Climbing up: An Intermediate Chinese Course (2nd Edition) consists of two volumes, each including two sub-volumes. Most texts select themes reflecting contemporary Chinese social life and are very interesting. Each lesson is composed of six modules, namely, “Text”, “New Words”, “Notes”, “Usage of the Words”, “Compare the Usage of the Words”, and “Exercises”. Besides the notes and explanations, a distinctive characteristic of this textbook is that it has a module, i.e., “Compare the Usage of the Words”, to meet students’ needs to use diverse words in their expressions. Frequently-used synonyms are selected in pairs or groups to compare and practice, which not only helps students solve their difficulties in learning, but also enriches their vocabulary. To help students achieve the overall improvement in their listening, speaking, reading and writing abilities, based on the first edition, two types of exercises, i.e., “Dialogue” and “Reading”, have been added in the second edition.
Professor Yang Jizhou of Beijing Language and Culture University has worked in the field of CFL teaching and research and CFL textbook writing for many years. His published works include Teaching Syllabus of Elementary Chinese for Foreign Students, the Chinese Course series, the Climbing up series, the Vocational Chinese series, 1700 Groups of Frequently Used Chinese Synonyms, 800 Frequently Used Chinese Function Words, The Commercial Press Learner’s Dictionary of Chinese Idioms, A Handbook of Spoken Chinese Sentences, etc. His major papers include “Order of Grammatical Items in Elementary Level CFL Teaching” and “Issues in the Compilation of Elementary Chinese Textbooks”, etc. Prof. Yang won the 2nd prize of 2001 Beijing (Higher) Education Achievements.