The Virtual Picture Album -- China

The grid below is an annotated index to part of the Virtual Picture Album compiled and distributed by the Less Commonly Taught Languages Project at the University of Minnesota. The pictures in this section of the VPA are of people, places and objects in the People's Republic of China. Each of the pictures is represented by a thumbnail-sized image in the grid, and is accompanied by:

• a list of vocabulary items corresponding to elements in the picture
• some suggested lesson topics and grammar points for which the picture might be useful. (These categories are summarized at the bottom of the page.)

There are also suggestions for ways to use certain pairs or groups of pictures.

Due to the number of pictures in this section, the VPA index for China is divided into three parts.

Photo (Thumbnail)	Vocabulary Items	Topics	Grammar Points
	eggs (different types), food, markets	shopping; food; everyday life	measure words; comparatives
	tofu (different types), food, markets	shopping; everyday life	measure words; comparatives
	chillies, food, markets, agriculture, food distribution system	shopping; selling; buying	action verbs; comparatives
	street food	food; everyday life	"ba" construction; prepositions; relative pronouns
	street food	food; everyday life	"ba" construction; prepositions; relative pronouns
	street food	food; everyday life	"ba" construction; prepositions; relative pronouns
	"san-lun-che", bicycle, building materials	transportation; construction; employment	prepositions; locatives/spatial relations
	"da-zi-bao", bicycle, poster, parking lot, sidewalk, wall	advertising; transportation	locatives/spatial relations; conjunctions
	bicycle, tree, oranges, parents, child, car, street	transportation; everyday life	locatives/spatial relations; conjunctions
	train, luggage, relatives, station, platform, cloudy	travel; transportation; greetings; weather	locatives/spatial relations; prepositions; measure words
	palace, Qing dynasty, square	history; buildings; monuments	locatives/spatial relations;near/far
	Great Wall, hill, sky, tree, famous	history; monuments	plural;conditional
	garlic, door, window, wall	buildings; housing	locatives/spatial relations
	courtyard, street	buildings; housing	locatives/spatial relations; ordering of process/event
	Republican period, laundry	buildings; history; housing	"ba" construction; conjunctions
	building materials, economic boom	construction; unemployment/employment	progressive; ordering of process/event
	teapots, tea, Yixing	ceremonies; drink	transitive/intransitive; measure words
	crowds, station, "lao-bai-xing"	population growth; travel	motion verbs; directions
	crowds, station, "lao-bai-xing"	population growth; travel	motion verbs; directions
	train, "hard-class","soft-class",	population growth; travel	locatives/spatial relations; motion verbs

Grouping Suggestions

• Comparatives: young vs. old
• Similarities and Differences: shopping
• Food: individual items
• Food: on the street
• Similarities and Differences: train vs. bus vs. bikes
• Measure Words
• Going to Eat Out: types of foods, types of restaurants and customs
• Traffic
• Taking a Trip: from Beijing to Shanghai and Chengdu
• Economic Growth and Social Change
• Travel and Sightseeing
• Rural Life

This URL: /lctl/VPA/chinese/org_grid1.html

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