Unit 1: 你好! (Nǐ hǎo!)

                                              

UNIT 1 VOCABULARY

English	Pīnyīn	Character
[used after a pronoun or noun to indicate plural]	men	们
[particle, signifies a question]	ma	吗
you	nǐ	你
good, well, fine	hǎo	好
hello	nǐ hǎo	你好
hello, how are you?	nǐ hǎo ma?	你好吗？
good-bye	zài jiàn	再见
classmate	tóng xué	同学
classmates	tóng xué men	同学们
teacher	lǎo shī	老师
hello teacher	lǎo shī hǎo	老师 好
I, me	wǒ	我
very	hěn	很
thank you	xiè xie	谢谢
you all (y'all)	nǐ men	你们
how are you all?	nǐ men hǎo ma?	你们好吗？
we	wǒ men	我们
we are very good	wǒ men hěn hǎo	我们很好
I am very good	wǒ hěn hǎo	我很好

http://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/chinese-dictionary.php

This is a link to a Chinese-English dictionary website. It can translate and pronounce words as well as demonstrate the stroke order of any character through its animation feature. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1LWu81kWqE

This is a link to a youtube video in which a native mandarin speaker explains the basic greetings from this unit's vocabulary list. She gives you a chance to repeat her and make sure that your pronunciation is correct. It is very helpful!

UNIT 1 CULTURE

During the past two weeks, we have learned a lot about Chinese culture. Our first culture lesson was on the economic rise in China, which can be traced back to the mass migration of workers from rural areas into the cities during the 1980's. Our second culture lesson focused on the rigorous Chinese education system and the pressure young students are under to succeed and provide for their families, despite their young age. 

CHINA'S ECONOMY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TT8uHVZWBY

This link leads to a very explanatory video of China's economic rise from the very beginning with rural inhabitants. With hand-drawn pictures providing images for the story, it is informative and entertaining.

CHINA'S EDUCATION SYSTEM

PART I: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulahm1s7ZVg

PART II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE0OAyQ6fXQ

PART III: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEPhOsdNHt4

These links are a short documentary created by a man who interviewed Chinese students. In these videos, Chinese students describe their classes and what school is like in China. This is an amazing and interesting resource to compare the differences between America's education system and China's, reported directly from the students themselves.