uwloo

CHINA 101RElementary Chinese 1

Units
0.50
Faculty
Arts
Subject
Chinese

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 7 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled, 3 lecture sections. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

This introductory course is designed for students with little or no prior knowledge of Chinese. Students will develop fundamental skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, while exploring aspects of Chinese history and culture. By the end of the course, students will confidently recognize and write over 100 essential Chinese characters, employ basic sentence structures, and engage in simple daily conversations.

Prerequisites

None listed.

Antirequisites

  • Complete all of the following
    • Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
      • CHINA120R - Chinese for Heritage Language Learners (0.50)
    • Not open to students with advanced ability.

Leads to

Fall 2026 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
LEC 001687247 / 40MW 10:00–11:20

Winter 2027 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
LEC 00164990 / 40MW 10:00–11:20
LEC 00284800 / 40TTh 10:00–11:20
LEC 701243371 / 9999Online or by arrangement

Reviewed on UW Flow

99% liked it87% easy91% useful

From 71 ratings and 21 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • To be honest, I studied every single material, including the final exam, within an hour before the evaluation. I obtained a really good mark, but if you really studied for the final exam, achieving 100 in the course is very doable.

    Dec 2014 · liked it · 2 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Lots of Chinese script, more than I expected. With a lot of work it's possible to get over 90% though.

    Mar 2014 · liked it · 2 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Really fun and beginner-friendly course. Yan Li made coming to classes fun and taught the characters using these analogies and connections that may seem bizarre at first, but really help to solidify them in your memory. Preparing for the final may be daunting, so make sure you're constantly reviewing and keeping up so you don't have to memorize 180 characters and pinyin in 1 night like I did ;)

    Apr 2022 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • I personally really liked the way the course was taught. In class, we learned more symbols than what was in the textbook that was interesting (such as the directions north, east, etc) and how to count numbers. We didn't have to know these extra symbols for the exam, however. The actual course content only contains of about 200 symbols throughout the whole term which isn't a lot. It can be intimidating at first, and yes, in the beginning it seems like pinyin is hard to remember and you feel like you are writing random symbols. After 50 or so symbols, you see repeated symbols within other symbols and it helps with memorization. There is a little learning curve in the beginning but you get…

    Aug 2016 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • easy and fun course. would definitely recommend

    Apr 2026 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

55 posts and comments in 45 threads mention CHINA 101R, March 2014 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Spring 2024

Winter 2024

Spring 2023

Winter 2023

Fall 2022

Fall 2021

China 101R 2 points, 4 comments

“Thoughts on the class ? I’m not chinese but I have been learning languages for many years and am not totally new to chinese . …”

u/Agentm10: “If you have some experience learning Chinese, then go for CHINA120R. It seems that your level may be too advanced for CHINA101R.”

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Winter 2021

Fall 2020

Soc 101 or CHINA 101R 1 point, 15 comments

u/LiteratureNecessary2: “China 101R is an interesting course and it is pretty easy. There are weekly assignments that take a few hours because you have to copy characters but other than that the workload isn’t too bad.”

u/imaballofrice: “… CHINA101R assumes no Chinese knowledge at all so half of it is learning how to pronounce what you're reading and the rest is almost all character memorization with some very easy and limited grammar thrown in”

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Spring 2020

Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

Calendar versions

Undergraduate Calendar