Philosophy Statement
Mandarin is a beautiful language. Written Chinese (Han zi) is pictographic and ideographic rather than just phonetic. Written Chinese has approximately 4000 years of History. Recent studies and research have shown that China’s ancient written language (the Oracle-Bone Scripts) reflected God’s guiding hands over the Chinese ancestors/people throughout earlier centuries with a long history. China used to be called “The Land of God” or “The Land belongs to God” –– 神州.
Today, there are more people in the world who speak Mandarin / Chinese than any other language. Written Chinese allows Chinese people all over the world to be able to communicate by using a common recognizable system of written characters even though they may speak different dialects. Learning Mandarin and written Chinese will give you the keys to unlock the gates to Chinese heritage, culture, and literature, as well as the truth and wisdom hidden in the written Chinese characters(ESLR: ET, DC). This also enables students to see God’s hands over the Chinese people and to share the goodness of faith and good news to them(Acts 1:8; ESLR: RUC, DC). In teaching our students in the Mandarin language, we encourage our students to witness for Jesus to the Chinese people when they have the opportunity(ESLR: DC). In view of the globalization of today’s world with rapid and continuous economic growth in a number of Asian countries, it’s imperative for us to train our students to be able to communicate with Asian people, while Mandarin is a widely used language in many Asian countries. Proficiency in Mandarin is an invaluable skill that provides the students with great great opportunities in the future, both spiritually and career-wise (ESLR: NLL).
Course Objective & Class Levels
The China National Language Committee announced that there are approximately 6,300 written Chinese characters which are widely and commonly used. 99% of the daily Chinese articles are written using the 2,500 most commonly used Chinese characters. That means if a student can master these 2,500 most-commonly-used written characters, he/she will be able to read from newspapers and magazines, understand radio and television broadcasts, Chinese movies and can express him/herself systematically using appropriate expressions and language norms. Our target is to teach, motivate, encourage and equip students to grasp these 2,500 characters and more.
In this course, students will learn to communicate using Mandarin in each class level. They will learn the language’s vocabulary, verbal communication skills, and writing skills in each class level. In each level it covers a numbers of ancient and modern Chinese stories and literature. Student will also be encouraged to write their own testimony or story which they can share with others whenever needed.
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| Mandarin 1 (Basic) B1 (0-250 words) CME Text Book 1 B2 (250-600 words) CME Text Book 2 |
Students at this level, including those who have never learned Chinese or those who have learned basic Chinese phonetics and a few words, but cannot express themselves in complete sentences.
Mandarin 1 B1 covers: Time Allotment: 50 minutes per day, 5 days a week for 1 semester. Mandarin 1 B2 covers: color and clothing, weather and holiday, hobbies, students’ daily routine, school subjects, school facilities and making telephone calls. Time Allotment: 50 minutes per day, 5 days a week for 1 semester. |
| Mandarin 2 (Low Intermediate) LI (600-1200 words) CME Text Book 3 |
Low Intermediate level students are required to know at least 600 Chinese words. These students have basic knowledge of systematic grammar and sentence structure.
Mandarin 2 LI covers: body and illness, food and health, shopping, everyday articles, stationery and gifts, furniture and electrical appliances in the house, life at home, asking the way and etc Time Allotment: 50 minutes per day, 5 days a week for 2 semesters. |
| Mandarin 3 (High Intermediate) HI (1200-1700 words) CME Text Book 4 |
Intermediate level students are required to know at least 1200 Chinese words. These students are conversational at a basic level in Chinese.
Mandarin 3 HI covers: general knowledge about China, its language, geography and food, summer holiday, travel, world famous cities, family tree, pets, personality, local community, volunteer Time Allotment: 50 minutes per day, 5 days a week for 2 semesters. |
| Mandarin 4 (Advanced) Adv (1700-2500 words) CME Text Book 5 |
Advanced level students are required to know at least 1700 Chinese words. These students can express their opinions and general topics with good intonation.
Mandarin 4 covers: Chinese and Western festivals and customs, communication and the media, entertainment, celebrities, young people, law and order, education and employment, environment, new technology, healthy life style. Time Allotment: 50 minutes per day, 5 days a week for 2 semesters. |
| Mandarin 5 (for Native Speakers) 2500 words and above Selective Materials |
At this level students are required to know at least 2,500 Chinese words. These students are beginning able to read Chinese newspapers and magazines, understand Chinese movies, radio and television broadcasts, and can express themselves systematically using appropriate expressions and language norms.
Mandarin 5: a selective of topic interested by the students, from classical Chinese literatures to modern Chinese literature; ancient Chinese poetry and history to today’s modern Chinese world in depth. Writing long project. Time Allotment: 50 minutes per day, 5 days a week for 2 semesters. |
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Resources
Textbooks: Chinese Made Easy: Textbooks 1-5 and Workbooks 1-5, Joint Publisher (HK) Co. Ltd
Other simplified and traditional written Chinese textbooks
VCD
Mandarin Computer
Computer Game
Movies
Vocabulary Card
Song
Internet websites
Evaluation
Homework – 20%
Test/Oral Project – 20%
Attendance – 20%
Participation – 20%
Exam/Final Project – 20%
Bahasa Indonesia 
English