Is anyone here as well studying at the Stockholm University?

[mnanon]

Is anyone here as well studying at the Stockholm University?

[roddy]

Moving. Are you studying Chinese there? Could you tell us anything about the course?

[mnanon]

Pardon me, yes, I am studying Chinese at the Stockholm University (SU). They use their own material for the course- the material is excellent.

Normally they have Chinese for beginners I+II, but for this semester they decided to just have Chinese for beginners I. So they only had half time courses for Chinese beginners for this semester.

The course is very well planned out. With two 2.5 hour classes per week, one lecture and one tutorial.

They have as well more advanced courses.

[roddy]

Tell us more about the excellent material. What are the teachers like. Tell us everything!

[mnanon]

Each chapter introduces new grammatical rules and new characters. Each chapter expands in its complexity as the book progresses.

Each chapter begins with a dialogue written with Chinese characters and in PinYin. A translation follows after each Chinese dialogue. Each chapter explains the new grammatical rules in detail, and as well will explain in more depth some of the Chinese characters if necessary.

We have a test for at the start of each lesson, the tests will cover listening skills, our understanding of the new grammatical rules, and on our ability to write Chinese characters.

The tutorials are held by native Chinese tutors, who provide a lot encouragement to the students. The tutors put a lot effort when correcting students to ensure the students do not gain bad habits. The lecturers and tutorials always provide the students with in-depth answers to questions students have. The lecture will mostly cover the new grammar rules with some exercises. The tutorial is mostly just exercises where students have to use the newly encountered material. There is a strong emphasis on creating a balance, so we learn Chinese characters, proper pronunciation, listening and ability to interact in Chinese.

This course 'Chinese for beginners I' will cover the the first six chapters out of the twelve chapters in the book. After two months, we have covered so far three chapters and I know around 100 characters and the number for vocabulary is a bit larger as one can combine some of the characters. At the end of Chinese for beginners I course, we are expected to have finished chapter six. I believe at the end the better students will know around 200 characters.

Next semester when they will have Chinese for beginners I+II, I believe students will know around 400 characters.

After Chinese for beginners I+II students are able to enroll into Chinese I. Stockholm University provides Chinese for beginners I, Chinese for beginners II, Chinese for beginners I+II, Chinese I, Chinese II, Chinese III, Chinese IV and a masters in Chinese.

[mnanon]

I would like to add that the material also comes with an audio recording of the text, spoken by a native Chinese, which allows students greater opportunity to practice their Chinese at home. The recording will read through the dialogue, and then will read through the list of new words.