Chinese I introduces and develops fundamental skills for the practical use and continued study of the modern Chinese Language. The spoken language of the Han people (Mandarin), the Pinyin system of phonetic representation, and the “simplified” characters of modern China are the key sources of study and learning. Instruction and assessment models emphasize and measure the development in students of practical knowledge and skills necessary to understand and use the Chinese Language in both spoken and written form. With a textbook story set among multi-national students and teachers of the language itself, the course also contributes to greater cultural understanding, particularly of the Chinese themselves.