |
| Special Classes | The Analects of Confucius, Zhuangzi, The Four Classics, Foundational Buddhist Texts, Chinese Medical Documents |
At the beginning of each semester, each teacher will set the teaching materials and the objectives for the semester with the students. The semester will proceed according to this plan, and will include tests at regular intervals. Classes will focus on whole language skills, and will incorporate multimedia to help students develop their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in tandem. At semester end, marks will be assessed based not only on test results and class performance, but also on attendance, attitude, and improvement. Those students who achieve acceptable grades will receive a certificate of course completion.