ACCESS CHINA

A 30-EPISODE INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA COURSE
FOR CHINESE LEARNING

Access China is an exciting multimedia series created to inspire Chinese learning around the world.  In 30 episodes, you will experience the Chinese language in action and learn more about Chinese culture.

Access China, a production that took more than three years to complete, is ideal for anyone who has had some basic Chinese and wants a better understanding of the Chinese language and culture.

Each of the 30 episodes contains three 12-minute acts, totaling 18 hours of material. The series tells a story about the Lins, a typical Chinese family of three generations in Beijing, the capital of China.  The Lins are the host family for Tanya, a student from Canada, who is also known by her Chinese name, Tang Ya. You will see the Lin family in everyday situations speaking conversational Chinese and share their many experiences.

In addition to presenting the stories in action, each episode also contains highly interactive activities which enable you to practice what you have learned.  Such learning activities make use of sophisticated computer technology to engage you in role playing, language exercises, pronunciation practice, and stroke-by-stroke guidance in writing Chinese characters.

A culture-based approach is key to successful foreign language learning. The cultural elements in Access China make for a compelling and efficient study of Chinese for students of all ages.

Walking Through the Multimedia Course of Access China

Main Menu
(Note: Below are the icons on the screen of the Main Menu)
 Drama
 Language Focus
 Role Play
 Exercises
 Word List
 Guided Handwriting
 Pinyin (Phonetic System)

In the Main Menu, you can choose any of the 7 learning activities by clicking on them. You can view any or all of the three acts in an episode, or practice what you have learned by reviewing the Language Focus and the Word List, engaging in Role Play and the Exercises, or practicing writing and pronunciation by going through the sections of Guided Handwriting and Pinyin (phonetic system).

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Drama
 C Chinese Subtitle
 E English Subtitle
 P Pinyin (Phonetic System) Subtitle
 §Sound in English
 A-B Repetition
 B-B Reading After the Model 

By clicking the corresponding buttons below the main screen, you can choose to view a whole episode or some portion of it.  You can also choose to view the episode with subtitles in English, in Chinese, or in Pinyin, or without subtitles. You can have any sentence repeated to you or just read after the model and have your voice recorded for comparison with the model pronunciation.  You can switch back and forth between your choices at any time.

Language Focus
Language Focus highlights the key language or cultural elements in an act. Animation and illustrations are used to demonstrate the meaning and usage of certain words and phrases, and segments from the videos are shown to increase your understanding.  You can choose Language Focus after each act, or directly from the Main Menu.

Role Playa
Role Play is one of the most effective components of the Access China software.  After having studied the contents in an act, you can practice orally what you have learned by choosing to play the part of any character that appears in the act, and engage in a conversation with the other characters.  This exercise is both fun and challenging, and it really helps to build up your confidence and conversation skills.