NPCR 6 to Boya Intermediate - A Reasonable Jump?

[AlexL]

Hi all,

I'm currently working through NPCR 5 + 6 with a tutor and ought to be finished around 春节. I am thinking about going straight from NPCR 6 to Boya Intermediate, but I'm not sure how reasonable that is. One student on these forums said he tried to go from NPCR 5 to Boya Intermediate and found it a bit rough, with only around 70% comprehension. Anyone have experience using these textbooks / some advice?

Thanks!

[joshuawbb]

I've only had a very brief look through the Boya Intermediate books, but I personally think it should be fine - however, please don't quote me 100% as I haven't had a detailed look. I also think if 70% comprehension is what the other member had, then I think it's ideal - after all, it's going up a level and ought to be a new challenge, and I get the feeling you wouldn't get enough out of the new textbook if you could already understand most things, even if they're things that aren't presented as new material to learn. If there are things in the book not touched on by it (i.e. not in a new word list) that you don't know yet, it's good practice to go through underlining them and putting them through a dictionary such as NCIKU.com, getting various example sentences and learning it through your own research. NPCR5 encourages this - whilst all the main texts stick only to material you've learned from previous NPCR books (except new words of course), you'll find the reading comprehension and dialogue sections often contain vocabulary not previously touched on, which I imply you are supposed to look up yourself.

If you're moving on to Boya Intermediate after NPCR6 especially, I don't think there should be any problem at all - after all, NPCR6 approaches high intermediate, and you may even fine Boya Int. may no longer be too challenging for you. It may have plenty of general vocab you don't know though, naturally.

[kdavid]

This is what I did and I didn't have much of a problem.

I think you'll find the language in Boya a bit more formal that NPCR.

[xianhua]

I couldn't comment on the transition from NPCR as the only time I've had experience of this series was several years back when Gubo and the gang were dancing around the Summer Palace. They must be married with children by now.

However, I have just finished the first Boya Intermediate book myself (having done inter-intermediate before that). The layout and structure are both well-designed in my opinion. A list of new vocabulary together with examples of its practical appliance is followed by new grammar and its usage. I think Boya falls down in two areas though: subject matter for the exercise and choice of vocabulary. Whilst some of the exercises cover subjects you may well find yourself discussing in daily life such as 迷信 (superstitions) and 从古代到现代 which discusses the dramatic transformation of society in China, others such as 鸟声的再版 about the recording the sounds of nature, may be of little practical use. The second weakness concerns the new vocabulary. In the exercise just mentioned, new vocabulary includes 室内乐 (chamber music - I'm not even sure what that is in English), 双重奏 and 序曲. Other later examples include the words for 'metabolism', 'acidity' and 'arteriosclerosis'??.

Whilst studying at the intermediate phase I have seen little sense in learning such vocabulary, especially when there is so much more basic vocab I have yet to learn. This obviously interrupts the fluency of reading the texts. The speed at which the texts are read on the accompanying CD's sometimes move too fast, but are a welcome aid at times.

If you do go for the Boya series, I have posted quite a few questions on various parts of the text on this forum, so a quick search on the text may assist you in finding some helpful posts and translations.