Required Courses:

Beijing In Transformation

Students in this course will look closely at Beijing life, focusing also on how the city has changed over the last several decades.  In this course, students will learn both in the classroom and out in the city about important ways in which Beijing has changed in areas such as business life, political life, law, art, architecture, city planning, entertainment, transportation, fashion, education, religion and migrant populations. Discussion and readings are in modern Chinese.
4 hours per week
Text: A variety of primary and secondary sources of the faculty's choosing will be used in class.


One-on-One Tutorial

The one-on-one is designed to bring the student’s four language skills to a higher level through exploring in-depth on a topic of the student’s own choosing.  The course emphasizes discussing and exchanging ideas with the teacher, reading authentic materials, mastering the terminology related to the chosen subject and writing well-researched essays. As they progress in their studies, students are expected to be able to discuss their subject in greater and greater detail. Students are also expected to prepare formal presentations on their subject. In their presentations, students are expected to express their ideas clearly and are to use key terminologies skillfully and appropriately. Students also write and present research essays, and are expected to write with clarity, accuracy, and depth. The course is also combined with class trips whose frequency depends on the topic.
4 hours per week
Texts and materials prepared by School in China faculty

Electives: *

In addition to these two required courses, students are required to choose two of the following six language classes:
 

Business Chinese and Economics

This course focuses on learning specialized vocabulary, grammar structures, and expressions commonly utilized in Chinese business, with a special emphasis on cultivating excellent speaking skills. Students will also gain a working knowledge of contemporary Chinese economics and trade. Class activities include reading articles, learning useful words and syntactic structures, translating texts and role playing. Basic Chinese business etiquette is also covered.
4 hours per week
Text: Business Chinese for Success, and supplemental readings chosen by the instructor.


Introduction to Chinese Newspaper Reading

In this class, students will learn the expressions and sentence patterns that are customarily used in Chinese newspapers and periodicals. Students will be trained in the basic skills required for reading Chinese newspapers, both in print and on line. Discussion plays a key role in this class, as students will be required react to the contemporary issues they will be reading about.
4 hours per week
Text: A Course in Newspaper Reading Comprehension, Beijing University Press (tentative); Additional primary source materials.


Contemporary Issues in China

In this class students will engage in vigorous debate with their classmates on a set collection of topics including both general discussions of interest and also important social issues of the day. Students prepare and debate a different topic every week. In addition to expanding vocabulary and mastering new sentence patterns, students will specifically develop and strengthen the ability to express opinions, debate, and argue viewpoints in both oral and written form. 
4 hours per week
Text: 《话题讨论》, Compiled by Middlebury School in China;  primary source materials.


Selected Readings in Modern Literature

This class is a seminar on Chinese literature.  Students are introduced to a wide range of authentic works of modern literature collected from a variety of genres including fiction, prose, and poetry. Students will engage in in-depth discussions on the historical and cultural background of each work. Appreciation, analysis, and criticism of each literary work are among the primary goals of this class. Students should be prepared to do a good deal of reading and will be expected to tackle new grammar and terminology on their own in advance of each class. Writing essays on a weekly basis is also a requirement of this class.
4 hours per week
Text: Chinese Literature Reading, compiled by Middlebury School in China


Introduction to Classical Chinese 

This course is recommended for advanced students only. The fall semester course focuses on the learning of the syntactic structure and grammatical function words in Classical Chinese. During class students translate texts of Classical Chinese into modern Chinese paying particular attention to the content and philosophical implication of each. In the spring semester students will read a wide selection of wenyan texts that sample the classics of ancient Chinese thought, including Confucius' Analects, the Daoist texts Laozi and Zhuangzi, Mohist arguments against war, Sunzi's The Art of War, and Legalist writings on law.  Students will also learn to punctuate wenyan texts (which were originally unpunctuated) and compose sentences or short paragraphs in wenyan. All class discussion will be conducted in modern Chinese.
4 hours per week
Text: Language of the Dragon, Cheng & Tsui, vol. 1 or 2, as appropriate.

Everyday Chinese

This class is designed to improve overall spoken language skills in an everyday speaking environment. Mastering close-to-native standard pronunciation, cultivating the ability to make ordinary conversation fluently, and gaining a better understanding of Chinese culture are all goals of this class. Students will study set dialogs on a range of subjects so that they can master the everyday terms and colloquial expressions that are commonly used in daily conversations. In addition, students will discuss with their teacher the cultural-related topics that are considered in the dialogs.
4 hours per week
Text: Shiyong Hanyu Kouyu Keben, Beijing Language and Cultural University Press, Book 2; Additional primary source materials. 

*Please note:
Elective course offerings are based, in part, on enrollment. Should fewer than three students select a particular elective during a term, that elective will not be offered. Each course will have a maximum of 8 students. Depending on their language level, some students may be required to enroll in Everyday Chinese.  In addition, textbooks may change at the discretion of the School in China faculty and as new teaching materials become available. Each student's total number of contact hours will be16 class hours per week. All courses will have written exams, with the exception of the Everyday Chinese course.