Feature of Level 3

1. For intermediate learners aged 8-10 (Grades 3-4) who have some knowledge of Chinese.
2. Learners will learn 110 new characters and 75 bisyllabic words. They will also be able to retell the content of the 12 texts studied.
3. Learners will be able to express sequences and describe sports, daily activities, actions and spatial locations. They will also be able to make telephone calls and express cause-effect relations.
4. Through studying the 12 texts and practicing read-aloud with parents, learners will develop a satisfactory level of reading fluency and will be able to use the target vocabulary and sentence patterns in writing.
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.