Help   |   Contact Us

 

Assignments

Assignments

21F.102 meets four times a week for 13 weeks, for a total of 52 class-hours (of 50 minutes each). In the following schedule, assignments are listed in sequence (Day 1, Day 2, etc.), one for each day of class (with intervening days ignored); cf. the calendar.

Abbreviations

Assignments make reference to sections as, eg: Unit 5.10, Chars 6.2.1; and to exercises as, eg: Unit 7 ex 3, Chars 4 exs 3 and 4.

A Note on the First Test

The first test on day 8 will cover Chinese 1 material, Unit 5 through section 3, and Chars 4. Chars 4 introduces 4 sets of characters (roughly 50 in all), and includes some special topics. Each of the four sections that introduces the character sets follows a sequence of steps: first, each character written large with notes on its form; then the new characters are illustrated in compounds and phrases, then in readings and finally, there is an exercise. Some students like to forge ahead of the schedule, then consolidate; others prefer a slow but steady approach. Either way is fine, so long as you manage to get through the material before the 8th day.

SES # TOPICS
Material for Test 1
1-2 Review and Recovery

The first two days will be devoted to administrative and curricular matters (such as the syllabus and the Web site, etc.), to reviewing material covered in Chinese 1, and to getting started on Chars 4. You should prepare Chars 4.0 by day 3 (Thursday); it offers some review of Chars 1-3. For days 2 and 3, you should also start reviewing Unit 4 conversational material (from Chinese 1), particularly the 'Dialogue on the bus to Mianyang' (4.10). Chinese 2 students should be able to access the Chinese 1 Web site if needed.
3 Work on the first set of Chars 4 (4.1), examining the characters in large font with the notes that follow, then trying to learn to recognize them by doing 4.1.1 (compounds), 4.1.2 (reading) and exercise 1 (no writing – just prepare it so you can do it fluently in class). Review Units 4 and Unit 3 from the summaries, which have been collected into one document (PDF).
4 Consolidate Chars 4.1 and move ahead to 4.2, following the same routine. Type out Chars 4 exercise 2 in connected pinyin. (It's okay to write characters too, of course, but better if you know how to type them.) Review Unit 3 and Unit 2.
5 Consolidate Chars 4, sets 1 and 2, then go on to set 3, doing exercise 3. Begin Unit 5, by practicing the tone contrasts in 5.1 (with an mp3 in the study materials section) and the 'or' patterns in 5.2 and 5.3, which is the dialogue involving odd and even numbers that you have been practicing at the beginning of class recently.
6 Continue with the last set in Chars 4 (4.4), writing out exercise 4; then look ahead to the examples of business cards in 4.5. Type out Unit 5, exercise 1 ('or').
7 Review Chars 4 and do exercise 5. The first test, on day 8 (Tuesday) covers Chinese 1 material and Chars 4 – reading only – and through Unit 5.3.
8 Review Chinese 1 material. Make sure you remember how to write the material in pinyin, with correct tones. Review Chars 4 and Unit 5 through 5.3.

Test 1
Material for Test 2
9 Unit 5, review 5.2 (Or), then continue with Food (2), doing exercise 2 (so you can perform it in class – not to hand in); make sure you know the M-words for dishes, bowls, etc. (Review Food-1 in Unit 4.)

Reading: Chars 4, consolidate with 4.5. (We will do the sentences in 4.5.1 in class.)
10 Unit 5: Dialog 5.4.1 (with an mp3 in the study materials section); be able to perform it in class. Pay special attention to the names of dishes. Look ahead to 5.5 (V+de).

Reading: Chars 4.6, business cards, and 4.7 'On the street', especially the names of newspapers. Pinyin and tone practice. New rhymes from 5.17.
11 Unit 5.5: Expanding V+de. Be familiar with the vocabulary under 5.5.1, then practice commenting on abilities. Study the verbs under 5.5.3, and focus on the patterns with 'bùxíng' under 5.5.4(d). Write out exercise 3.

Reading: return to the paragraph in Chars 4 p.1 (4.0) in traditional characters, and practice reading for fluency (to be checked in class).
12 Unit 5.6 (Talking to children) - (with an mp3 in the study materials section); look ahead to 5.6.1, learning the vocabulary. Focus on the co-verb pattern, wŏ gěi nĭ zuò. Look ahead to exercise 4 and ask vocabulary questions so you can do it for the next assignment. Characters: miscellaneous practice from Chars 4. Pinyin and tone practice.
13 Unit 5: Write out exercise 4 ('They're leaving HK next week etc.') Look ahead to 5.7 (Music and musicians). Practice 5.7.2, the dialogue (with an mp3 in the study materials section). [If you have favorite Chinese singers, groups, songs, you can bring in some CDs and lyrics – ahead of time, so your teachers can pick some material.] Character writing practice in class.
14 Review Unit 5.7 (music) to exercise 5 (oral), then continue with 5.8, verbs of cognition: learn zhīdao, dŏng, míngbai, kàndedŏng etc. More practice writing characters.
15 Unit 5, do exercise 6 (orally), and go on to 5.9 (destinations), learning the dao...qu pattern, and the verbs of movement such as bān, kāi, pǎo. Do exercise 7. Practice the 15 tone combos, and writing characters.
16 Unit 5.10 (purpose), especially 5.10.2 and the verbs of intention (5.10.5). Look ahead and start to get familiar with the long dialogue, 5.14, (with an mp3 in the study materials section).
17 Unit 5. Consolidate, reviewing sections 5.6.1 (verbs, co-verbs and serial verbs) and 5.7 (music and musicians). Read 5.11 (in the past) and write out exercise 8. Continue to practice the long dialogue (5.13).
18 Study Units 5.12 (And) and 5.13 (Sports and scores). Then focus on dialogue 5.14 (with an mp3 in the study materials section) so you can perform it in class. Study 5.15 (the r-suffix), with an mp3 in the study materials section, and 5.16 (strings of low tones).
19 Unit 5, exercise 9 in class. Continue to practice the long dialogue, and review Unit 5.
20 Unit 5, exercise 10 in class. Review all of Unit 5 and earlier material. Prepare for Test 2, which will cover through Unit 5 and review through Chars 4.
21 Test 2 covering Units through 5 and Chars through 4 (review).
Material for Test 3
22 Chars 5a-d. Review radicals (cf. Chars 2.0 for a list of common radicals). Talking about characters (5d). Preview set 1 characters and notes. Review Unit 5.4 (food).
23 Chars 5, review 5.0 and continue with set 5.1, the notes, the associated compounds and phrases (5.1.1) and short dialogues (5.1.2), then do exercise 1 (make sentences from the jumbled phrases). Review Unit 5.7 (music).
24 Chars 5.2, the second set, with notes, phrases and reading. Do exercise 2 (Questions on the narrative). Review Units 5.8 and 5.9 (destination and purpose).
25 Chars 5.3, the third set, with notes, phrases and reading and do exercise 3 (jumbled phrases). Review the main dialogue of Unit 5.
26 Chars 5.4, notes, 5.4.1 (phrases) and 5.4.2 (reading). Preview Unit 6.1 (opposites).
27 Chars 5.4 exercise 4 (practice providing information from the table for class), and read 5.5.1 (18 sentences in traditional characters). Review Unit 6.1 and continue with 6.2 (descriptions), doing exercise 1, 6.3 (V-guo) doing exercise 2 (with an mp3 in the study materials section), and 6.4 (before, after, while).
28 Chars 5.5, exercise 5 (type characters if possible) and read to the end of the lesson. Unit 6.5 (when?), doing exercise 3 (write out) and ex 4 (orally).
29 Review Chars 5. Unit 6.6 (places of work) and do exercise 5. Preview 6.7 (directions).
30 Unit 6.7 (directions) and do exercise 6. Review Chars 5.
31 Preview the shi…de construction (6.8) and do exercise 7.
32 Test 3 covering Units through 6.7 and Chars through 5.
Material for Test 4
33 Unit 6.7 (the shi…de construction) and do exercise 8. Preview the main dialogue, 6.9 (with an mp3 in the study materials section).
34 Unit 6.8, 6.9 (main dialogue), and 6.9.1 (wanr); review the shi..de construction.
35 Exercise 9a/b. Preview 6.10 to the Michael Jordan dialogue.
36 Unit 6.10 and do exercise 10. Preview Chars 6.1 (review).
37 Unit 6.11 (food) and exercise 11 (words). Chars 6.1, preview set 1 and notes.
38 Review Unit 6. Chars 6.1, notes, phrases, reading and exercise 1.
39 Chars 6.2, notes, phrases, reading and exercise 2. Review Unit 6.
40 Chars 6.3, notes, phrases and reading. Review Unit 6 material.
41 Chars 6.3, exercise 3. Unit 7.1 (verb combos)
42 Chars 6.4, exercise 4. Unit 7.2 (connecting sentences), with an mp3 in the study materials section. 
43 Review Chars 6 though 6.4 and read to the end of the lesson. Unit 7.3 (speaking languages) and exercise 3.
44 Test 4 covering through Unit 7.3 and Chars 6.4.
Final Material and Course Conclusion
45 Unit 7.4 (Language abilities) and 7.5 (tea and coffee) both with mp3's in the study materials section.
46 Do exercise 4 (jumbled phrases), review 7.4 and 7.5, then go on to 7.6 (conveyances).
47 Unit 7.7 (cai), doing exercise 5, then 7.8 (duration) with exercise 6.
48 Unit 7.9 (le patterns), with an mp3 in the study materials section. Do exercise 7.
49 Unit 7.10 and 7.11 (Weather), with an mp3 in the study materials section. Do exercise 8.
50 Unit 7.12 and 13 (with an mp3 in the study materials section) and do exercise 9.
51 Unit 7.14 (with an mp3 in the study materials section). Presentations and review of Unit 7.
52 Presentations and end of class activities.