CHIN 1020

this class was really good but it is a little be difficult. it started out really essay and by the last few weeks it was really hard. there was 2% extra credit for writing journals so that was nice. a 94 is an A though and I got a 94.07, so i got lucky thanks to the extra credit opportunities. just do not skip class and do you homework and you should be fine ( i missed/late around 12 classes because of schedule conflicts and serious health concerns so i always had to catch up). good luck:) i think this is her last year here so...:(

龙老师 is a great teacher, very engaging, friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. She teaches the material very effectively, and efficiently. She speaks to us with the speed of a native speaker, and doesn't slow down because we are just learning. This is actually extremely helpful when you are having a normal conversation with a native chinese speaker. She is always available for office hours and is extremely willing to help us practice chinese.
Course is extremely well structured- daily dictation quizzes, biweekly tests (written, listening, oral) weekly chinese corner (go to practice speaking chinese with native chinese speakers) and every class, there is always interaction and conversation. Grammar concepts are presented clearly and well. Hardest part (for me) was memorizing all the characters and pronunciations and associating them with english meaning in a very small time period. For many, chinese pronunciation is difficult, especially the tones (there are 4 and a neutral tone), however for asians (not being racist here) pronunciation seems to be significantly easier (from my observations and my own experience. Depending on how well you are with foreign languages, this course could require several hours of preparation a day, or several minutes. People differ greatly in their language acquisition abilities, and as a result, there are people who have taken chinese for several years and are still in elementary chinese, and those like me who have never taken chinese ever and only spend a couple minutes per day preparing . If you are good at languages, this class will be pretty much a breeze, and if not, it could be literal hell. Take that as you will!
Note: the hours per week represent a maximum: I didn't spend as many as 7 hours per week every week.