“Have you eaten yet?” This common Chinese greeting is just one of many common phrases that shows the centrality of food to Chinese culture. In this course we will focus on the theme of Chinese food and dining culture as an entrée into the study of Chinese language and culture. As Chinese grammar is very simple with no verb conjugation, no plural, no gender, no articles or subject and object forms, it is very easy to speak Chinese. Students will be able to begin speaking Chinese from the very first class and be able to engage in a lot of daily conversation after one term.

Also by studying the form of the most basic Chinese characters students will simultaneously gain insights into traditional Chinese cultural values while learning to read and write Mandarin. “Let’s do Chinese!” Chinese food? Yes, but also language and culture.