CHINESE LANGUAGE 2

The Chinese Language Module 2 is one of the main teachings of the Master's degree course in languages and civilisations of Asia and Mediterranean Africa (Chinese language) and aims to provide students with language tools and translation skills at an advanced level. The goal is to make them possible to apply their language skills and abilities in communicative situations and in the reading of texts that require knowledge of a language of very good quality, in order to face up to cultural issues that may also be challenging. They will thus be able to make their linguistic competence a key tool to understand and interpret Chinese society and culture under many different perspectives, as well as to firmly master the academic literature they will have to deal with for their future research work.

To achieve a level of language proficiency equivalent to level C1 of the CEFR (Common European framework of reference for language proficiency). In particular:

1. Knowledge and understanding
To know the sophisticate syntactic structures and the lexicon necessary to interact in communication contexts that require knowledge of a language of very good quality, in order to face up to cultural issues that may also be challenging.
To have a very good knowledge of the grammatical system of modern Chinese.
To master a lexicon of about 2500 words and 1700 characters, including terms referring to various cultural contexts, mainly focusing on academic literature.

2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
To be able to correctly use the sophisticate syntactic structures and the lexicon necessary to interact in communication contexts that that require knowledge of a language of very good quality, in order to face up to cultural issues that may also be challenging.
To be able to understand articles and essays on cultural topics, including also academic essays.
To ger hold of a lexicon of about 2500 words and 1700 characters, including terms referring to modern and contemporary Chinese culture and to the terminology of academic essays.
To be able to translate correctly into Chinese sentences including complex grammatical structures.

3. Capacity of judgement
To be able to assess the level of one’s language knowledge, skills and abilities.

4. Communication skills
To be able to communicate the specificities of linguistic and textual analysis using appropriate terminology.

5. Learning skills
To know how to relate the different contexts of study and apply your knowledge and skills for personal and professional growth.

To have a very good theoretical and practical knowledge of the Italian language: they must be able to express themselves correctly both in writing and in oral form, and master the tools of grammatical analysis and logical analysis.
To have a Chinese language proficiency equivalent to level B2+ of the CEFR (Common European framework of reference for language proficiency).
To have a good knowledge of the history of Chinese civilization.

The course develops the students’ ability to understand and translate Chinese texyts, mainly focusing on academic critical essays on various topics, from literature and cinematic to artistic and musical issues . It also provides oral skills in general and cultural fields and strengthens the ability to translate into Chinese sentences including complex grammatical structures. In particular it offers:
Reading comprehension and translation of Chinese academic critical essays: 30 hours of theory and practice;
training for interaction in general and cultural contexts, with analysis of grammar and translation problems: 60 hours of practice A (conversation);
training in Chinese translation of sentences including complex grammatical structures: 60 hours of practice B (translation);
conversation tutoring: practice C;
translation tutoring: practice D.

The Chinese texts that will be used during the lessons are available at the URL https://moodle.unive.it/ in the section “Lingua cinese 3 mod. 1 Classe 2 [LT0081] - prof. F. A. Greselin”. More materials will be available at the same URL, in the sections referring to the Chinese teachers who collaborate with the course.

Compulsory texts

- Niu Guoqiang (2005). Yi-Han fanyi jiaocheng. Dispensa di traduzione dall’italiano in cinese. Venezia: Cafoscarina.
- Casacchia, Giorgio; Bai Yukun (2013). Dizionario Cinese-Italiano Venezia: Cafoscarina; or Wu Guanghua (ed.) (1933). Han-Ying da cidian - Chinese-English Dictionary. 2 vols. Shanghai: Shanghai Jiaodong Daxue chubanshe.
- Ma Jianfei; Zhu Ziyi; Zheng Rui (2008). Short-Term Spoken Chinese Advanced - Textbook – Hanyu kouyu sucheng: Gaoji pian 汉语口语速成 高级篇. Beijing: Beijing Language and Culture University Press.

Supplementary suggested dictionaries

- Wenlin Software for Learning Chinese, 4.2.2 (per Windows e Mac), that can be purchased at the site www.wenlin.com : Ca' Foscari students can enjoy a preferential price.
- Pleco Software (for iPhone/iPad and Android), that can be downloaded for free (for add-ons payment is required) from the site www.pleco.com;
- Line Dictionary, www.linedict.com;
- Ichachanet web dictionary, www.ichacha.net/;
- Dizionario e traduttore online ICIBA, www.iciba.com/;
- Baidu baike, http://baike.baidu.com/ .

The verification of acquired abilities and skills is carried out through three tests:
- a translation from Chinese of a short critical essay;
- a conversation on general and cultural topics
- a translation into Chinese of sentences including complex grammatical structures.
The use of dictionaries is not allowed.
To pass the exam it is necessary to obtain a minimum mark of 6/10 in each of the three tests.

Teaching is organized in:
a) front lessons;
b) writing and conversation practice aimed at building and consolidating the knowledge, skills and competences necessary to meet the goal of the course;
c) tutoring aimed at discussing and clarifying specific language problems that emerged during the teaching.

Italian

From the beginning of the lessons to the exams, at the webpage https://moodle.unive.it/ , in the section “Lingua cinese 2 [LM007I] - prof. F. A. Greselin”, students will also find all sorts of useful information on the course itself, as well as additional readings, hints for a correct translation, relevant audiovisual materials, etc. The updating of this Moodle space will be carried out by the teacher regularly.

written and oral