Chinese I

Full-year course. This introductory course is designed to excite students about Mandarin Chinese and the culture of China. The course will give students a foundation for continued study in high school or at the college level.  Students will use skills in the following areas and build global competency skills for future careers and experience based on the World-readiness Standards for Learning Languages from the ACTFL: Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities.

Students will develop basic competencies in the four modalities of language learning: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. At the conclusion of the course, students will be able to introduce themselves and answer simple questions about topics covered in the class (speaking), provide basic biographical information with accuracy (writing), recognize and understand a few spoken expressions in conversation (listening), and understand short, simple texts that convey simple information (reading). Pinyin, the standard system of romanized spelling for transliterating Chinese will be introduced in the beginning of the course. Students will learn simplified Mandarin Chinese. 

Click here to read about the Well-Trained Mind Academy’s approach to world language learning. Note: We do not offer a delayed section for this course due to the live interaction that is key to learning language.

We recommend that students enrolling in Chinese I be comfortable with the topics covered in Grammar II. Grammar instruction is not a pre- or co-requisite, however we have found that students are more successful learning a new language when they have a strong understanding of grammar rules. Use the placement tests found in our grammar course descriptions to find the appropriate grammar course for your student.