This level is designed for children who have had little or no exposure to Chinese previously. The primary goal for this level is to build a foundation for all four skills, and to engage children in learning Chinese.  70% of class time should be dedicated to listening and speaking, 15% to reading and 15% to writing.  There are overlaps between radicals and characters, as some of the radicals are also single shaped characters.

Milestones: Tell people your name and age.  Learn early childhood themes: family members, fruits, colors, etc. Speak a total of 50 words, recognize a total of 50 single shaped Chinese characters, read and write a total of 15 radicals, follow commands, and answer in short sentences.

This class introduces Chinese to first time learners ages 8 to 12.  Class will cover Level 1 and 2 contents with topics related to real life situations.  Upon class completion, students will be assessed and placed in appropriate classes.

Milestones:         Students will learn pinyin, tones, basic Chinese characters and radicals.  Students will understand and speak about 100 vocabulary words and 50 common sentences. They are expected to speak, follow directions, and answer questions in Chinese.

This level reviews and expands on material covered in Level 2.  Students are expected to speak in complete sentence and ask simple questions on familiar subject matters.  Students are encouraged to carry a basic conversation on self-related topics.  Units covered include colors, clothing, sports, pets, transportations, shopping, weather and comparisons. 

Milestones: Students will understand, speak and write about 150 compound Chinese characters, as well as read and write about another 20 radicals.

This level will review and build upon Students’ previous knowledge.  Students will take what they have learned and will use them in more complex sentences, phrases, and conversation. Students are expected to speak longer sentence and converse on familiar topics such as daily schedule, school life, food, hobbies, rooms in a house, etc.  Students will continue to learn different parts of a Chinese character, and know how to de-compose a character. 

Milestones:  Students will understand and speak a total of about 300 Chinese words, and will be able to read and write about 200 Chinese characters.

The primary goal of this level is to continue to help students improve their knowledge of the Chinese language and develop skills in speaking, reading, writing and comprehension.  By the end of this course, students will learn to convey basic and conduct conversations in standard modern Chinese.  Students reinforce previous knowledge to solidify basics and develop more complex sentence structures.

Milestones:  Students should know a total of about 50 most commonly used radicals, be able to write about another 50 compound Chinese characters, understand a total of about 300 Chinese words, be able to read and write about 200 Chinese characters, and will be able to talk about weather, friends, school classes, daily schedule, etc.

Students will continue to gain oral proficiency through a variety of language activities including games, dialogues, oral presentations, and imaginative tasks.  There will be a focus on continuous improvement of accurate pronunciation and students’ ability to convey meaning. Students will be assigned monthly projects supervised by teacher and will work in pairs to use Chinese in meaningful ways to further hone their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills.  Projects may include stories, skits, videos, etc. 

Milestones:  Students should have learned about 80 commonly used radicals, and be able to recognize at least two-thirds of them to write separate characters, and short writing assignments. Students should understand different parts of a Chinese character and how to de-compose a character when asked.  Students should be able understand a total of about 400 Chinese words, and be able to read and write about 300 Chinese characters.

Students will learn to talk about more sophisticated topics and more complicated sentence structures in Chinese. The goal of this level remains focused on speaking and students will continue to broaden their conversational skills in Chinese.  In addition, students will be able to provide and request information about  multiple topics through increasingly complex oral and written reports drawing from multiple sources; clarify and restate information as needed; use appropriate linguistic transitional elements; write formal letters. Students will be assigned monthly projects supervised by teacher and will work in pairs to creatively use Chinese in various capacities to develop fluency to their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. 

Milestones:  Students should have learned about 100 commonly used radicals, among which students should have no problem recognizing separate characters. Students should be able understand a total of about 420 Chinese words, and be able to read and write about 320 Chinese characters. Students will be able to write a short passage with assigned topics, do presentations in Chinese, make complex requests, and hold conversations in Chinese.

At this level, students should have a fairly solid foundation in tones, intonation, reading and writing characters, radical recognition and pinyin. The knowledge covered in the previous levels is very practical, so students will be challenged to perform in a real world situation. The primary goal of this level is to help students attain basic language skills for communication in the interpretive, interpersonal and presentational modes, as specified in the National Standards for Foreign Langue Learning. Students will be assigned monthly projects supervised by teacher and will work in pairs to gain fluency in their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. 

Milestones:  Students should have learned about 100 commonly used radicals and be able to recognize at least two-thirds of them, be able to carry a conversation, write a short passage as assigned, as well as discuss and express opinions.