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Chinese I—Semester B

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  • Credit Recovery Enabled
  • Course Length: 18 weeks
  • Course Type: Basic
  • Category:
    • Foreign Language
    • Middle School
    • High School

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If you're a fan of fortune cookies, General Tso's chicken, and Kung Fu Panda, then this is the course for you.

Just kidding. Those are not real Chinese things.

While Semester A built up your foundational Chinese skills, Semester B will kick it up a notch by focusing more on Chinese culture. That's because you'll learn about topics like

  • traditions of the Lunar New Year.
  • China's Economic Miracle.
  • the principles of feng shui (风水).
  • regional cuisines of the Chinese-speaking world.

And if you're language nerds like us at Shmoop, we've got more advanced grammar and vocab to satisfy your Semester B cravings. For one, you'll learn how to write in the so-called past tense in Chinese. Unlike other languages (we're looking at you, Spanish), Chinese doesn't have any complicated verb conjugations. All you need is one small word—了—to transform a "here and now" event into a "been there, done that" one.

Trust us—we've got something so much better in store for you this semester than stale fortune cookies and fake General Tso's chicken.

P.S. This is a two-semester course. You're looking at Semester B; you can find Semester A here.

Technology Requirements

  • Access to a recording device with sound and video, such as a smartphone or webcam
  • Access to an audio uploading service, like Vocaroo, and a video uploading service, like YouTube or Dropbox
  • Headphones to listen to Shmoop's audios and videos

Unit Breakdown

5 Chinese I—Semester B - Fresh Starts

恭喜发财, or Happy Lunar New Year! (It is February, right?) In this unit, you'll learn about the different customs associated with 春节 and find yourself counting the days until the next one. And speaking of counting days, this unit also covers telling time—because you wouldn't want to be late to the 春节 party, would you?

6 Chinese I—Semester B - Skills to Pay the Bills

Whether you've got money in the bank or you blew it all on a shopping spree, get ready to talk about finances in Unit 6. We'll go over units of currency, asking about quality, and shopping. Get ready to spend your moolah at department stores and fruit markets…while also haggling with the vendor to take off an extra 块.

7 Chinese I—Semester B - Where Things Go

A textbook goes in a backpack; a couch goes in the living room; a hamburger pizza goes straight into our mouth. There's just a natural order to where things should go, and during this unit, you'll learn how to arrange locations, actions, and objects in Mandarin sentences. You'll also learn more vocab related to school and home, since we're guessing that's where you spend most of your time.

8 Chinese I—Semester B - Get Your Grub On

We know you were wondering when we'd get to Chinese food. It's such an important—and delicious—concept that we've saved the best for last. Get ready for five weeks of discussing regional cuisines, ordering food off imaginary menus, and describing your favorite meals. Just don't blame us if your 肚子 won't stop grumbling.

Recommended prerequisites:

  • Chinese I—Semester A

    • Sample Lesson - Introduction

    Lesson 8.05: They Sure Can Eat

    The great breakfast debate rages on in today's lesson: which is tastier—and healthier, if that sort of thing is important to you—Chinese or American style?

    They each have their merits, of course. Maybe the better breakfast is simply the one you're used to eating when you crawl out of bed in the morning…

    …Or maybe after crawling out of bed, you crawl right out of the house and down the street to your friendly sidewalk pancake man. If you're living in a city somewhere in the Chinese-speaking world, he just might be out there every morning. You see, he's got this remarkable device that's best described as a spinning fry grill—kind of like a pottery wheel, but it makes a big, thin, tasty-looking 煎饼, or eggy pancake.

    How would you like your pancake? How about topped with chopped onions, coated with hot sauce, and wrapped around some fresh lettuce leaves for extra crunch? Perfect!

    Psht. Not that we're choosing sides in the debate, but that 中式早饭 sounds way better than strawberry iced Pop-Tarts.

    Sample Lesson - Reading

    Reading 8.8.05a: Vocabulary Flashcards

    It's review time. (After all, what's the point of learning new words unless you actually…practice them?) Head back to Lesson 2 and make flashcards for each word you've learned.

    Make sure your flashcard includes the word, underlined in an example sentence, on the front, and the definition and any other information you'd like to reinforce on the back. For example, our flashcard for 吃 might look like this—you can include supplemental info like measure words for nouns on the back:

    Front

    她吃早饭.

    Back

    吃 chī = to eat

    If you have time, you can also go a little fancier or make it visual. For example, with 猫:

    Front

    那只猫没吃够，还饿了。

    Back

    猫 māo = cat
    measure word: 只zhī

    A scowling cat.
    (Source)

    Your turn. Once you've made your flashcards for Lesson 2, flip through your cards for at least ten minutes making sure you've got your words down.

    Sample Lesson - Reading

    Reading 8.8.05b: How Big is Your Breakfast? (Audio)

    What do folks eat for breakfast in Chinese-speaking Taiwan? Listen in as Frank, a Taiwanese exchange student, waxes nostalgic about the tasty treats of his island country. How is it different from Miranda's beloved American breakfast? You'll find out when you play the dialogue, naturally.

    Sample Lesson - Reading

    Reading 8.8.05c: Get your Dough Sticks 'n' Pancakes!

    Breakfast in China, Taiwan, and most other Asian countries is often something you grab on the go. (Ya know, it's similar in America—consider the granola bar or almighty portable bagel.) As you walk down the street on your way to school or work, you'll see little shops or sidewalk stands that sell all sorts of delicious snacks.

    Mmm. Not only tasty, but also convenient.

    Check out a few breakfast specialties in the linked videos below, and take special note of how they're prepared. As you watch the videos, think about these questions:

    • Out of the three different breakfast foods shown, which one looks tastiest?
    • How is the 煎饼 prepared after it comes off the spinning grill?
    • How are 油条 made?
    • What do you think is in the filling of the buns?

    煎饼: Care for a big thin pancake with veggie filling? Get it here. So tasty, and made in an ingenious way.

    油条: Yep, it's time for Chinese crullers. First, you stretch it, then you drop it in hot oil. Just, uh…wait until it's cooled off until you stuff your face. We've been hurt before.

    包子: Curious about steamed buns? Check out how they make 'em.

    Sample Lesson - Activity

    Activity 8.05a: My Chinese Breakfast

    When we're used to eating corn flakes for breakfast every day, it's hard to imagine that some folks are eating things like congee rice porridge topped with pickled vegetables. Salty pickled vegetables…first thing in the morning?

    Hey, why not? At the very least, get to know more about a Chinese breakfast dish of your choice. You'll research it, write a paragraph in Chinese about it—and maybe even be inspired to try it at your local 中餐馆.

    Step One

    Take a look at the list of breakfast dishes below, and pick one of the dishes as a research topic.

    • 油条: fried dough sticks
    • 葱油饼: green onion pancakes
    • 点心: dim sum
    • 煎饼: thin pancakes
    • 豆花: tofu pudding
    • 包子: steamed buns
    • 热干面: hot and dry noodles
    • 粥: congee or porridge

    Step Two

    Research your dish for at least 15 minutes. Check out an online resource or two and take down some notes about it. Look for facts like:

    • Where is it popular to eat the dish?
    • What is it made from?
    • What does it taste like?
    • How is it prepared?
    • Who is it most popular with?

    The links below will be helpful in your research; you can also circle back to the videos in Reading 8.5c to see some examples of these foods being made.

    For information on specific dishes, you might want to start with these links:

    And, since we're nice like that, here's some general information about Chinese cuisine:

    Feel free to pick and choose links from our Chinese research buffet.

    Step Three

    Write a paragraph of at least 75 words in Chinese, in which you

    • describe your dish, including what ingredients are in it or how it's made, and
    • tell us whether or not you'd like to eat it for breakfast.

    Here's a sample paragraph:

    油条是中国很流行的早餐。很多中国人每天早上吃油条。你可以在路旁边的小店买油条。油条的味道有点咸，很好吃。有的人吃油条喜欢加鸡蛋。我没有吃过油条，不过我很想试一试。油条是很好的早饭食物。

    You've done the research and drooled over the food pix. Now, submit your paragraph below.

    Foreign Language: Sustained Writing Rubric - 50 Points

    OutstandingProficientDevelopingNeeds Improvement
    Cultural Understanding

    Response demonstrates a complete understanding of the culture or product being studied. Presentation cites specific details.

    (14)

    Response meets the criteria and demonstrates some understanding of the culture or product being studied, but doesn't include specific details.

    (12)

    Response demonstrates only a basic understanding of culture or product being studied. May miss one or two criteria.

    (12)

    Response contains major errors or demonstrates significant misunderstanding of the culture or product studied.

    (11)
    Analysis

    Response demonstrates a sophisticated ability to describe the significance of cultural products or practices, or to draw connections to own culture.

    (11)

    Response demonstrates some ability to describe the significance of cultural products or practices, or to draw connections to own culture.

    (10)

    Response demonstrates a limited ability to describe the significance of cultural products or practices, or to draw connections to their own culture.

    (10)

    Response doesn't contain analysis or personal reflection.

    (9)
    Organization

    Writing is organized in a clear and coherent format, including a topic or thesis statement.(

    (14)

    Writing is fairly well organized, but may lack a clear topic or thesis statement.

    (12)

    Writing is poorly organized and doesn't follow a logical structure.

    (12)

    Lack of organization impedes understanding.

    (11)
    Language

    Language in response exceeds criteria. Sentence structure is varied. Details are highly specific and recount descriptions using a variety of tenses.

    (11)

    Language in response meets criteria. May contain spelling or grammatical errors. Some variance in sentence structure. Includes some specific details and recounts descriptions using a variety of tenses, with some errors.

    (10)

    Language is occasionally unclear, but meaning is generally understandable. Contains frequent spelling/grammar errors that don't impede comprehension. Relies on a simple sentence structure. Includes few descriptive details and relies on one or two tenses, with many errors.

    (10)

    Language is very difficult to understand. Contains frequent spelling or grammar errors that impede comprehension. Only uses simple sentence structure.

    (9)

    Sample Lesson - Activity

    1. Which of the following is not one of the three meals everyone should eat in a day?

    2. Which of the following is not an example of a flavor?

    3. Which of the following would traditionally be considered a Chinese breakfast item?

    4. Which of the following is not a negative remark concerning food?

    5. Which of the following is a synonym for 中饭？

    6. Which of the following is not something you can 吃？

    7. Which of the following is 甜？

    8. Which of the following is something you can drink?

    9. Select the sentence that correctly states, "My little brother eats a lot of Italian food."

    10. Which of the following sentences is correct?

      11. Review this passage and answer the following questions:

      MICHAEL: 你好，Maria. 你吃过饭吗？

      MARIA: 你好，Michael. 我吃过，谢谢你。你呢？

      MICHAEL: 我还没有吃呢。你晚饭吃的是什么？

      MARIA: 我妈妈今天晚上做的是意大利面，很好吃！

      MICHAEL:下次我要来你家吃饭。

    11. Which of the following statements is true?

    12. During what time of day is this conversation taking place?

      13. Review this passage and answer the following questions:

      你好！我的名字叫 Susan。 每天三餐，我最喜欢的是早饭。早上我有的时候会做中餐，比如豆浆、油条, 和包子。我也喜欢做美餐，像咸肉，炒蛋，和厚煎饼。不过很多时候我忙着去上学. 早上没有时间做很多东西。那些时候我就吃玉米片或麦芬。

    13. Which of the following does Susan not list as a Chinese breakfast item she enjoys making?

    14. Why does Susan sometimes just eat cornflakes or muffins for breakfast?

    15. In Chinese, write at least four sentences describing your ideal breakfast. What dishes would there be? What are their flavors? Explain why you like these dishes.