Mandarin Chinese Language (2.5 credits)

Students study Mandarin Chinese at six different levels for a minimum of 12 class periods per week. Students who have previously studied Mandarin take a series of placement tests upon arrival in Beijing. Language teachers are native speakers of Chinese, trained in language-teaching techniques. They help students develop all four basic skills: speaking, listening, reading and character formation. While classroom emphasis is on oral drill and aural comprehension, all students are required to read and write. Daily homework is required. Brief compositions and written and oral examinations test student progress. Advanced tutorials may be arranged for native speakers according to individual skill levels. Students are encouraged to take the AP Chinese Language and Culture Exam at the end of the course.

English

While reading texts that complement their instruction in Chinese language and culture, English students at SYA China follow a rigorous course of study that emphasizes frequent writing assignments. Students read and discuss Chinese literature in translation, Western writing about China, and traditional works from the American canon. SYA's unique location near the center of the Chinese capital enables students to supplement classroom discussions with explorations of the settings of such books as Cao Xueqin's 17th century classic Dream of the Red Chamber and Ian Johnson's Pulitzer Prize-winning Wild Grass: Three Stories of Change in Modern China. Study of traditional western authors-F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Zora Neale Hurston, and others-creates opportunities for literary and cultural comparisons. Written assignments include response essays, comparison essays, travel essays, and creative papers. In addition to the written assignments, weekly quizzes and end-of-term exams test grammar, vocabulary, and knowledge of literature and writing.

Chinese History

A general introduction to the history of China from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) to the present with attention to selected topics of pre-Qing history, the course explores the political, social, economic and intellectual foundations of modern China. Recurring themes include: Confucian statecraft and notions of governance; tradition and modernity; interactions between China and the West; ethnic minorities; Han Chinese worldview and foreign relations; popular movements such as the Taiping Rebellion, the Boxer uprising, the 1950s land-reform, the Cultural Revolution and the 1989 Tiananmen demonstrations; economic reforms and social change. Readings include primary sources in English translation as well as secondary studies.

Chinese Society and Culture (.5 credit)

This is a half-credit, year-long course that meets for two periods each week. During the first semester, emphasis is placed on contemporary Chinese issues. The goal is to begin familiarizing students with the myriad changes that have taken place in the post-Mao era. Students read articles from the press and academic journals as well as excerpts from books on specialized topics. During the second semester, students divide into small workgroups to do an in-depth field study on a topic that changes each year. The project brings together many of the cultural and linguistic skills and knowledge that students gain throughout the school year and culminates in the production of an oral history of our topic that is printed and distributed to students and schools.

Mathematics

School Year Abroad normally offers the courses listed below.
Advanced Algebra with Functions
This course is intended for students who have had one full year of Geometry and one full year of Algebra. Successful completion of this course will prepare students for entry into a standard Precalculus course at their home school. The course concentrates on functions and their transformations; the standard parent functions are studied from the perspective of shifts, domain and range, as well as multiplication and division. Preliminary results from rational functions, inequalities exponents and logarithms are also explored. Extensive guided use of the TI-83/84 graphing calculator is made throughout the course which helps the students to develop graphical and numerical analysis techniques in addition to the traditional algebraic study of functions.

Precalculus and Advanced Topics in Mathematics
This course is intended for students who have successfully completed an Algebra II course and will prepare them to return to their home schools to take AP Calculus AB. It is also appropriate for students who have been less than successful in their home-school Precalculus course. The course will review and extend the knowledge base of function: linear, quadratic, polynomial, rational, radical, logarithmic, exponential and trigonometric. Extensive use of the TI-83/84 calculator will be assumed and enhanced, including tables, solving equations and graphing.

Honors Precalculus and Introduction to Differential Calculus
This course is intended for very able math students who have been highly successful in a strong Algebra II program. Success in this course should enable students to enter an Advanced Placement BC Calculus course which presumes mastery of the properties and graphs of basic functions (polynomial, rational, exponential, logarithmic, trigonometric), as well as work with parametric equations, polar coordinates, sequences and series, and a substantial introduction to differential calculus. It covers all of the topics of the regular Precalculus class, spending less time on review of typical 2nd year algebra topics to facilitate both greater depth in certain areas such as trigonometry as well as coverage of more advanced topics. Extensive guided use of the TI-83/4 graphing calculator is made throughout the course which helps the students to develop graphical and numerical analysis techniques in addition to the traditional algebraic study of functions.

AB Calculus (AP)
This course in differential and integral calculus covers all of the topics in the syllabus for the Advanced Placement AB Calculus examination. Guidelines from the Advanced Placement program are used in balancing emphases on understanding the theory, the ability to solve problems and the ability to apply concepts in real situations. The graphing calculator is used throughout the course. Students take the AB Calculus Advanced Placement examination in May.
In addition, the following course may be offered if there is sufficient enrollment.

BC Calculus (AP)
Students preparing for the BC Calculus Advanced Placement examination in May study all of the topics covered in AB Calculus plus the following: derivatives of vector functions and parametrically defined functions; velocity and acceleration vectors; polar graphs and the derivatives and integrals involving polar form; partial fractions; trigonometric substitutions; improper integrals; lengths of curves; and sequences and series, including power series and Maclaurin and Taylor series.