Who should take eWrite?

• Studied Chinese for a minimu of 2-3 years
• Know about 300-350 Chinese characters
• Have command of simple phrases and basic grammar
• Interesting to improving Chinese skills by taking online classes
• No age limitation，could start at age 9 years 

Who should not take eWrite?

• Students new to learning Chinese (We recommend visiting a local Chinese school and reconsider our program after the prerequisites are met)
• Students not interested in practicing Chinese reading and writing
• Students who cannot committe to studying Chinese at least two hours each week
• Students who prefer face-to-face classes and dislike online courses

What are the benefits of taking eWriteChinese courses?

• Start practicing early to improve your reading and writing skills
• Follow guided steps to gradually master reading and writing in Chinese
• Entirely self-paced program offers maximum flexibility to control your progress and learning
• Focused on Chinese reading and writing, and develop skills to ace the AP Chinese Exam
• Online course allow student to learn from home - no travel time or cost
• Help maintain and improve your Chinese skills after passing the AP Exam
• Offer intense summer sessions to achieve rapid results in 3 months

Formatting Guidelines for Essay Submission

1. Essay Category:     

• Font: Use SimSun Font 14, regular, Left Align
• For example：写作主题：答复电子邮件——到中国人家作客应该怎样表现

2．Title:       

• Font: Use SimSun Font 18，Bold，Centered
• Spacing: single space

3. Author’s name and eWrite level:   

• Name: Students need to write their Chinese name and English name
• Level: Indicate Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced for the level that you are registered for
• Font: Use SimSun Font 16, Bold, Centered

4.  Essay body:           

• Font: Use SimSun Font 14, Regular; Left Align; Single space
• Indent: Indent each paragraph 0.8 inch or 9 mm (exactly two Chinese characters)
• Punctuation: Make sure to set up the Chinese keyboard. Each punctuation mark usually takes one Chinese character’s space. Period is a small circle (。), not the English period (.).

5.  When the essay is complete:                

• Font:  Use SimSun Font 10, regular, Align Right
• Time Used: Indicate the amount of time (in minutes) used to write the essay
• Word Count: Indicate total number of word used for the essayportion only (highlight essay in MS Word, go to Word Count under Tools)
• Completion time stamp: In the space provided, indicate the date and time essay was completed
• For example：You spent 32 minutes on writing draft，words count is 358. Provide the following:  写初稿所用时间(分钟)：32；字数：358.

How can I find out the number of Characters I know?

I studied Chinese for several years, but as I learn new characters I keep forgetting old ones, making me uncertain about how many Chinese characters I know. Your program requires students to know at least 300 characters, how can I accurately determine the number of characters I know?

A: This is easy to figure out! You can probably estimate it close enough. In addition, we specifically designed a "Character Game" for students to check the number of words on our website. Just log in with your email address, and you'll see each character with the pinyin and English definition. When you choose the correct pinyin and definition, you get two points. When you get 600 points, you know that you have mastered ～300 characters.

Do I need to take all eight levels of beginner and intermediate eWrite to pass the AP Exam?

I read about your eWrite program, and saw that the beginner course has four levels, and that the intermediate course has four as well. My goal is to take the Chinese AP Exam, do I need to take all eight of these classes?

A: The number of semester/levels needed depends on the level you start the program and the speed of your progress. If you have a solid foundation of the Chinese language, you'll likely only need the last two levels of the beginner courses and a few of the intermediate courses. After that, you should use one semester to take the AP Chinese prep course. If you are just beginning to learn reading and writing in Chinese, it will take more semesters at the beginner and intermediate levels to reach your goal.

Can I skip the beginner courses and take the intermediate level directly?

I finished learning Jinan Chinese Book 7 in Chinese school; have written 5 or 6 essays and I scored 1600 points on the “Character Game” from your website. Can I skip the beginner courses and take the intermediate level directly?

A: Yes. Completion of the first seven books of the Jinan Chinese (or similar materials) is equivalent to learning about 1000 Chinese characters. If you scored ~1600 points, it means that you know ~800 Chinese characters. Having written several essays indicates you have a solid Chinese foundation. Therefore you can start from the intermediate course. We can make the appropriate adjustments should you run into any issues.

Can I slow down the pace of the program?

I registered for an eWrite course this semester, but I have a lot of school work. May I slow down the progress of my eWrite online course to two weeks to finish one assignment instead of the normal one assignment a week? When finals are done, I can return to the normal speed.

A: Yes, you can. We recommend students complete one assignment per week, but given your school demands, you can temporarily slow down your eWrite course . Please e-mail your request or call us and we will adjust the homework deadline as needed. Keep in mind, it's best to complete a semester's work within a year.

What's the difference between eWrite and the AP tutoring courses? Which should I take?

Is there a difference between the eWrite courses and the AP tutoring courses? I've studied Chinese for several year, and plan on taking the AP test in two years. Which course should I take?

A:  The only difference is that AP tutoring classes are targeted specifically for the AP Test and the eWrite courses aim to develop general reading and writing skills. After completing the Intermediate level, students should be ready to pass the AP Chinese exam.

Since we do not know your precise Chinese proficency level, we recommend for you to complete our online character evaluation free of charge. Using the character evaluation results, we can better assess the course level best fit for you.