Chinese Composition Quick and Easy. HSK Composition Guide

Author: Xia Xiaoyun / Fan Wei (editors)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-09-01
Features: This book is a guide for HSK writing tests. The sample essays are representative, and the exercises are arranged in a logical and orderly manner, targeting the writing difficulties of foreign students. It highlights grammatical points and is a highly practical HSK test preparation book. It can be used as a textbook for teachers teaching Chinese writing or as a self-study book for students preparing for the HSK exam. The book contains twenty lessons. On one hand, it considers the practicality of Chinese writing; on the other hand, it takes into account the various genres covered by the current HSK writing tests. Therefore, the book is divided into four sections: "Practical Writing," "Narrative Writing," "Expository Writing," and "Argumentative Writing," with five lessons in each section. Within the five lessons, they are further divided into two groups based on different categories and difficulty levels—two lessons with simpler content and three with more advanced content, catering to students of different proficiency levels.
Key Features of the Book:
- Fast: The book covers various genres and selects 40 representative essays, providing common formats and sentence structures to comprehensively and quickly improve students' Chinese writing skills and help them pass the HSK writing exam.
- Easy: The sample essays include large representative formats and sentence structures, with concise explanations. It provides tips for common errors made by foreign students and offers exercises that progress from simple to advanced, making it highly practical. Additionally, the complete answer key facilitates self-study and teacher-led instruction.
- Comprehensive: Suitable for students of beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels, the book adopts a cyclical and progressive teaching approach. It also provides a wealth of representative sample essays and high-frequency vocabulary for different genres, enabling students to generalize and apply their knowledge.
Lesson Format:
1. Sample Essay: A representative essay is selected for teacher explanation and student reference. Important formats and vocabulary are marked with "=".
2. Vocabulary: Pinyin tones are marked with actual pronunciation.
3. Explanation: Instructions on how to write in this genre are provided concisely to avoid overwhelming students and teachers.
4. Tips: Based on summarized key errors and weak points in foreign students' writing, this section focuses on explaining grammar and practical writing knowledge, including grammar introductions, punctuation, formal language, rhetorical devices, etc. Each lesson generally revolves around one topic.
5. Exercises: From characters to words, from words to sentences, from sentences to paragraphs, and from paragraphs to full texts, students systematically practice writing in a lively and engaging manner.
6. Correction Practice: A student-written essay with errors in grammar, characters, and semantics is provided. Students are guided to correct the mistakes first, then refer to the correct answers. This not only improves their error-correction skills but also offers another reference essay.
Self-Study and Teaching Suggestions:
For students at intermediate and lower levels, it is recommended to follow this sequence for learning and teaching: Lesson 2, Lesson 3, Lesson 6, Lesson 8, Lesson 11, Lesson 13, Lesson 16, and Lesson 18. These lessons have similar difficulty levels. Afterward, start from Lesson 2, as the remaining lessons are more advanced and thematically connected to the earlier, simpler lessons.
For intermediate and advanced students, it is advisable to follow the book's order or skip lessons based on their interests. For example, Lesson 2 and Lesson 6, or Lesson 7. Since adjacent lessons have varying difficulty levels, this serves as a review and improvement process for intermediate and advanced learners.
Some sample essays in this book are adapted from published works. The authors attempted to contact the original creators but were unable to due to various reasons. We sincerely thank the original authors for their contributions.
During the writing process of this book, we were warmly assisted by Teacher Zou Zhaohua and supported by the School of International Cultural Education at Nanjing Normal University. We express our heartfelt gratitude to them.