Brush salesman. Shanghai, China, 2006. (Photo courtesy of Julian Wheatley.)
This course features the third part of a downloadable textbook, available in
readings and also includes audio files of its main conversational and narrative material and a downloadable tutorial program (flashCube) for review, all available in
study materials. It can be used as the basis for a taught course, for self-instruction, or for elementary-to-intermediate review.
This is the third of the four courses (Chinese I through IV) in MIT's regular (non-streamlined) Chinese curriculum. The four make use of the textbook,
Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin (unpublished, but available online), to which are added various supporting materials as needs arise. The foundation level covers core grammar, linguistic culture, basic conversation, the principles of the writing system, and elementary reading. Reading is primarily in the simplified character set that is the standard on the Mainland, but also in the traditional set that is still standard in Taiwan and many overseas communities.
All four subjects in the foundation level are (Chinese I and II) or soon will be (Chinese IV) available on OpenCourseWare. Students who have advanced through Chinese I and II to reach this level, as well as those entering at Chinese III, should review at least the late material in Chinese II before proceeding. To facilitate review, as well as to orient students who are new to these materials, highlights from all the units in Chinese I and II and a list of the characters formally introduced in Character lessons 1-6 are included in the readings section of this course.
Technical Requirements
Special software is required to use some of the files in this course: .mp3.