"I've been teaching Mandarin Chinese in USA for couples of years with
this textbook, and I've loved it. The text is quite well-organized and
the teaching method solid. The content is authentic and high-quality, I
don't need to spend lots of time in preparing lessons." - Coco, Holland, MI
Buying Guide for New Practical Chinese Reader Note: Each level comes with 1 textbook, CDs for the textbook, 1 workbook, CDs for the workbook and teacher's guide. (Each sold separately)
Teaching Methodology of New Practical Chinese Reader
Teaching Chinese as a second language has changed for the past 20 years. The authors have gathered the most effective ways of teaching the Chinese language, and put together the techniques in the New Practical Chinese Reader (NPCR) Series.
The objective of the New Practical Chinese Reader curriculum is to help college students and teens: 1) speak, read and write Chinese easily, 2) Have mastery of Chinese grammar and language rules and 3) become familiar with Chinese culture as well.
For beginners and pre-intermediate learners.
New Practical Chinese Reader books can be studied one lesson per week, or one volume per semester.
Can also be used for self-study.
The editors of NPCR believe that the lessons should be based on students’ needs. Students must also be encouraged to learn through different, creative means. This builds up motivation and a sense of achievement. Students will gain ground in the four basic skills by :
Plenty of drills and exercises
Studying pronunciation, vocabulary, sentence patterns and grammar.
Lessons go from simple to complex, with constant review of past lessons.
Students will learn more about the Chinese culture and society so that they use the target language effectively.
The lessons in the New Practical Chinese Reader have a consistent pattern. For each lesson, students can anticipate how lessons will go about as lessons are organized according to:
Text. Topics and scenes of each lesson. New Words. Analyzes the morphemes that form new words, can be practiced in phrases. Notes. Explanations of new words, develop grammatical points taught previously, or introduce necessary cultural background. English translations also provided. Conversation Practice, Drills and Practice. Reading Comprehension and Paraphrasing. Phonetics and Pronunciation Drills. Grammar. The most important grammatical structures and rules for sentence formation. Characters. Rules for constructing and writing characters. Culture Note. Students can gain insight into culture information to improve understanding. As lessons go further along, culture notes are incorporated into the Chinese text.
Storyline of New Practical Chinese Reader
One interesting feature of the New Practical Chinese Reader is incorporating of the lessons into a running story interesting for teens. The story features the campus life of Ding Libo, Lin Na, Ma Dawei and other college students. Interestingly, Ding Libo is actually the son of the characters in the previous Practical Chinese Reader who became a couple and got married (!). I have noticed in the reviews around the internet that students like to nitpick who among these characters has been dating who. Here are the other characters in the series:
Table of Contents
- New Practical Chinese
Level 1
In book 1, Pinyin equivalents are presented.
* Saying Hello
* Greetings
* Identifying People
* Asking Permission
* Looking for Someone
* Making Comments
* Making Acquaintances
* Talking about One's Family
* Birthday Celebrations in China
* Bargaining for Discounts
* Asking about Time
* Talking about Health
* Meeting a Friend and Arranging a Visit
* Making a Complaint or an Apology
Level 2
In Level 2, Pinyin is dropped. Words that have been studied Level 1 are presented in Simplified Chinese for Level 2.
* How to use money
* Travel to Shanghai
* Going to the library
* Hospital
* Chinese dress, the Cheongsam
* Traditional Chinese painting
* The Shaoxing opera
* Other facets of everyday life
Level 3
In Simplified Chinese
* Attending festivals
* Beijing street life
* Chinese teahouse
* Traditional Chinese swordplay
* A trip to the Three Gorges
* Going out for dinner
Level 4
In Simplified Chinese
* Courtship
* The role of men and women in society
* Career objectives
* Traditions of the Spring Festival
* The writings of Lu Xun&
* Bargaining
for discounts
* Interviewing for a job
* Part-time work
* Family planning
in China
* Visiting a traditional Chinese doctor
* China's launch of
the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft.
About the Author of New Practical Chinese Reader
Liu
Xun is a professor at Beijing Language and Culture University,
part-time professor at China People's University and Beijing University
of Foreign Languages, member of the Hanban Expert Advisory Committee
for Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, board member of World
Chinese Teaching Association and consultant of Chinese teaching for the
New York State Department of Education.
His research focuses on
Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, Second Language Acquisition,
teaching material development, teachers'training, etc. He once assumed
the main responsibility in the design of the first set of HSK.
He has
compiled and co-compiled TCFL textbooks such as Practical Chinese
Reader (1-4), Chinese Textbook for Children, Elementary Chinese, One
Hundred Lessons on Communicative Chinese, etc, and has published
monographs such as Introduction to Chinese as a Foreign Language
Pedagogy, Introduction to Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, Brief
Introduction to Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, An Overall View
of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language and a number of academic
papers.
