Topic outline

  • Course Introduction 课程介绍

    Welcome to the KiVANET Chinese 1 course. 

    TRANSFER OF CREDITS: PLEASE SEE HERE

    https://www.kivanet.fi/in-english/transferring-kivanet-language-course-credits-to-students-home-universities/ 



    The KiVANET Chinese 1 course is divided into two parts:

    1. Chinese pronunciation and oral communication: 3 credits

    2. Writing of Chinese Chratacters: 2 credits 

    This page contains the material and homework for part 1.  

    Part 1:

    In this online course, you will learn the pronunciation and the Chinese pinyin system; basic vocabulary for everyday life and work, and related to communicative situations such as introduction, talking about yourself and your family, numbers and measure words; some business culture.

    This part of the course is 3 credits. 1 credit means 27 hours of work. This means that the workload for part 1 will be 81 hours and for part 2 it will be 54 hours. 

    You have 12 weeks to complete the course. It is recommended to learn around 11 hours per week. 

    Here are some suggestions to learn when attending an online course (for English scroll down): https://www.kivanet.fi/opiskelijalle/kielten-opiskelu-verkossa-lahtokohtia-ja-vinkkeja/

    Grading: 

    Grading for this course is 1-5. 

    • Written and oral assignments 50 % of the grade
    • Oral exam at the end of the course 50% of the grade

    The grades should be in the system within 4 weeks of completing the course (December 30th).

    After that, you need to transfer the credits to your school. Please find information here on how to transfer the credits to your own school's system:  https://www.kivanet.fi/opiskelijalle/kivanet-kielikurssien-suoritusten-siirto-opiskelijoiden-omiin-korkeakouluihin/  (Please find the English version by scrolling down on the page)

    Lecture:

    We will have one kick-off lecture on September 17 at 12-13 p.m. Please participate in the online meeting through the link on the bottom of this page. 

    Homework:

    Please submit the assignments by the deadlines. 

    Schedule: 

    Chinese  Lesson 1 submit by 18.9. Lesson 1 Pinyin Session 1 学拼音 12.9.2022-18.9.2022

    Chinese Characters Lesson 1 submit by 25.9. https://mycourses.aalto.fi/course/view.php?id=38074&section=1, 19.9.-25.9.2022

    Chinese Lesson 2 submit by 2.10. Lesson 2 Pinyin Session 2 学拼音 26.9.2022-2.10.2022

    Chinese Characters lesson 2 submit by 9.10. https://mycourses.aalto.fi/course/view.php?id=38074&section=2, 3.10.-9.10.2022

    Chinese Lesson 3 submit by 16.10. Lesson 3 Greetings 你好 10.10.2022-16.10.2022

    17.10.-23.10 Self-study week: Please revise the contents 

    Chinese Characters Lesson 3 submit by 30.10.  Characters Lesson 3, 24.10.-30.10.2022

    Chinese Lesson 4 submit by 6.11. Lesson 4 Self introduction 自我介绍 31.10.2022-6.11.2022 

    Chinese Characters Lesson 4 submit by 13.11.  Character Lesson 4, 7.11.-13.11.2022

    Chinese Lesson 5 submit by 20.11. Lesson 5 Family and friends 家人和朋友 14.11.2022-20.11.2022

    Chinese Characters Lesson 5 submit by 27.11.  (see information on the Chinese Characters course page)

    28.11.-2.12. Self-study week: Please revise the contents and prepare for the exam

    Exams will take place on December 3rd and 4th. You can choose the time slot that fits your schedule the best. 

    Oral exam:

    You can participate in the exam if you have completed all the homework. 

    The oral exam will take place at the end of this course. Please book one time slot on December 3rd or December 4th. 

    You can find the times slots on the page left with the topic: Oral exam  / Please book your time slot latest by November 25th. 

    Teacher:

    Please get in touch with the teacher, if you have questions about the content of the course: sari.annala@aalto.fi


    For your great choice to learn Mandarin and to invest wisely for your future, here is a song to welcome you:

    "Beijing Huanying Ni" -- Beijing Welcomes You! (Beijing Olympic Song)


  • Learning outcomes:

    • Get to know the Chinese pronunciation system
    • The pronunciation of Chinese consonants and vowels
    • The pronunciation of tones

    Please go through all the material on this page and submit the homework by the end of week 18.9. 23:59.  

    What is pinyin

    The pronunciation of Chinese characters has been written with Latin letters since 1956, when the so-called Pinyin System was officially invented. The Chinese word Pinyin means “spelling language”. It is used mainly to teach spoken Chinese. In fact, if a foreigner only wants to learn how to speak Chinese, he really doesn’t need to spend time learning Chinese characters at all; the simple Pinyin System is adequate to help him to master spoken Chinese.

    Although Pinyin is already a complete “spelling language” for writing Standard Chinese speech, in China it is not regarded as a written language system. Up till now, it has only been used as a tool to learn spoken Chinese and new Chinese characters.

    The vowels and consonants of Pinyin

    Vowels:

    a  o  e   i  u  ü

    Note that e and i are pronounced very different depending on which consonant comes before them. 


    Consonants:

    b  p  m  f  d  t  n  l  g      

    k  h  j  q  x  z  c  s  zh        

    ch  sh  r

  • Learning outcomes:

    • Practice more the more difficult consonants
    • Learn the pronunciation of some basic words
    • Practice listening and speaking 

    Please go through all the material on this page and submit the homework by the end of week 2.10. 23:59.  


  • Learning outcomes:

    • Get to know some Chinese phrases and vocabulary
    • Get to know basic grammar and sentence patterns

    Please go through all the material on this page, learn all the vocabulary and phrases, complete all the activities, and submit all the homework by the end of the week 16.10. 23:59.  


  • In this chapter you will learn about:

    • Tone changes
    • Measure words
    • Numbers 0-20
    • Introducing

  • Please complete all the activities and homework until November 20th. 

    In this week you will learn content related to family and adding more sentences to the self-introduction. 

  • For the exam you should be able: 

    • to pronounce Chinese / read a short text in Chinese pinyin, pronounce loanwords /expressions
    • to express yourself within the vocabulary of lessons 3-5
    • to be able to answer and pose questions within the content of chapters 3-5
    • to know the numbers and recognize their characters
    • to recognize characters within the range of lessons 3-5 (only words that appear in text 1 and text 2 of those lessons)

    Please choose one of the oral time slots below by November 25, 2022, by booking one of the slots in the booking system below.

    Please find your own Zoom link below. The password has been sent you by email.

    Saturday, December 3rd, 2022

    12:00 - 12: 15 Alma

    12:15 - 12:30

    12:30 - 12:45 Julia

    12:45 - 13:00 Juska

    13:00 - 13:15 Sofia

    13:15 - 13:30

    13:30 - 13:45

    13:45 - 14:00 Roope

    14:00 - 14:15 Emmanuel


    Sunday, December 4th, 2022

    12:00 - 12: 15 Katja

    12:15 - 12:30 Elise

    12:30 - 12:45

    12:45 - 13:00

    13:00 - 13:15

    13:15 - 13:30

    13:30 - 13:45 Henry

    13:45 - 14:00 Taavi

    14:00 - 14:15 Minttu