Features of Level 1

　1. For K-1 children aged 5-7, who know no Chinese at all.
　2. Focusing on 135 high frequency characters and 45 words.
　3. Developing a feel for the rhythmic patterns of Chinese through studying the carefully written texts and 22 poems and songs.
　4. Read-aloud with Parents and Cultural Focus in all units, in addition to the two poems in every two units.
　　When reading aloud with kids, parents develop a sense of responsibility for their kids’ learning.
　　Cultural Focus texts intend to develop a cultural awareness from the very beginning.
　5. Copybook exercises for practicing all types of strokes and grasp their correct order in characters.
　6. Exercises including interactive tasks in class and a workbook for independent use at home.

Overview of the Course

Young Chinese – Developing Reading 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 is wholly compatible with the Young Chinese Test (YCT) and the Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK), both being internationally recognized standardized proficiency tests administered by the Confucius Institute (Hanban). It also reflects the themes in the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century, known as "The Five Cs," viz., communication, cultures, connections, comparisons and communities. Upon completion of the course, learners will have developed strong skills in listening, speaking, reading, writing, and typing, and they will have a deep insight into Chinese culture. In practical terms, they will be able to pass such proficiency tests as YCT/HSK (Level IV) and SAT II/AP.

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 short verse text and a prose text are to be studied. The verse text, with its musical quality, is easy to remember, thus facilitating language acquisition.
　　 The prose text, often a story, is very stimulating, as it is limited in length 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.