An intensive course to introduce Mandarin Chinese to students with no or little background in Chinese. Pronunciation, basic grammar rules, and character recognition will be the emphasis of the course. Handwriting of Chinese characters is not emphasized at this stage, and students are encouraged to typewrite the characters. Major aspects of Chinese culture will be introduced throughout the course. Students who have taken Chinese in high school are urged to take a placement test before enrolling in Elementary Chinese I.
This course is closed to native speakers of Chinese and heritage speakers, except with written permission from the coordinator of the Chinese track.