Welcome to MPH Chinese Kaleidoscope for year 2012-13. I am looking forward to spending a great time together with our students.  Here is a brief description about our class:

This class is designed to give you an interesting and general introduction about one of the fastest growing nation in the world: China.  You will have a quarter to study this, which is roughly 9 weeks long. During this time, we are going to learn the following four topics:  1. Chinese language system 2.   History and Current affairs . 3.  Art and culture 4. Cooking. Each topic will last for about two weeks.

For the Chinese language system, we give students a brief introduction about Chinese phonetic system, character writing system as well as some of the most commonly used expressions covering greeting, numbers, names, and self-introduction.  Students will learn how to write their names and some basic Chinese characters.

For History and Current affairs, we will introduce the formation and development of the concept of China and Chinese, and then watch movies and films which will reinforce students' understanding about the political and economic development in China as well as critical social issues around China and East Asia.

For Art and Culture, we are going to practice Chinese calligraphy using ink and brushes. Students also have opportunities to learn how to do origami and paper cuts.

For cooking, we are going to learn more about the Chinese culinary art. We will start from scratch and learn how to do food preparation, using species and use various cooking methods. Students will learn how to make some of the most representatives of the Chinese dishes, from dumplings to scallion pancakes.