Students are introduced to Mandarin Chinese through a series of dynamic and engaging animations based on authentic Chinese stories. These stories share an aspect of Chinese culture and language from famous myths to historical tales familiar to all Chinese children. Each story introduces key vocabulary words and phrases that are then practiced through a series interactive games and activities. In addition, other video and media materials are used to further demonstrate culture and daily life in China. Students are introduced to simplified Characters throughout the course and targeted character based activities help to prepare students how to read and write Chinese characters. Students are challenged with comprehension quizzes at the end of every unit, as well as teacher-graded assignments where they will be able to speak Mandarin Chinese. All of the materials in the course are designed to familiarize students with Chinese culture, characters, vocabulary and simple phrases.

Unit 1: Numbers

• Can do Statements: 1. I can count from 1 to 10. 2. I can understand the stroke order for the numbers 1 to 10 in Chinese. 3. I can count to 10 using the Chinese finger method.
• Authentic Story: Houyi and the Ten Suns

Unit 2: Greetings

• Can do Statements: 1. I can greet other people. 2. I can start a conversation.
• Authentic Story: The Mice and the Rice Ball

Unit 3: Family

• Can do Statements: 1. I can recognize family words. 2. I can talk about my own family.
• Authentic Story: Kong Rong and the Pears

Unit 4: Home

• Can do Statements: 1. I can talk about objects at home. 2. I can talk about what I do at home.
• Authentic Story: The Frog and the Well

Unit 5: Adjectives/ Colors

• Can do Statements: 1. I can say the colors. 2. I can describe how things look.
• Authentic Story: The Box and the Pearl

Unit 6: School

• Can do Statements: 1. I can tell you about my classroom. 2. I can tell you about school.
• Authentic Story: Kuang Heng Studies in Despite of Adversity

Unit 7: Food

• Can do Statements: 1. I can name different kinds of foods. 2. I can describe what to eat for breakfast lunch and dinner.
• Authentic Story: One Rice Thousand Gold

Unit 8: Review and Test

Unit 9: Animals

• Can do Statements: 1. I can say the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. 2. I know which year of the Zodiac I am.
• Authentic Story: Zodiac

Unit 10: Friends

• Can do Statements: 1. I can describe my friends and people around me. 2. I can say how I feel.
• Authentic Story: Si Ma Guang Breaks the Bat

Unit 11: Nature

• Can do Statements: 1. I can describe the weather. 2. I can say what I like and don’t like about the weather and nature.
• Authentic Story: Chang E Ascends to the Moon

Unit 12: Seasons

• Can do Statements: 1. I can say the seasons. 2. I can list some holidays. 3. I can tell the important days of the year.
• Authentic Story: The Nian Monster

Unit 13: Clothing

• Can do Statements: 1. I can describe what I am wearing. 2. I can recognize articles of clothing.
• Authentic Story: Chinese Clothing

Unit 14: Places

• Can do Statements: 1. I can tell you where my favorite places are. 2. I can say where I like to go.
• Authentic Story: Men Mu San Qiang

Unit 15: Professions

• Can do Statements: 1. I can tell you what I want to be when I grow up. 2. I can tell you what my parents do.
• Authentic Story: The Man on the Rafters

Unit 16: Review and Test