Content

In the process of learning a language all skills are developing simultaneously. However, for the purposes of this guide, linguistic contents have been divided into

• language functions
• grammar and syntax
• lexical contents
• phonetical contents.

A module on some sociocultural aspects of Modern China is also included, due to the importance of such knowledge for successful interaction with Chinese people.

 

Language functions

The language functions of the communicative activities below have language functions related to tourism and general language.

a)    Social function

• Making contact with somebody: greeting and adapting our response to a formal or informal context
• Saying goodbye
• Introducing oneself and others in formal and informal contexts
• Apologising
• Thanking

 b)    Informative function

• Identifying oneself and others. Giving and asking for personal details (name, age, profession, nationalities, languages)
• Giving and asking for information about places (location, characteristics, etc)
• Ordering and offering drinks
• Talking about activities

 c)    Expressive function (feelings and moods)

• Expressing a wish
• Expressing joy
• Expressing complaint

 d)    Inductive function

• Making questions and expressing will or a wish to do something
• Letting others know if something is doable or not
• Suggesting an activity

 e)    Metalinguistic function

• Asking for repetition
• Asking the meaning of a word or expression

 

Grammar and syntax

Students will be able to identify and use correctly thefollowing grammatical and syntactical elements:

The sentence

• Basic structures: adjective phrases, noun phrases, verb phrases and phrases with 有
• Yes / No interrogative sentences
• Wh- questions (what, who, where, when, which, how, how many)
• Word order in sentences with place and time complements
• Noun modifiers

Pronouns 

• Personal pronouns:  我， 你，您， 他，她，我们，你们，他们 ，她们。
• Demonstrative pronouns: 这，那。
• Interrogative pronouns: 什么，谁，哪儿，哪，怎么， 几，多少。

Verbs 

• Modal verbs: 要，可以。
• Transitive verbs: 喝，叫，来， 去，姓, etc.
• Coverbs: 在。

Adverbs and other expressions

• Degree: 很，太 ，真
• Time: 现在，昨天，今天，明天。
• Place: 这儿，那儿。
• Negation: 不，没。
• Others: 都 (all), 也 (also).

Others:

• Place prepositions: 在。
• Measuring particles: 个，张，口，岁。

 

Lexical contents 

The lexical contents of the course are classified as follows:

• Describing people: name, surname, profession,nationality, languages, age, birthday and birthplace.
• Dates and time
• Food and drink
• Numbers from 1 to 99
• Buying and selling, prices
• Family and work
• Telephone communication
• Addresses and directions

 

Phonetics

Students will be able to identify Standard Chinese sounds and match them to their pinyin representation. They will also identify and pronounce correctly the sounds represented by pinyin. We will focus on those sounds that do not exist in the students’ native languages, and whose pinyin representation is different from Catalan and Spanish sounds:

• Aspirated consonants (p, t, k, ch, c)
• Retroflex consonants (zh, ch, sh, r)
• Dorso-palatal consonants (j, q, x)
• Sons vocàlics segons la síl·laba en què apareixen (a, e, i, o, u, ü)
• Standard Chinese tones (mā, má, mǎ, mà, ma)
• Tone variation in some characters (一， 不)

 

Sociocultural contents

The sociocultural topics that will be explored in class are:

• Name structure in Chinese (surname + name), first names and the most common surnames. Polite patterns and expressions.
• Introductions: how to give and receive a business card (body language)
• Chinese linguistic diversity (geolects and dialects)
• The history of Chinese handwriting (from writing on tortoise bones to the current ways of writing). Chinese orthography systems (simplified and traditional).
• Chinese traditional medicine
• Chinese tourist flow
• Sights in China
• The Chinese cultural revolution