This course is the first semester of intermediate-level modern Mandarin Chinese.  The course emphasized oral communication (speaking and listening), but also integrates the remaining language skills – reading and writing, as well as Chinese culture and society.  By the end of the semester, students can expect to read simple texts using a limited range of vocabulary and structures, to describe themselves in Mandarin, and to engage in limited conversations with classmates, instructors and sympathetic native speakers.  CHI 205 is the third in a series of courses in practical Chinese language and culture.  Weekly independent practice is required.  Prerequisite: CHI-102.