Year of the Goat adopts a learner-centered approach and infuses elements of AI-assisted language acquisition into its lessons. Volume 1 explores the themes of study, travel, work, leisure, housing, and relationships.
The book traces the footsteps of a student, an interpreter, a flight attendant, a software engineer, and a music artist, whose lives are intertwined as they spend a year in China. In the process, it addresses such hot-button issues as sexual orientation, racial discrimination, academic dishonesty, and physical violence by introducing uncomfortable situations in which characters must leverage their cultural understanding and pragmatic knowledge to navigate problems.

The book is an intermediate-level Chinese language textbook that contains traditional and AI-powered exercises, and is paired with a companion website (resourcecentre.routledge.com/books/9781041001232) that provides access to grammar podcasts and audiovisual content.