BASIC

CHINESE
(FLES 104)

NAME: ________________________________________________
COURSE/YR/SEC: __________________________________
CONTACT NUMBER: _________________________________
INSTRUCTOR: ________________________________________
 Republic of the Philippines
COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Higher Education Regional Office VI (HERO VI)
City Government of Bago
BAGO CITY COLLEGE
Rafael Salas Drive, Brgy. Balingasag, Bago City, Negros Occidental 6101
Tel: [034] 4611-363 | Fax: [034] 4610-546 | E-mail: [email protected]

Module 1 in BASIC CHINESE LANGUAGE (FLES 104)

AB ENGLISH 3
UNIT 1
PINYIN

Intended Learning Outcome: At the end of this module, the student must have:

1. Familiarized the different parts & tones of Pinyin using a phone application.
2. Differentiated Mandarin (Pinyin) from Korean (Hangeul) & Japanese (Kana) using a Venn Diagram.
3. Created a video of himself/herself reading a given sentence in Mandarin using correct pronunciation & tone.

Introduction: Unlike letters of the alphabet in English, Chinese characters generally don't convey how they should sound
when spoken. For that, there is the romanized pronunciation system known as Pinyin. Aside from representing the way
Mandarin is pronounced, Pinyin is also the main way of typing Chinese.

 ACTIVITY
Download “Learn Pinyin” app from Google Play Store. Watch the presentation under each label and write the letters
found under each label on the tables below.

INITIALS

FINALS

Single vowels

Compound finals

Nasal finals

WHOLE SYLLABLES

 ANALYSIS
Answer the following questions based on the activity above.
1. What type of letter usually consist the initials? __________________________________________________________
2. What type of letter usually consist the finals? ___________________________________________________________
3. What are whole-syllables? __________________________________________________________________________
4.What do you call the special marks located above the letters to indicate stress?
5. What mark indicates the following tones?
a. lower - ______________
b. rising - ______________
c. falling - ______________
d. falling rising - ______________
6. Differentiate Mandarin from Korean & Japanese in terms of alphabet/pronunciation. Use the Venn diagram below.
Give at least 3 differences & 2 similarities of each.

Hangeul Mandarin Kana

 ABSTRACTION
When represented by Pinyin, each sound in the Chinese language is
made up of three parts: initials, finals, and tones. Initials are the first part of a
Chinese sound, and finals are the end part of a sound. Tone marks are drawn
above letters when words are written with Pinyin.
Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language. In order to differentiate
meaning, the same syllable can be pronounced with different tones.
Mandarin's tones give it a very distinctive quality, but the tones can also be a
source of miscommunication if not given due attention.
Mandarin is said to have four main tones and one neutral tone (or, as
some say, five tones). Each tone has a distinctive pitch contour which can be
graphed using the Chinese 5-level system.

First Tone
The first tone is high and level. It is important to keep one's voice even (almost monotone) across the whole syllable
when pronouncing the first tone. It is represented by a straight horizontal line above a letter in pinyin (or sometimes by
a number "1" written after the syllable).
Second Tone
The second rises moderately. In English we sometimes associate this rise in pitch with a question. The second tone is
represented by a rising diagonal line above a letter in pinyin (or sometimes by a number "2" written after the syllable).
Third Tone
The third tone falls and then rises again. When pronounced clearly, its tonal "dipping" is very distinctive. It is
represented by a curved "dipping" line above a letter in pinyin (or sometimes by a number "3" written after the syllable).
Fourth Tone
The fourth tone starts out high but drops sharply to the bottom of the tonal range. English-speakers often associate this
tone with an angry command. It is represented by a dropping diagonal line above a letter in pinyin (or sometimes by a
number "4" written after the syllable).
Neutral Tone
The neutral tone is not mapped on the tone chart because it differs from the other four tones in that it does not have a
defined pitch contour. The neutral tone is pronounced quickly and lightly without regard to pitch. Syllables with a
neutral tone have no tone mark (but are sometimes marked with a "5" or a "0" after the syllable).
 APPLICATION
 Write the correct tone marks above the following syllables as indicated whether it may be 1 st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th tone.

1. ma 1st tone 6. bo 2nd tone

2. le 3rd tone 7. kong 1st tone

3. yi 2nd tone 8. yu 3rd tone

4. hou 1st tone 9. feng 4th tone

5. bu 4th tone 10. nao 2nd tone

 ASSESSMENT
Create a short video of yourself reading the assigned sentences to you (check your FB group for the file).

Guidelines for video-making:

1. Video must be 1-3 minutes long only.
2. Speaker must observe proper pronunciation of the initials & finals and correct tones (if there are tone marks).
2. Video must have a clear sound & no unnecessary background noises.
3. Put the sentence assigned to you as a subtitle as you speak in the video (include tone marks in the subtitle)
4. Post the video on your class Facebook group with the description: LASTNAME #PINYIN (no other words/details)

Rubric for scoring:

10 7 4 1
Pronunciation All of the words were Some words were Only a few words were No words were
pronounced clearly & pronounced clearly & pronounced clearly & pronounced clearly
correctly with correctly with correctly. nor correctly.
appropriate tones appropriate tones
Video Presentation The video was neatly The video was neatly The video was a little The video was very
made or edited, made or edited & bit rough or unedited, messy, unstabilized
stabilized & with no stabilized but has unstabilized & has & has a lot of
unnecessary unnecessary unnecessary unnecessary
background noises. background noises. background noises. background noises.

Republic of the Philippines

COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION
 Higher Education Regional Office VI (HERO VI)
City Government of Bago
BAGO CITY COLLEGE
Rafael Salas Drive, Brgy. Balingasag, Bago City, Negros Occidental 6101
Tel: [034] 4611-363 | Fax: [034] 4610-546 | E-mail: [email protected]

Module 2 in BASIC CHINESE LANGUAGE (FLES 104)

AB ENGLISH 3
UNIT 1
GREETINGS & INTRODUCTION

Intended Learning Outcome: At the end of this module, the student must have:
1. Acquired new Spanish greetings and introductory vocabulary through watching a video presentation
2. Created a short introductory clip using the vocabulary learned.
3. Appreciated the importance of these vocabularies and how to use them depending on the person they are
talking to.

Introduction
In this lesson, you will encounter basic introductions and greetings in Spanish, the primary requirement to start a small
conversation. Several gestures are observed in the Spanish-speaking world, as well as expressions upon conversing are
also observed.

Activity
Watch a video presentation from this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb4ZNJgaEy4. Write down your
observations in the table below.

formal informal

greetings

introductions

a. What are the similarities/differences between informal and formal greetings?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

b. How do Spanish people greet each other? What specific gesture/s is/are they doing?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________