Program Head, Chinese Language; Affiliated Senior Language Lecturer of Chinese Affiliation:NYU Abu Dhabi Education: BA East China Normal University, MA East China Normal University
Research Areas: Chinese language pedagogy, language assessments, internet and technology-based language learning, community-engaged language learning, Chinese characters, intercultural communications
Jing Chai has been teaching at NYU Shanghai since its inaugural class, and has taught across the levels with a specialization on Intermediate and Advanced level Chinese, and has created courses at post-advanced levels, including Discovering Contemporary China Through Documentary Films, Teaching Chinese Through Children's Storybook, etc. She currently also serves as the Elementary Language Coordinator for the Chinese Language program. Prior to joining NYU Shanghai, she taught for NYU's Global Academic Center in Shanghai, and for the East Asia Languages and Literature Department at Washington and Lee University.
Jing Chai is active in the area of internet and technology-based language learning and has gained popularity among the students for her active teaching style on the integration of modern times topics into teaching through student-engaged activities and field trips. She has also created a crowd-sourced website for strategies-sharing on Chinese character learning that marks the NYUSH Chinese language program.
She is experienced in language assessments. She currently serves as the accredited OPI Tester of Mandarin for American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), accredited Grader of HSK Test for the Center for Language Education and Cooperation of MoE China, as well as the Evaluator for Critical Language Scholarship for the U.S. State Departments.
Courses Taught
Open to students with little or no training in Chinese, this course is designed to develop and reinforce language skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing as Chinese language relates to everyday life situations. The objectives are: to master the Chinese phonetic system (pinyin and tones) with satisfactory pronunciation; to understand the construction of commonly used Chinese characters (both simplified and traditional) and learn to write them correctly; to understand and use correctly basic Chinese grammar and sentence structures; to build up essential vocabulary; to read and write level appropriate passages; to become acquainted with aspects of Chinese culture and society related to the course materials.
Previously taught: Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024
Fall 2025;
14 Weeks Jie Yuan
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MTWR 14:10 - 15:25
Taught in Abu Dhabi
This course appears in...
Language > Chinese
Minors > Chinese
A continuation of Elementary Chinese I. The course is designed to reinforce and further develop language skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing as these relate to everyday life situations.
Prerequisite: CHINL-UH 1101
Previously taught: Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2023, Spring 2024
Spring 2025;
14 Weeks Xiaobo Shui
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MTWR 11:20 - 12:35
Taught in Abu Dhabi
This course appears in...
Language > Chinese
Minors > Chinese
This course is designed to further develop proficiency in speaking and writing through readings on and discussions of socio-cultural topics relevant to today’s China. The main focus is the improvement of reading comprehension and writing skills. The objectives are: to further improve oral communicative competence by incorporating semi-formal or formal usages; to acquire vocabulary and patterns necessary for conducting semi-formal or formal discussions of socio-cultural topics; to increase reading speed of texts with more advanced syntax; to learn to make context-based guesses about the meaning of a new word, conduct sentence analysis and solve textual problems with the aid of dictionaries; to write and present more fully developed narratives or reasoned and structured arguments; to learn to employ basic rhetorical methods; to learn to appreciate stylistic usage of Chinese language.
Prerequisite: CHINL-UH 2002
Previously taught: Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022
This course appears in...
Language > Chinese
Minors > Chinese
Continuation of Advanced Chinese I. Designed to reinforce and further develop students' knowledge of formal usage of Chinese language.
Prerequisite: CHINL-UH 3001
Previously taught: Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023