Welcome
This guide points you to some of the Library's main resources that will support the Chinese language classes on campus.
If you are more interested in studying the linguistics of Chinese, please see the related subject guide: Linguistics
Make sure to also check the resources of the Language Labs on the first floor of Paterson Hall run by the School of Linguistics & Language Studies
For a list of Chinese Language classes at Carleton see the undergraduate calendar.
The Library subscribes to some Chinese langauge newspapers which you can find in our Newspaper section on the 1st floor
Reference Materials:
Languge Dictionaries
- The Oxford picture dictionary: English / Chinese
Floor 2 Reference PL1455 .A43 2008 - Oxford beginner's Chinese dictionary
Floor 3 PL1455 .O94 2006 - Far East Pinyin Chinese-English dictionary
Floor 2 Reference PL1455 .Y44 2005 - Pocket Oxford Chinese dictionary : English-Chinese, Chinese-English
Floor 2 Reference (book) & Floor 3 (CD-ROM) PL1455 .P63 2003 - Chinese characters : a "radical" approach : learn 2,300 Chinese characters through their 214 radicals
Floor 3 PL935.6 .W47 2003 - Online:
- WordReference.com
- YourDictionary.com Links to over 500 dictionaries in more than 140 languages
Encyclopedias
Books
Recommended Books:
- Basic Cantonese: a grammar and workbook
E-Book - Chinese: an essential grammar
E-Book - Colloquial Chinese 2: the next step in language learning
Floor 3 PL1125.E6 K37 2007 - A Grammar of Mandarin Chinese.
Floor 3 PL1111.L5 - Modern Mandarin Chinese grammar : a practical guide
Floor 3 PL1107 .R65 2006 and E-Book - Studies in Chinese language
Floor 3 PL1023 .H35 2005
Journal Articles
Key Databases for Journal Articles:
Additional Databases:
- These databases are for finding material about Chinese language and literature and the teaching of Chinese
- If you are looking for articles ABOUT other Chinese topics, choose from our other databases based on your topic (example Historical Abstracts for Chinese history; Business Source Complete for Chinese Business etc..)
- If you are looking for articles on a topic that iare also written in Chinese look on the database advanced search screen for an option to limit by language. (You can ususally do your search in English since these databases often translate titles and abstracts into English.)
- Since we do not subscribe to many journals written in Chinese, you can use RACER, our online interlibrary loan service to order these articles.
Databases
Key Databases:
Additional Databases:
Key Databases:
- The Factiva database has full-text of Chinese language news sources.
- To search just the Chinese language material select the "source category" by choosing "publications by language" or "publications by region" AND change the "Language" to Chinese (choose both the Chinese. Simplified and Chinese Traditional)
- Click on Support and search for "chinese" to get more information about searching Factiva in Chinese
- You can search in English but this only searches keywords assigned by Factiva. If you want to search the full text you will have to search in Chinese.
Additional Databases
- These databases are for finding material about Chinese language and literature
- If you are looking for material ABOUT other Chinese topics, choose from our other databases based on your topic (example Historical Abstracts for Chinese history; Business Source Complete for Chinese Business etc..)
- If you are looking for material on a topic that is also IN Chinese look on the database advanced search screen to limit by language. (You can ususally do your search in English since these databases often translate titles and abstracts into English.)
- Since we do not subscribe to many journals written in Chinese, you can use RACER, our online interlibrary loan service to order these articles.
Government Information
Foreign:
- Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China (official government site, also available in the original Chinese)
- Embassy of the People`s Republic of China in Ottawa.
Media
Videos:
Videos in our Collection (For more details see our Find Videos guide)
- You can borrow videos from the Library's collection for 3 days at a time (with 2 renewals).
- You can pre-book a video for a specific date by using the "Book this Title" button in the catalogue
- While the Library does not have many videos IN the Chinese language, if you want to see what films we have about China or the Chinese try a keyword search in our catalogue for China or Chinese and and choosing to limit to just the film/video collection.
Other Videos
- Check out iTunesU on iTunes to see if any Chinese courses have been posted online.
- BBC Langauges - Chinese: includes video, audio, other learning tools
- Chinese Internet Television
- CLTV: Chinese Learning TV
- Learn Chinese Through Video: from University of Puget Sound, brief videos showing common everyday situations
- wwi TV- Chinese TV
- Watch to Learn Chinese: free videos to help you speak Mandarin, organized by levels: beginner, medium, advanced
- YouTube: search for German language videos of all kinds
Where to find foreign films in Ottawa:
- Renting:
- Viewing:
- Bytowne Cinema: often screens foreign language films (with English subtitles)
- The Ottawa Film Society has an International series which may include some Chinese films (with subtitles)
Music
Music:
Listening to Chinese music and following along with lyrics, can be a great way to improve your language skills, especially pronunciation
These sites may help you find music you will like as well as lyrics
- Chinese Internet Radio: includes links to music stations as well as news, with brief description of type of programming
- Radio Broadcasts in Chinese: music and news stations
- Chinese Songs: with lyrics (chinese and pinyin) and mp3 files to download
- Chinese Song Lyrics: in Mandarin and pinyin (and sometimes Cantonese)
- Pinyin Lyrics.net
Websites
Chinese in Ottawa
- Embassy of the People`s Republic of China in Ottawa.
- Ottawa Chinese Community Services Centre
- Chinese Canadian National Council (has an Ottawa Chapter )
- Ottawa Chinese Language and Culture Academy
- Ottawa`s Chinatown
Language Links
- About.com: Chinese Characters features the most-often-used 3500 Chinese characters with their meanings and pronunciations
- Google Translate Translate Chinese to English or English to Chinese (Be very cautious! Automatic translation is still not perfected. Never assume that a translation will be entirely grammatically correct)
- Language Links: Chinese from University of Colorodo
- Omniglot: Chinese Links
- On-Line Chinese Tools A collection of sites to help students of Chinese.
Portals to Information on China
- Country Profile China from the BBC Includes basic facts about modern China, and links to Chinese news media.
- Portals to the World: China from the Library of Congress Includes sites with basic information on modern China.
- BUBL Link: China
- Chinese Text Initiative Includes Chinese texts online.
Find Chinese language material with Google
- Try Google China
- On Google, use Advanced Search & Language Tools. Both options allow you to limit to Chinese Language material.
Writing & Citing
The Library has a lot of guides to help with writing papers at a university level. Some selected titles:
- Fit to print: the Canadian student's guide to essay writing
Floor 2 Reference LB2369.B83 2009 - Making sense: a student's guide to resarch and writing
5th edition, Floor 2 Reference LB2369.N67 2006
4th updated edition, Floor 4 LB2369.N67 2004 - Writing with sources: a guide for students
Floor 2 Reference PE1478.H37 2008
Chinese Grammar Books
- Find books on Chinese grammar in our collection by doing a Subject search for Chinese langauge -- Grammar
613-520-2600 x2738
