INTRODUCTION

        This is an intermediate course in modern Chinese. The main texts of this volume are presented in a written style, while most of the exercises are in spoken form. We intend the texts to serve as points of departure for extended and active conversation and discussion by students. It is not a passive reader. It invites students to actively participate in the process of acquiring skills in modern Chinese-- from listening and speaking to reading and writing.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

        This volume is a product of a special project funded by Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan, under the general edi-torships of Shou-hsin Teng, formerly Dept. of Asian Languages and Literatures, University of Massachusetts, Amherst and currently with the Institute of Chinese as a Second Language, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei and Feng I-chien, Chinese Dept and Director of Chinese Language Center, Tunghai University. The team which undertook the project consisted of the following members:

蘇文伶 Su Wen-ling 邢璐 Luh Hsyng Nelson 孫珞 Lo Sun Perry 艾安竹 Andrew Abel 馮以堅 Feng I-chien 鄧守信 Shou-hsin Teng

University of Massachusetts, Amherst Formerly Princeton UniversityUniversity of Puget Sound, Washington University of Massachusetts, Amherst Chinese Language Center, Tunghai National Taiwan Normal University

all of whom are affiliated with Tunghai University and University of Massachusetts, Amherst in some special way. While in the process of compilation, Taiwan Today was used by the students attending the UMass-at-Tunghai Summer Program. We are grateful for their and their teachers' feed-back and suggestions.

Tunghai University
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
National Taiwan Normal University
The Institute of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language