New Concept Chinese series is specially designed and locally tailored for students from youth to teenage years in western countries. With altogether 24 volumes, and the total course time of 600 hours, the series is arranged based on a syllabus of 10 years' time. The first 16 volumes will be published by our press. Volume 1-3 is for the 1st grade; 4-6 for the 2nd grade; 7 and 8 for the 3rd grade; 9 and 10 for the 4th grade; 11 and 12 for the 5th grade; 13 and 14 for the 6th grade; 15 and 16 for the 7th grade. ◇ It is compiled based on the advice and approval of Chinese language specialists in addition to New Concept's many years of overseas Chinese teaching experience. ◇ The textbooks offer rich Chinese culture covering aspects such as literature, geography, history, philosophy, etc. Upon finishing the whole series, the students will master 2,500 characters and will be able to pass the AP Chinese Exam. ◇ Each volume includes: 1. One Textbook; 2. Two Workbooks; 3. One box of Flash Card for students (volumes 1-9) 4. One box of Flash Card for teachers (volumes 1-9); 5. One accompanying CD; 6. One final exam paper Target users of volumes 1-3: Children of age 4 or 5 and students in the 1st grade; Target users of volumes 4-6: Children of age 5 or 6 and students in the 2nd grade; Target users of volumes 7-8: Children of age 6 or 7 and students in the 3rd grade; Compiling Principle According to the author, Chinese language is quite different from English in that it is character-based, so the teaching starting from pinyin, as he argues, will cause difficulty for children whose native language is alphabetically formed. Since children are good at imitating and acquiring new things, New Concept Chinese starts from character teaching that helps students form the learning habit centering on character study, while pinyin is not introduced until the 4th volume is taught (the 2nd grade) and the teaching won't take much time since the focus is on pronunciation and reading aloud. Features: 1. The systematically organized 24 volumes, together with the complete accompanying products, meet the needs of learners from children to high school students. 2. Centering on the unique characteristics of Chinese language, it adopts the most natural way that Chinese children acquire the language. 3. Most of the texts are children's songs which are full of rhymes and easy for learning and teaching. A wealth of reading materials in the forms of children's song, riddle, tongue twister, etc. is also provided. Especially the Humorous Stories section is tailored to the reading habit of learners in western countries. 4. The workbook has two separate sheets of exercises for each lesson, so after one sheet is handed in, the other one can be used. 5. The exercises include making sentences with the help of parents, listen to parents telling stories, etc, which enables the interaction between the child and the parents. 6. Useful accompanying products are provided, such as CD, flash cards for students, flash cards for teachers, final exam papers, etc.