(BA) (4-year-programme) - The University of Hong Kong

30CHIN9502.Chinese as a foreign language II (6 credits)This intensive course is intended for foreign learners who have completed CHIN9501 or who candemonstrate equivalent competence in the placement test. A greater emphasis will be placed on oraldrills and listening comprehension. Students will be exposed to 800 frequently used Chinesecharacters, which are used to form expressions related to various aspects of life in China. Upon thecompletion of the course, students should be able to write approximately 500 Chinese characters andan essay of 200 words. Students will also be exposed to various aspects of Chinese culture and historyin learning the origins of Chinese characters and idioms.This course will also be offered as an intensive two-week immersion course to regular internationalstudents during July. Course will be conducted in Beijing in co-operation with Peking University.Prerequisite: CHIN9501 Chinese as a foreign language I or equivalentAssessment: 100% coursework.CHIN9511.Cantonese as a foreign language I (6 credits)This intensive course is intended for foreign learners who have no prior knowledge of Cantonese. Thecourse introduces students to present-day Cantonese, with an emphasis on learning correctpronunciation through the Jyutping phonetic romanization transcription system and basic structure. Itaims to develop fundamental oral communication skills through a variety of situational conversationsin a highly interactive classroom.Assessment: 100% coursework.CHIN9521.The fundamentals of Chinese characters (6 credits)This intensive course is intended for international students whose mother tongue is not Chinese. It isdesigned to introduce the origins and evolution of Chinese characters. The formation and the structureof Chinese characters will be emphasized to help students to break the puzzles of Chinese writtenform. This course also familiarizes students with the distinctive features of the Chinese characters as ameans to introduce them to the unique characteristics of the Chinese language and culture. Studentswill be equipped with the writing skills to copy any Chinese characters in correct stroke-order andwill be familiar with the commonly used components of combined characters after this course. Thecourse will teach up to 220 Chinese characters and about 350 compound words. Students are taughthow to use Chinese dictionaries in order to continue learning Chinese characters by themselves.Assessment: 100% coursework.CHIN9522.Exploration of major cultural themes across Chinese history (6 credits)A history and culture course that familiarizes students with China and its past, approached from nontraditionalperspectives. The course introduces international students to Chinese history, schools ofthoughts, cultural themes and achievements in Chinese civilization; highlights cultural differences andsimilarities between Chinese and other cultures; stimulates students’ interest in deeper understandingof China, its people, its history and its culture in the global context.Assessment: 100% coursework.