Practical Chinese Course.1: German Translation and Explanation

Author: Liu Xun et al.
Publisher:
Publishing Time: Not available
Features: Practical Chinese Course, a two-volume set with fifty lessons, is a foundational textbook for foreign students learning modern Chinese, as well as for self-study. The primary goal of this series is to cultivate students' ability to use Chinese for communication in real-life situations and to lay a solid foundation for further Chinese language study. The textbook is designed to leverage the unique characteristics of the Chinese language while incorporating the strengths of various foreign language teaching methodologies. Through comprehensive training such as sentence pattern substitution, functional task practice, and grammar analysis, it aims to achieve this objective.
The principles of Practical Chinese Course are as follows:
1. The textbook is based on the standardized, authentic modern Chinese commonly used by Chinese people. It first introduces essential, everyday language materials that beginners urgently need to master in social interactions.
2. The book not only helps readers grasp a certain number of common language forms but also equips them with the ability to apply these forms in specific contexts. The entire series presents language contexts through the stories of two foreign students, Palanka and Gubo, as they study Chinese in their home country and later interact with Chinese friends in China. The scenes of their activities are not set in China—we hope readers can practice Chinese in their own living environments.
3. Adults learning a foreign language can achieve better results by mastering the necessary phonetic and grammatical rules and applying them to guide their language practice. The textbook emphasizes language practice while also introducing fundamental phonetic and grammatical knowledge.
4. To learn Chinese well, it is essential to understand Chinese culture, history, and current realities. The book (especially starting from the second volume) integrates language and culture as much as possible, allowing students to learn Chinese through topics related to Chinese society, history, famous scenic spots, customs, and traditions.
5. Each lesson includes vocabulary, sentence patterns, extensions, grammar, text, reading passages, and exercises, all designed to complement each other and enhance the repetition of vocabulary and sentence patterns. Due to the diversity of students, teachers can flexibly adapt the textbook to the characteristics of their teaching. Teachers may use all or part of the provided materials and determine the sequence of teaching activities.
The format of Practical Chinese Course:
Most of the texts are in dialogue form to emphasize listening and speaking training while meeting the comprehensive requirements of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in the foundational stage. Vocabulary includes essential words and supplementary words for students to learn at their own pace. Notes explain difficult sentences in the text and the usage of certain words; supplementary explanations cover learned grammar points; and background knowledge is introduced. Some new grammar points in difficult sentences will be focused on later in the course, and students are only required to understand the meaning in this lesson.
Phonetic exercises (Lesson 12) and intonation training (Lessons 1–12) are conducted concurrently with conversational and sentence pattern practice, with a focus on difficult sounds and tones to build a solid phonetic foundation. After Lesson 12, in addition to reinforcing phonetics and tones, intonation exercises are added.
Conversation exercises (Lessons 1–12) and substitution and expansion activities further develop the flexible application of learned sentence patterns after students have mastered basic patterns through mechanical substitution.
Phonetics (Lessons 1–12) and grammar introduce the main phonetic or grammatical points of the lesson, avoiding comprehensiveness but providing necessary explanations tailored to the difficulties faced by foreign learners and the characteristics of the Chinese language. The grammar summaries in each unit review the main grammar points learned.
Reading passages review learned vocabulary and sentence patterns, strengthen reading practice, and gradually develop the ability to express ideas in paragraphs both orally and in writing.
Exercises use various forms to reinforce key grammar points (including some word usage introduced in the notes). Readers are encouraged to make full use of the illustrations in the book for contextualized conversation practice.
Chinese Characters Each lesson includes a stroke order table for Chinese characters. In the accompanying character workbook, the components, origins, and structures of characters are analyzed, and effective methods such as description and copying are used to help readers learn Chinese characters.
Practical Chinese Course, both volumes, benefited greatly from the contributions of Chinese language teachers at Beijing Language and Culture University. We welcome feedback from teachers and readers worldwide to further revise these volumes and continue developing the next stage of the series.