Basic Facts

Title: ChinaConnectU – 宝库山教育信息网
Website: chinaconnectu.com

Help

Subscription and Login:
When you choose your preferred subscription level, you will be taken to our shopping cart. After entering your information you will be automatically redirected to our registration page. After registering, you will receive an email asking you to confirm your email address. Click on the link provided in the email and you will be taken to the ChinaConnectU login page. Please enter your user name and password each time you log in.

Important points to remember:

• User names must consist of lower case letters and numbers only–no special characters or upper case letters are allowed. We apologize if this is inconvenient.
• Please use the same email address that you used for the shopping cart checkout.

FAQ

What is ChinaConnectU?

 ChinaConnectU is an online publication that provides content for teachers, students, and college administrators. It contains the entire Berkshire Encyclopedia of China—described by Library Journal as “all things China for the 21st century”—as well as hundreds of additional articles; ebooks; ideas for class projects and research assignments; document-based exercises; and videos, photos, clipart, and maps that can be used in presentations and for teaching.

ChinaConnectU is all about connecting people. Subscribers have access to a community of experts and have the opportunity to connect to peers around the world. ChinaConnectU also gives teachers many ways to include China-related topics in their AP classes. AP China language and culture teachers can draw on a growing collection of videos, teaching guides, curriculum plans, and vocabulary worksheets, as well as links to great materials available elsewhere. Berkshire editors ensure that the content offered is substantive, balanced, and accessible.

ChinaConnectU also offers resources for Hanban-sponsored and other teachers from China, and for foreign-language department heads and school administrators who are introducing Chinese for the first time.

Americans, Europeans, and Westerners in general—whether government leaders or citizens, teachers or students—urgently need to know more about China. We need to look beyond old-fashioned stereotypical perspectives and see China not as a threat but as a partner in building a better future. At the same time, Chinese people need to learn about us as friends and colleagues, and about our culture, values, and approach to education. We all need to learn in order to understand and connect. Wherever you live in the world, ChinaConnectU is ready for you.

Language learning is an important part of ChinaConnectU. The site also provides extensive information about customs, perspectives, opinions and beliefs, and ways of life.

ChinaConnectU is available by subscription to individuals as well as to schools and universities. Teachers go to CCU to access tools, tips, and information for Chinese language and Chinese culture classes. Students can watch videos of ordinary life in China and study vocabulary they hear in the videos.

ChinaConnectU is being developed by Berkshire Publishing Group as a platform and global gathering place for those involved in China-focused education. We are developing connections with educators and organizations in Europe, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and elsewhere in Asia, and of course in mainland China.

ChinaConnectU is practical and user-oriented, bringing together teaching materials, best-practice advice, and resource recommendations that teachers can benefit from immediately.

Free subscriptions will also be available to teachers in developing countries, funded by Berkshire’s sister organization, the Barrington Institute.

What makes ChinaConnectU different from other sites about China?

ChinaConnectU is the work of a worldwide network of scholars, teachers, and organizations focused on China. ChinaConnectU does not compete with the excellent work being done by individuals or groups at a single school or university. Instead, we recommend the best projects and resources provide as well a treasure trove of articles and ebooks free to all subscribers. We filter the web for our members, offering crisp, unbiased assessments. We test products before recommending them. As publishers, we’re used to organizing vast amounts of information and making it consistent and accessible to students. We provide links and reviews, and create a place for teachers to present their own original materials.

ChinaConnectU serves not only as a compendium of expert advice for people new to teaching about China but also as a repository of pointers and tips from your peers. We’ll be polling members of our extensive China teaching network for recommendations of websites, books, and other resources to include.

Is ChinaConnectU for Chinese students too?

ChinaConnectU 宝库山教育信息网 is a bridge for Chinese students and their families, with teaching aids and advice on many aspects of English-language study. For students, we offer help with exam preparation, research and writing, and US college applications. For parents and school administrators, ChinaConnectU provides networking, training, and data. ChinaConnectU offers blogs written by US education specialists (in English and also translated into Chinese), and advice for the parents of students who are going outside China for high school or college.

Who’s behind it (and what do they know anyhow)?

ChinaConnectU is a division of Berkshire Publishing Group, an independent publishing company with a special focus on global issues and a long-standing involvement in China-focused education. Berkshire’s reference and educational books are used in leading universities and schools and have won many awards. Berkshire is proud to contribute to greater understanding and fruitful partnerships through ChinaConnectU 宝库山教育信息网.

Berkshire Publishing specializes in China information for schools, colleges, and businesses. We have been working in and publishing about China for over ten years – the entire time the company has been in existence, in fact. We travel to China frequently and, most importantly, we work with hundreds of scholars and other China experts around the world. These people have devoted their lives to studying different aspects of Chinese history, culture, and contemporary issues, and their knowledge and insight is the foundation of ChinaConnectU.

Berkshire is also known for its expertise in international relations and cross-cultural communication, and we’re strongly committed to sustainability. ChinaConnectU is planning an environmental-education strand developed with partners in China and the United States.

Berkshire is located in Great Barrington, a town in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts, with affiliate offices in New York and Beijing. Our place in the mountains conferred special significance when a group of Chinese colleagues created our Chinese name: 宝库山. In pinyin, this is bǎo kù shān, which sounds a bit like “Berkshire.” The characters mean Treasure Library Mountain. We translate this into English as Treasure Mountain Press.

To get to know the people behind ChinaConnectU, visit our Team page.