Course Description
Summary
Chinese has no verb conjugation, no plural, no gender, no articles or subject and object forms. It鈥檚 very easy to speak Chinese, because Chinese grammar is so simple. That鈥檚 because in Chinese language as in culture everything depends on context. Relationship (guanxi) is the most important. All the children of one鈥檚 parent鈥檚 siblings are just called cousin in English. However in Chinese there is a different word for each particular relationship. This stems from how in traditional Chinese Confucian culture each individual鈥檚 duties and obligations towards others are dictated by their relationships, with family relationships being the most important. But then in Chinese 鈥渆veryone鈥 is da jia, literally 鈥渂ig family.鈥 By studying the form of the most basic Chinese characters students will simultaneously gain insights into traditional Chinese cultural values. Student will be able to speak Chinese from the very first class. They will be able to speak a lot of daily conversation after one term.
Corequisite: Students must attend at least two Languages Series events (Mondays, 7:00pm 鈥 8:00pm)
