1）It is suitable for non-Chinese speakers, ranging from primary school students in Grade one to high school students in Grade 12. 2）Students can study this series from Book 1 for total beginners or choose any volume corresponding to their own level of Chinese proficiency. 3）The primary school stage focuses on cultivating students’ interest, helping them lay a solid foundation and giving them extensive exposure to the Chinese language and culture 4）The middle school stage, directed at the IB and AP Chinese tests, helps to intensify students’ integrated language skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing.

1. Chinese Textbook Series
with an International Vision
for Primary and Middle Schools
——The compilation ideas and course designThe compilation ideas and course design
ofof Easy Steps to ChineseEasy Steps to Chinese

2. KeyKey
pointspoints
Positioning of the series
Introduction to the authors
Components of the series
Plan for using the whole
series
Subseries 1: For teenagers
Subseries 2: For kids
Summary: Teaching
concepts
Market feedback

3.  It is suitable for non-Chinese speakers, ranging from primary school
students in Grade one to high school students in Grade 12.
1. Positioning of the series
 Students can study this series from Book 1 for total beginners or choose any
volume corresponding to their own level of Chinese proficiency.
 The primary school stage focuses on cultivating students’
interest, helping them lay a solid foundation and giving them
extensive exposure to the Chinese language and culture.
 The middle school stage, directed at the IB and AP Chinese
tests, helps to intensify students’ integrated language skills
in listening, speaking, reading and writing.

4. ▰ Authors: Yamin Ma; Xinying Li
▰ Lead author: Ms. Yamin Ma
 B.A. of British Language and Literature (from
China) and M. ED. in Curriculum Design and
Development (from Canada).
 Ms. Ma had been teaching English as a second
language in both China and Canada.
 Ms. Ma has more than 20 years’ experience in
Chinese teaching and is now teaching in an
international middle school in Hong Kong.
 This series Easy Steps to Chinese for non-Chinese
speakers is published by Beijing Language and
Culture University Press.
2. Introduction to the authors

5. 3. Components of the series
(1) For teenagers
A total of 8 books, suitable for students from
Grade 5 in primary school to high school
Including: Textbook, Workbook, Teacher’s book,
Posters, Picture Flashcards, Word Cards
(2) For kids
A total of 8 books for 4 levels, suitable for primary
school students from Grade 1 to Grade 4
Including: Textbook, Workbook, Picture
Flashcards, Word Cards
Both series are going to be equipped with CD-
ROMs and iPad products.

6. Books 1-2 of Easy Steps to Chinese (for
teenagers)
Books 1-4 of Easy Steps to Chinese for Kids
For
Grades
1-4 in
primary
school
For
Grades
5-6 in
primary
school
Books 3-8 of Easy Steps to Chinese
(for teenagers)
For
Grades
7-12 in
middle
school
4. Plan for using the whole series
With one volume for each semester, the series covers all theWith one volume for each semester, the series covers all the
academic years in primary and middle schools.A continuousacademic years in primary and middle schools.A continuous
learning of it will result in very good effects.learning of it will result in very good effects.

7. 5. Subseries 1:
Easy Steps to Chinese
Easy Steps to Chinese (for teenagers) is
a set of middle school Chinese textbooks
with an international vision, which has
sold very well in Europe, America,
Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.
(for teenagers)

8.  Having finished Books 1-4, students are able to take the GCSE and IGCSE tests. (Maximum
score: A*)
a. Teaching objectives
 Having finished Books 1-5, students are able to take the AP Chinese test.
(Maximum score: 5)
 Having finished Books 1-6, students are able to take the IB Chinese test (Maximum
score: 7)
 Having finished all the eight books, students can:
 be exposed to about 1,600 Chinese characters;
 read simple articles in newspapers, magazines and on the Internet;
 communicate spontaneously in fluent Chinese both orally and in
writing.

9.  Textbooks (1-8) (each with a CD)
b. Textbook components

10.  Workbooks (1-5)
Including review tests, self-evaluations
and vocabulary lists.
Note: At high school stage, the focal aspects to be
trained are not morphemes, words or sentence
patterns, but reading comprehension and writing,
so the textbook and workbook at each of Levels
6-8 are integrated into one.

11.  Teacher’s Books (1-8) (with a CD for each of Levels 1-4):
Teacher’s Books 6-8 are soon
to be published in 2012!
Including teaching
objectives, teaching focus
and tests at different
stages.

12.  Word cards (1-3)

13.  Picture flashcards (1-3)

14.  Posters (1-3)

15.  CD-ROMs and iPad products
 With written characters, sounds, animations,
videos and games integrated together
 Comprehensively training language skills like
listening, speaking, reading and writing
 For an all-round, three-dimensional and
interactive learning effect
In the process of
development…

16. c. Concepts of design and compilation
The “Five C’s” are the key objectives of the
AP Chinese test in the United States
Five Goals (Five C’s)
Communication
Cultures
Connections
Comparisons
Communities
1) Reference standards:
Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century, U.S.
the requirements of the AP Chinese test
The first published Chinese textbook series
suitable for the AP Chinese test

17. Communication:
(1)(1) Students can have conversations with each other to get or provideStudents can have conversations with each other to get or provide
information, exchange opinions and express feelings and emotions.information, exchange opinions and express feelings and emotions.
The series observes the reference standards in the following
ways ：

18. (2)(2) Students can express their understanding of written and spoken ChineseStudents can express their understanding of written and spoken Chinese
on a variety of topics.on a variety of topics.

19. (3)(3) Students can express different ideas and types of information to anStudents can express different ideas and types of information to an
audience of listeners or readers.audience of listeners or readers.

20. Cultures:
(1) Students can express their knowledge and understanding about the
Chinese social customs in an appropriate way.

21. (2)(2) Students can express their understanding of the Chinese culture, art,Students can express their understanding of the Chinese culture, art,
history and literature.history and literature.

22. 气象、地理
Connections:
(1)(1) By learning the Chinese language, students can reinforce and further theirBy learning the Chinese language, students can reinforce and further their
knowledge of other disciplines, such as meteorology, geography, science andknowledge of other disciplines, such as meteorology, geography, science and
health.health.
科技、健康

23. (2) Students can acquire the distinctive viewpoints and cognitions that are onlyStudents can acquire the distinctive viewpoints and cognitions that are only
available through Chinese language learning.available through Chinese language learning.

24. Comparisons: 比较
(1) Students can improve their understanding of the nature of languageStudents can improve their understanding of the nature of language
through comparisons between the Chinese language and their own.through comparisons between the Chinese language and their own.
(2) Students can get an understanding ofStudents can get an understanding of
the nature of culture through comparisonsthe nature of culture through comparisons
between the Chinese culture and their own.between the Chinese culture and their own.

25. Communities:Communities:
(1) Students can use Chinese both inside and outside school.Students can use Chinese both inside and outside school.

26. (2) Students can integrate the Chinese language and culture intoStudents can integrate the Chinese language and culture into
their daily life to enrich and add more fun totheir daily life to enrich and add more fun to their life.their life.

27. 2) Concepts of course design and textbook compilation
Zipper Theory
written
form
spoken
form
Reflected in:
(1) The equal emphasis on the oral
communication ability and the writing ability
(2) The equal emphasis on the four
language skills, namely listening, speaking,
reading and writing
Upon finishing Book 6, students are able
to take the IB and AP tests

28. d. Features of compilation
1) This series adopts a holistic （整体的） approach and is
designed to emphasize the development of communication skills
in listening, speaking, reading and writing.
2) The series pays equal attention to listening and speaking and
centers on “communication”, leading students to learn and
practise under a communication mode which emphasizes the
background and purpose of communication.
The reference standards and compilation concepts are embodied
throughout the series.

29. Review the previous
lesson about “career” and
connect it with the new
lesson. The activity
involved is for students to
make exchanges about the
professions of their family
members and their
attitudes towards career.
Listen to the text and
then answer questions.
Read the questions
before listening.
(Interpretive)
Take the teaching process of Text 1 in Lesson 3 of Book 4
as an example to illustrate the two features above.

30. Deal with the text. (The
teacher can make the
students ask each other
questions.) (Interpretive)
After the text: There are 7
teaching activities.
Make eight sentences with
the structure “ 虽然……，
但是……” . (Later the
teacher can ask the
students to check each
other’s sentences.)
While focusing on the
communication task, the
activity also enhances
students’ understanding of
the language system.

31. Do exercises on the
classification of vocabulary.
(Deskmates can check each
other’s answers afterwards.)
Work in pairs and make a
conversation on a certain
topic. (Interpersonal)
Exchange with
classmates about
each other’s living
conditions.
(Interpersonal)

32. Look at the pictures and
describe the personalities
of people in nine
professions according to
the framework of dialogue
and the given sentence
patterns. (Presentational)

33. Choose the right
answers after listening
to the recording. (Six
questions related to
career) (Interpretive)
Use the
communicative
framework newly
learned to make
dialogues with five
classmates.
(Interpersonal)

34. 3) The difficulty of the books rises gradually and spirally.
Take the theme “Festival” in Books 4-6 as an example (same theme,
different arrangements of contents):
The text is a dialogue.
(Interpersonal)
Book 4
to learn and compare the customs
on Spring Festival and Christmas by
asking questions. (From the culture
one knows to the target culture)

35. The major activity is for students to
basically understand and
demonstrate some general
knowledge about customs of
Western and Chinese festivals
through group discussion. (Culture
integrated into language learning)
Book 4
As for the focal task, students are
asked “to prepare for Christmas”
and to report to the whole class
what preparations they will make for
Christmas. (Presentational)

36. The text is a short passage. (Interpretive)
Book 5
The major activity is primarily for
students to learn about the Spring
Festival in China. (Presentational)

37. The major activity is primarily for
students to learn about the
Spring Festival in China.
(Presentational)
Book 5
A table is drawn to compare
“Spring Festival” with “Christmas”
and the image of the “God of
Wealth” in China with that of
“Santa Claus” in the West.
(Interpretive)

38. Book 6
The text is a diary, recording
what a student has seen,
heard and experienced in
Beijing during the Spring
Festival. (Interpretive)
Students are asked to write an email
to invite their friends to spend Spring
Festival in Beijing. (Presentational)

39. Students are supposed to read a short
passage about culture and then write a
responsive essay to introduce the traditional
Chinese festivals and the related customs to
their friends. (Interpretive and presentational)
Book 6
The passage for reading comprehension
talks about the customs of Spring Festival as
well as some cultural taboos, aiming to
develop students’ intercultural
communication skills. (Interpretive)

40. 1) Texts: topical
e. Features of different sections in
the books
Arranged by topic, Books 1-8 are in an “upward spiral”, continuously repeating
the topics with a gradual increase in difficulty.
The topics are related to school and daily life, helping students use the target
language inside and outside school and integrate the Chinese language and culture
into their daily life.
The later the
topics appear,
the more
international
they are.
Stage 1: Books 1-2
• Numbers
• Personal
identification
•Parts of the body
•Colours and clothing
• Food and drinks
• Daily routines
•Schooling
• Hobbies
• Life at home
• Means of transport
• Daily articles
• Weather
Stage 2: Books 3-6
• Appearance
• People and occupations
• School facilities
•Weather and holidays
• Pets
• Personality
• School events
• Food and sickness
• Accidents
• Shopping and
travelling
•Neighbourhood
• Festivals and
celebrations
Stage 3: Books 7-8
• Community
• Work experience
• Environment
• Customs and traditions
• Technology and
communication
• Diet and healthy life-style
• Special occasions
• Leisure and travelling
• Education and
employment
• Law and order
• Current isssues
• Global issues

41. Text 1
The text is a dialogue, which embodies
both culture and communication.
The text is provided with sound recording
for students to follow and simulate.
The layout is carefully designed to make
students love Chinese learning.
Before the text: From Book 4, a “Get Ready” part is added in
order to train students’ reading comprehension.
Text 2
It cultivates students’
reading comprehension
abilities.

42. 2) New words: embodying the idea of morpheme teaching
 Morphemes are given before
words.
 Morphemes are given to help
students expand their vocabulary
and understand the meaning of
each word.
 For each morpheme, only one
meaning is taught so that students
can remember it easily.
 The vocabulary is listed in both
simplified characters and complex
characters to meet the needs of
students in different countries and
areas.

43. 3) Grammar: Grammar is integrated in other sections
to be learned in practice, without being
independently dealt with.

44. Oral
practice
Listening
practice
Classroom discussion, group activity, and
combination of listening and speaking
4) Exercises: diverse types of exercises for students to practise what
they’ve learned

45. Listening
practice
Oral
practice
Task-based exercises, and combination
of listening and speaking

46. Table filling
Multiple choices
(with one answer)
Multiple choices
(with more than
one answer)
Matching
Listening
practice

47. Book 4
Book 6
Reading
practice
Book 5

48. Writing radicals
Combining components into characters
Writing characters according to radicals
Writing pinyin and characters
according to meanings
Having dictation
competitions in
groups
Exercises on
Chinese
characters

49. Book 5
Based on good abilities
in reading Chinese and
writing Chinese
characters
Writing practice

50. a traditional festival in front of the whole
class, the activity not only highlights the
communication task, but also helps
improve the students’ abilities in writing
and language use and enhances their
interest in learning.
Integrated exercises: listening,
speaking, reading and writing
Various communicative task-
based exercises are
employed to fully stimulate
students’ initiative.
Exercises from Book 5
onwards become closely
connected to the tests to
facilitate students’
preparation.
Communicative activity:
By asking every student to prepare a PowerPoint document to introduce

51. 1) The beautiful illustrations and formats can increase
students’ interest in learning.
2)2) The diverse forms of supportive products can enhance the
teaching effect.
Workbook, full-coloured picture flashcards, word cards and posters:
diverse in forms and effective in increasing students’ initiative
Teacher’s book:
with various types of design to facilitate teachers’ use
f. Advantages of the graphic design and
features of the supportive products

52. Teacher’s book:
(1) In the loose-leaf book, all the pages
correspond to the pages in the textbook
and workbook.
For each lesson, the content in the textbook is immediately
followed by the content of the lesson in the workbook.
The pages in the
textbook and workbook
are reduced to 70% as
large as the original
ones, and the sides of
the pages are just the
same as the original.

53. (2) The teaching objectives of each unit are made clear, andThe teaching objectives of each unit are made clear, and
language points are summarized.language points are summarized.

54. (3) Reference answers and abundant teachingReference answers and abundant teaching
suggestions are clearly provided.suggestions are clearly provided.
teaching
suggestions
reference
answers

55. (4) Each unit includes a listening, reading and writing test, and the questionsEach unit includes a listening, reading and writing test, and the questions
for listening are provided with sound recording, script and reference answers.for listening are provided with sound recording, script and reference answers.
listening script and
reference answers
reading and
writing test
listening test

56. (5) There are enough margin space on each page for teachers to writeThere are enough margin space on each page for teachers to write
their own materials and memos.their own materials and memos.
largely facilitates teachers’ use

57. English Edition
Multilingual development

58. French EditionGerman Edition

59.  Country-specific content:
Different editions, rather than simply being annotated in different
languages, have features distinctive to the specific countries.
For example, to meet the broad need broad needs of French-speaking
areas, the pinyin annotations above Chinese characters in the texts are
removed altogether in the French edition.
 Country-specific design:
The design on the cover of the book varies from one edition to another to
make it easier for users to differentiate and choose.
Features of Multilingual Editions

60. 6. Subseries 2:
Easy Steps to Chinese
for Kids
Easy, substantial and interesting
Primary school Chinese textbook series
with an international vision

61. a. Teaching objectives
 Having finished the 8 volumes in four levels, students can:
 master Chinese pinyin and lay a solid phonetic foundation
 grasp about 600 words
 get exposed to about 500 Chinese characters
 learn profoundly about 8 cultural points (including festivals, Beijing
opera, kites, paper-cuts and calligraphy, etc.)
Suitable for non-Chinese speaking students from Grade 1 to Grade 4 in primary school
communicate in simple Chinese
learn about 60 Chinese songs relevant to the texts

62.  There are two full-coloured books a and
b (each with a CD) at each of the four
levels.
Each textbook is supported by:
 A full-coloured workbook
 Large-size word cards (for teachers to
use in the classroom)
 Colorful picture flashcards (for students
to review after class)
b. Textbook components

63. textbook

64. workbook

65. picture flashcards
word cards

66.  CD-ROMs and iPad products
 With written characters, sounds, animations, videos and games
integrated together
 Comprehensively training language skills like listening,
speaking, reading, singing and writing
 For an all-round, three-dimensional and interactive
learning effect
in the process of
development…

67. c. Concepts of design and compilation
1) Equal emphasis on listening and speaking, aided by
the abilities to recognize and write Chinese characters
The design of the courses and textbooks emphasizes the
development of listening and speaking skills, while the abilities to
recognize and write Chinese characters play an assisting role.
2) Adopting a communicative approach
Language and communication skills are developed through
various forms of exercises, especially classroom activities.
3) Full consideration of children’s characteristics in
learning a foreign language
In consideration of primary school students’ characteristics like
activeness and strong curiosity, various intuitive means are
adopted to cultivate their interest in learning Chinese, such as
listening, speaking, reading, writing, singing, drawing, handiwork
and games.

68. ..
d. Features
1) Intuitive: The instructional guidance before the Table of
Contents is intuitive and practical
(The intuitive design also facilitates teachers’ instruction)

69. 2) Systematic: The topics are coherent, continuously
repeating and practising what has been learned before.
Book 1a: Each lesson repeats a
proper amount of the content
learned in the previous lessons in
the same volume.
Book 1b: The content of 1a
reappears in the exercises here.
(The content learned in the
previous volumes is repeated in
the later volumes.)

70. 3) Fun: A good many of adorable images loved by kids are
used in the books..

71. 4) Comprehensive: Language is taught through
interdisciplinary knowledge.
Mathematics
Mathematical knowledge is combined
with the writing of Chinese characters.

72. Mathematics
By solving mazes and choosing numbers, students learn
mathematical knowledge and get familiar with Chinese
characters as well.

73. Art
Motor skills are developed through various means, such
as drawing and colouring, so as to lay a foundation for
their learning of writing Chinese characters later on.

74. Art
Paper-folding and sticker-pasting among other methods are
adopted to help students learn about Chinese culture.

75. Music
There is a song in each lesson to increase kids’ initiative
and help them review the focal points in the specific lesson.

76. 5) Interactive: It is advocated that students be continuously
involved in the instructional process.
Class or group activities
Every kid is supposed to spontaneously participate in the various
forms of classroom activities.

77. Handiworks
Such handiworks as colouring, sticker-pasting and paper-folding are
adopted to help students learn about Chinese culture.

78. From the presentation of the compilation ideas, course design and
features of the subseries for teenagers and kids, we can see the
following teaching concepts which are embodied throughout the
whole series of Easy Steps to Chinese:
1. To learn in practice
2. Instruction revolving around student activities
3. To learn language by learning different subjects and thinking
4. To learn in group communicative activities
5. Meaningful instruction (objectives/texts/exercises/tests)
7. Summary

79. Amazon.co.uk reviews of Easy Steps to Chinese:
 Fantastic!
 An absolutely brilliant book for beginners trying to learn Chinese on
their own, and with little or no previous knowledge.
 The workbook has over 150 colour pages of clear tasks and exercises
to work through.
The textbook comes with an audio CD and has information-guided with
the CD- and exercises as well.
 Very easy to use and beginner friendly, it explains everything and
builds your confidence in manageable bites.
 Though it may appear to be aimed at a younger audience, it is also
perfectly suitable for adults trying to learn the language. It is child
friendly of course, and like I said, you do not need a teacher or
Chinese speaker to learn.
 I cannot speak highly enough of it, and recommend it to anyone trying
to learn Chinese.
 Great!
8. Market feedback

80. Feedback from teachers and parents:
Ms. Li Jingming, as a teacher in Upper Canada College
and a parent, tells a personal story of using Easy Steps to
Chinese:
“My son once threw a Chinese book on the floor, crying ‘I don’t
wanna learn the stupid Chinese! So boring!’ Easy steps to
Chinese was the first Chinese textbook he liked, and he finished
learning all the six volumes of it. In the HSK test, he got a full
score for every part.
Soon he will be a student in Cornell. He often says to me, ‘My
Chinese is the best in my class. Mom, thank you for having
found such a good book!’”

81. Feedback from experts:
 CLASS invited the distinguished foreign language teaching
advisor Ms. Janice Dowd (Tao Jielin) toto use Easy Steps to
Chinese for learning Chinese..
 Chen Junbo, a representative in the North American Office
of OCLCI, commonly known as Hanban ， said: “I have made
a careful study of Easy Steps to Chinese (ESC) and found that
of all Chinese textbooks, this series is the closest to the AP
Chinese test.”
The book, sold in more than 30 countries in the world, is
widely used by primary and middle schools, Chinese
institutions and Confucius Institutes overseas.

82. Thank you!
www.blcup.com
Overseas Sales Department
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