Thanks for attending!
Thank you to everyone who participated in Cheng & Tsui's very first online seminar, Computer Chinese: A New Five-Skilled Approach to Teaching Chinese. We invite you to continue the conversation with this easy-to-use, online forum. You can post questions or comments, and share your ideas with your peers.
Is this program intended for intermediate students? Otherwise, how would a beginning student be able to recognize the characters to choose the right one after typing the pinyin?
Hi Randy,
Thanks for your question. Yes, the Chinese for Tomorrow series is designed for both beginning and intermediate students. Volume 1 is aimed at learners with no prior knowledge of Chinese. Throughout the series, characters as well as their pinyin are presented, so students will be able to learn and recognize both forms. There are also exercises in each chapter to train character-writing and recognition. More detailed information on Chinese for Tomorrow and sample chapters are available on our main site.
Minying
Editorial Dept
I have wanted to learn Chinese for many, many years. I have studied German, French, Spanish, Russian, Norwegian, &c. over the years; and I have some proficiency in these languages. I am enamored by language, and have a good deal of linguistic expertise.
A new friend from China has recommended Integrated Chinese, and perhaps her help as teacher, to facilitate my learning.
Your program looks very interesting. I believe that your system and processes can facilitate my learning in a way that is natural for me to learn.
I wonder, how well does your program work for independent study, as opposed to a more classroom oriented scenario?
Please, advise.
While Integrated Chinese was originally designed for classroom use, many independent learners over the years have used the course to teach themselves Chinese. These learners benefit from the audio recordings that feature native speakers, as well as various pedagogical features of the books (for example, clear explanations; the lesson dialogue in characters, pinyin, and English; numerous examples comparing correct and incorrect usage.)
Using the new Integrated Chinese online workbook, independent learners can complete workbook exercises at their computer and get immediate feedback on their answers. After you purchase the student book key, there will be a prompt during your first login to enter a special class code (sent to you along with the access key) to use as an independent learner. With this feature activated, you able to grade your own answers automatically and view possible answers for each close-ended exercise, as well as sample answers for some open-ended exercises. Other features are described at our main website, linked above. We think the online workbook will prove a powerful, easy-to-use tool for many independent learners.
If you are interested in courses designed for independent learners with no prior knowledge of Chinese, we also recommend Success with Chinese. This course takes the innovative approach of allowing learners to focus on one skill set at a time (Listening & Speaking or Reading & Writing) in order to quickly attain a practical grasp of the language and achieve their particular learning goal.
Let us know if you have other questions,
-Minying, Editorial Dept.