Features of Level 2

1. For beginners aged 6-8 who have studied the Starter course.
2. Learners will learn 100 new characters and 58 bisyllabic or multi-syllabic words, and sing or recite 12 simple songs or poems.
3. Learners will be able to express gratitude, apologies, personal likes and dislikes. They will also be able to describe actions, spatial locations, colors, and body parts.
4. Learners will able to recite 12 poems and grasp the tones and rhythmic patterns of Chinese.
5. Learners will be able to interact with the teacher and classmates in completing the classroom activities and complete daily homework independently.
6. Each unit contains a Vocabulary and Sentence Structures section, which explains and summarizes the target words and sentence patterns with illustrative examples.
7. Each unit contains a simple poem deliberately written to help review and practice the target language.
8. Read-aloud with Parents: Some units contain a text to be read aloud with parents at home.
9. Learners will learn about the structure of characters and master some initial skills of crafting characters.
10. Exercises include classroom interactive tasks and workbook exercises to be done at home independently.

Overview of the Course

Young Chinese-Developing Speaking Skills is a ten-year course for international learners. It has 10 levels, each consisting of a student book, two workbooks for odd-numbered units and even number units respectively, a copybook, and a teacher’s book.

Goals of the Course

Young Chinese - Developing Speaking Skills consists of 11 levels divided into three stages: beginners, intermediate and advanced. The first seven levels focuses on developing listening and speaking abilities through dialogues. The other four levels are oriented to developing reading and writing abilities. Upon completion of the course, learners will be able to pass such proficiency tests as YCT 4, HSK 4, SAT II or AP, and will have no language problem studying, working and living in China.

Highlights of the Course

1. Rich illustrations: Learners will find it easy to understand word meaning as a picture is usually provided for a word to illustrate its meaning.
2. High recurrence rates: In each unit, the target words are evenly distributed and appear many times, contributing immensely to vocabulary acquisition.
3. Organizational ingenuity: In each unit, a dialogue and a prose text are to be studied. The dialogue is close to life and easy to act out. The prose text, which is an interesting narrative, is very stimulating, as it is limited in words but quite meaningful and interesting. The texts are similar in length and are cyclic in theme throughout the course, assuring ease of flow of instruction.
4. Situational Dialogues: Communicative skills are developed through practicing dialogues using the target vocabulary and sentence structures.
5. A wide variety of exercises: Different forms of activities for class and home use are meticulously designed to practice the target language.
6. Use of technology: Animated videos can be viewed by scanning the QR codes in the student books with a smart phone. Thus, learning can take place any time anywhere.