or more specifically: do introductory chinese language classes offered by universities usually concentrate only on, for example, speaking and comprehension, at least for the first semester? Or do students usually also learn writing and reading at the same pace?
This is in regards to an average 4-6 hr-wk course, not an intensive course.
?
Here's an example syllabus from a US college: http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/aca_international/2013-2-SUM_China_Syllabus_CHIN_1010.pdf
Course Outcomes
1. Students will master the pinyin system and pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese;
2. Students will familiarize themselves with the basic syntactic structures of Mandarin Chinese;
3. Students will develop the basic skills and proficiency of listening, speaking, reading in Chinese, with an
emphasis on conversational skills in different practical situations;
4. Students will learn to write Chinese characters with simpler strokes (64 the most-frequently-used
characters and basic radicals as components of the character).