I majored in Chinese language and Chinese studies. Here is my experience! 🀄️📚
What was my level before I started learning the course?
📍I was at a pretty good conversational level before starting this degree since I practiced on Duolingo religiously like everyday and had some Chinese friends to practice with. Even so, I was still put in the basic level class, but I didn’t mind since I was nervous as hell having to speak out loud to everyone. I was scared at first. I hated talking to people, yet I chose a degree in which I must talk to people??? I love it now anyway, so whatever ~
📍Class was actually kind of chill - we all (like 5 students) were at a beginner level, a little too shy to speak because we thought our Chinese was bad, and my professors were very nice. In the beginner level classes, we would practice introducing ourselves each week to show what new vocabulary we learned. Over the years though, I got to see my classmates and myself improve as we took more advanced Chinese classes. We became less shy, and our vocabulary count had essentially quadrupled. We could actually have in-depth conversations with each other and with the professor in Chinese, and we had a strong understanding of Chinese culture.
📍Most of the Chinese classes, whether they were beginner or advanced, had the same layout. For two weeks, we would focus on a chapter/topic from the textbook, learn the vocabulary first, read the chapter text, and then learn the important grammar points. After we were familiar with the vocabulary, grammar, and text, we would answer questions about the text in Chinese, role-play as the characters in the text, or play Jeopardy-like games.
📍However, when I was taking the advanced classes, more responsibilities were required of me. We had to come to class already familiar with the vocabulary, we would have to do character sheets every week, and we would also have to do presentations in Chinese on an advanced topic. At this point, instead of reading out of a textbook, we were learning Chinese from modern Chinese literature pieces such as 《匆匆》，《母亲的教诲》，《孔乙己》。We had to participate in heavy discussion about the meanings of these texts in Chinese.
📍Homework was different depending on the professor I had. Sometimes, I would have to do a presentation in Chinese, or I would have to do a chapter out of the Chinese workbook which including handwriting in Chinese answers to questions about the text, matching vocabulary, recording me reading the text, practicing answering questions using a specific grammar point, etc. There were also times where we had to join video calls with native Chinese speakers and have a 15-30 minute conversation with them.
📍In more advanced classes, I had to write reflections of stories and talk about their meaning in Chinese, or we would have to write Chinese-style poems.
📍The tests always had a certain level of difficulty since they were in another language and some chapters were advanced, but a lot of the time I did very well on them! Usually, if you were familiar with the vocabulary/definition/tones/characters as well as the grammar points, you were set.
📍In the beginning level classes, the tests were online and type-able. It usually focused on matching vocabulary words with the definition, characters, or tones, and we had to provide a sentence using a grammar point. We also had to read texts and answer questions about them as well as listen to audios and select the correct answer based on them.
📍In intermediate and advanced classes, we often had hand-written tests and had to be quite familiar with any Chinese character we learned. The layout was still the same in terms of vocabulary and grammar, but we had much more difficult questions we had to answer and with more in-depth responses. Some of the advanced topics included climate change, economics, Chinese culture, or the meaning of specific works in modern Chinese literature.
Is learning Chinese hard?
📍Chinese is actually so easy in terms of grammar. If you know English grammar, there are a lot of similarities, and it’s even simpler than English in many other senses. Not only that, but there’s no spelling in Chinese because there are no letters, just characters. I find this to be incredibly convenient! Not only do you not have to spell, but instead of having to read a word out, you can just recognize the character.
📍If I did have to choose something that was difficult, it would be tones - you get better with them after awhile - but the real Goliath is writing the characters. Not only do you have to know the tones of the words, but you also gotta know how to write the characters, and there are different characters for each word, so it can be challenging to remember how to write them sometimes.
📍I think a lot of people struggled with the pronunciation of the words though. A lot of people fret about not getting the tones right, but if you want to improve your Chinese, focus on your pronunciation first!
How did you manage? What was your study routine like? What notes did you take?
📍It was a lot of content, but if you have a solid routine, it can be very easy to manage.
📍I came to class prepared a lot of the times. Whether it was the beginner or advanced class, I came to class already familiar with the vocabulary and grammar. Coming to class prepared cut out a lot of the note-taking and will actually allow you to pay attention to what the teacher is saying. Only take time to write down what you actually don’t know/cultural notes/if you’re struggling with a grammar point.
📍Be sure to study most days for at least 1 hour! Review the vocabulary/tones, practice using them in a sentence. Next, review the grammar points, practice them by creating a sentence. Once you are familiar with these two, review the text, make sure you’re able to read it smoothly. Lastly, take a few minutes to review character writing. This is the simple and quick routine that made the unit easy to learn.
What were your classmates like?
📍They were just like any other classmates! Some already knew a little about Chinese language and culture while others were total beginners. Some were shy, some were social. I was the only Chinese major though. Other classmates were learning economics or anthropology with an emphasis in Chinese. There was one classmate who I thought was cocky… -_-
What other classes did you take?
📍Since I was majoring in Chinese, I obviously took Chinese related courses such as ancient, medieval, and modern Chinese philosophy, literature, history, courses about Chinese society and culture, linguistics, etc. These were very much in-depth courses that required a lot of preparation, studying, note-taking, etc. These tests I found more challenging than my Chinese language tests haha.
📍Anyway, I now know a lot about Confucianism, Daoism, Moism, Legalism, Buddhism, both ancient and modern authors/poets and literature works, important symbols in Chinese literature, important history facts, have in-depth knowledge about linguistics, language acquisition, anthropology, and research, and I know a lot about the development of society, and Chinese culture.
📍In the beginning and intermediate classes, we used the Integrated Chinese textbook. Each chapter had a different text with new vocabulary and grammar, but the story would relate to what happened in the last chapter. Our whole class got attached to the characters in the texts as their stories developed, and let me tell you, there was some drama. Gao Wenzhong obviously liked Bai Yingai, but Baiyingai liked Wang Peng, but it was clear that Wang Peng and Li You liked each other. It was intense.
📍Panda stickers. It started with one professor who gave out panda stickers, but I guess the sticker idea spread through the whole Chinese department, and in most Chinese classes, we were competing for panda stickers. 10 panda stickers got you 1 point extra on your final grade. You would get them for answering a question no one else was able to or getting a 100 on a quiz when no one else did. I got two panda stickers one time for being able to recite a paragraph of 《匆匆》 without looking at the text.
📍I had fun wishing my professors “happy teacher’s day” or “happy spring festival” whether it was over email or through a card. They seemed to really light up. I know they had a lot on their plate dealing with us haha.
📍When I first joined the Chinese program at my university, there were only like 5 people in the class, but I recently heard there’s now 20 people joining the program. I’m very happy for my professors and for the students who get to go on this journey.
📍A lot of people were concerned about me finding a job after graduation, but I have actually had quite a few opportunities open up, and I feel confident in my future for once (*^o^*)
