Aims and structure
Bridge to China aims to further the understanding of all aspects of the Chinese speaking world. China here is used in a very wide sense and includes mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore and anywhere else where the Mandarin language is spoken.
It gives particular importance to the understanding of the modern Mandarin language.
So, what would I get out of it?
- If you do not speak Mandarin, you will learn from the resources even at this early stage of their development. When you get to a stage when you can contribute, you will learn even more. (Teaching's a good way of learning.)
- If you are a native speaker of Mandarin, you will learn how your language works. This is useful, for example if you ever want to teach it.
Structure
The Mandarin grammar part of Bridge to China will be open access and contain:
- a grammar of modern spoken Chinese with many examples and simple explanations
- simple texts (mostly in Simplified Characters, but Traditional Character texts will be added)
- conversations
- a dictionary of words used in the texts and examples
- a module for learning three Simplified Chinese characters a day (where Traditional characters are different this will be mentioned)
- sound files for the conversations
- eventually this will be turned into a course
Characteristics
What is different about these resources?
- They are created by a small group of people. The wiki platform facilitates collaborative working.
- They are open access. Moreover, if you are interested in contributing, just get in contact.
- They are more colloquial than many texts published in- and outside the Chinese-speaking world for learning Mandarin.
- They contain some slangy expressions (indicated) dating from mid-2013.
Copyright
The materials on this wiki are original and the copyright belongs half to UCL and half to the authors.
If something has accidentally got copied into this wiki from somewhere else and is not attributed, please e-mail Chris Dillon.
History
Bridge to China was set up in September 2012 by Chris Dillon.
Bridge to Norway
Bridge to Norway was set up in 2008 and has some similarities in its approach with Bridge to China. It make sense for there to be cooperation between the two wikis.
