Ancient Chinese Accelerated Reader

Author: Liu Qing'e (Editor)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-06-01
Features: This book serves as self-study material for ancient Chinese. According to the National Education Commission, starting from 2006, individuals without a university undergraduate diploma could no longer become primary school teachers. Currently, over 90% of primary school teachers in China hold only vocational secondary or junior college diplomas. This group is working hard to self-study in pursuit of a bachelor's degree. While there are ample reference books for this group in other subjects, there is a lack of materials specifically on ancient Chinese. Therefore, the primary market for this book lies in literature teachers, followed by young people who have graduated from high school and are self-studying for the college entrance examination. Target Audience: Professional researchers, universities, high schools, and urban areas.
In this book, the author has made the following efforts:
1. Selection of Texts: The thirty articles selected for this book are not only traditional masterpieces with healthy ideas and standardized language but also include eighteen that have been used in recent ten years in the teacher training program for upgrading from junior college to university, as well as two commonly taught texts, "The Five Parasites" and "Emotion and Style."
2. Annotations: While most textbooks focus on word explanations, beginners often struggle to fully understand sentences even after grasping key terms. Therefore, this book integrates sentence parsing with word explanations, first parsing the sentence and then providing word definitions. Although this may seem repetitive, it is essential for beginners.
3. Summaries: After studying an article, students often feel overwhelmed by the amount of information but struggle to grasp the key points or organize their thoughts. Thus, this book includes learning points after each article, covering aspects such as phonetics, characters, vocabulary, and grammar, outlining the essential knowledge students must master. The section on common phrases is left unexplained, encouraging readers to consult dictionaries.
4. General Theories: General theoretical introductions are highly emphasized in most textbooks. The chapters are lengthy, contain numerous examples, and provide comprehensive knowledge, aligning closely with the selected texts, which greatly benefits students.
5. Punctuation: Since classical texts originally lacked punctuation, understanding them requires the ability to correctly punctuate. Therefore, cultivating students' skills in punctuating classical texts is one of the fundamental tasks in ancient Chinese education. This involves not only teaching systematic knowledge but also guiding students to practice extensively. The book appends twelve classical texts of varying lengths, difficulty levels, and styles for practice.
6. Translation: Translating classical texts is a complex issue but a crucial one in ancient Chinese education. Students often do not dedicate enough effort to this task. The book includes sixteen translations as appendices, serving two purposes: helping students understand the original texts and providing reference material for translation exercises. The remaining fourteen articles are left for students to translate themselves. The twelve classical texts for punctuation practice can also be used for translation. These two groups of texts have varying annotations and translation accuracy, offering diverse practice opportunities and greater learning outcomes.
This book is suitable for self-study but can also be used for lecture-based instruction. Teachers can utilize it to teach students how to self-study (a valuable skill in any educational setting) and introduce more knowledge in fewer class hours, thereby improving teaching effectiveness. Sections with detailed explanations can be briefly covered by teachers, while important knowledge not extensively covered (e.g., common words in the selected texts, cultural of ancient China) can be supplemented appropriately. Issues identified in student assignments, which were previously too time-constrained to discuss in detail, can now be analyzed thoroughly. The author has used this book in teaching undergraduate students at ordinary universities, adult education junior college students, and other professionals preparing for professional qualification exams in ancient Chinese, with consistently positive results.