Beginning Chinese
Beginning Chinese This course is an introduction to Mandarin (guoyu or putonghua). The course begins with simple words and phrases, the pronunciation and cadences of Mandarin, romanization, Chinese characters, and simple vocabulary items, all taught in the context of practical communication. Sentence patterns and other fundamentals of speaking, reading, and writing will be taught, including both traditional characters (used everywhere before the 1950s and still used in Taiwan and Hong Kong) and simplified characters (used in China). Students should have achieved active command of more than 600 Chinese characters and more than 800 compounds by the end of the sequence CHNS 0101, CHNS 0102, and CHNS 0103.
Beginning Chinese This course is an introduction to Mandarin (guoyu or putonghua). The course begins with simple words and phrases, the pronunciation and cadences of Mandarin, romanization, Chinese characters, and simple vocabulary items, all taught in the context of practical communication. Sentence patterns and other fundamentals of speaking, reading, and writing will be taught, including both traditional characters (used everywhere before the 1950s and still used in Taiwan and Hong Kong) and simplified characters (used in China). Students should have achieved active command of more than 600 …Read more
Du Laoshi's teaching style is not at all friendly to those just starting to learn the language. She often taught at a break-neck pace and does not give much time for students to understand the new material for the day. Although she is able to cover a lot of information, the speed at which she instructs is just too fast for a beginner and it was difficult taking notes during lecture.
Du Laoshi's teaching style is not at all friendly to those just starting to learn the language. She often taught at a break-neck pace and does not give much time for students to understand the new material for the day. Although she is able to cover a lot of information, the speed at which she instructs is just too fast for a beginner …Read more
Du Laoshi's teaching style was very hard to adapt for someone like me, who likes to take time to absorb the material. I found that sometimes if you didn't know how to answer the question, she will laugh or wait until you answer it. I have to say that was very helpful in staying on top of reviewing the material before class but it was a very stressful learning environment.
Du Laoshi has a blunt and traditional teaching style, but the class is still interesting nonetheless. I don't know if I would take this class just to fill a distribution requirement, as there is a lot of outside review required since you learn a lot of new characters every week (approx. 5 per day). My family speaks Chinese and I still had to study multiple hours a week of the material. Also be ready for weekly quizzes and bi-weekly tests.
Du Laoshi has a blunt and traditional teaching style, but the class is still interesting nonetheless. I don't know if I would take this class just to fill a distribution requirement, as there is a lot of outside review required since you learn a lot of new characters every week (approx. 5 per day). My family speaks Chinese and I stil …Read more
Beginning Chinese is definitely not for the weak, because it does take a lot of time to memorize the different characters. Du Laoshi is nice, but she keeps you on your toes and will know if you didn't prepare for the class. I had a lot of fun learning the language, but I will say if you don't like learning new languages or you're not enjoying it, I don't think it would be worth the work.
Beginning Chinese is definitely not for the weak, because it does take a lot of time to memorize the different characters. Du Laoshi is nice, but she keeps you on your toes and will know if you didn't prepare for the class. I had a lot of fun learning the language, but I will say if you don't like learning new languages or you're not …Read more
Middlebury's language programs are well known for a reason, Du Laoshi is a very effective instructor and while the course is fast-paced, we have already learned an incredible amount of Chinese. The content is also very useful.
This is objectively a difficult class, as the Chinese language is. But what I will say is that - if you DO the work they assign, study the material well you will be fine. Du Lao Shi (professor Du) almost spoon feeds you the tools you need for this class, hence you have every recourse to succeed. But it required immense effort so prepare yourself.
I took this course randomly so I had no passion for the language which was bad. This course is very fast-paced and it is very easy to fall behind. The professors are all good but the class is a lot. Only take it if you're passionate about learning chinese