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
If your goal is to master Chinese, take this course. Chinese language is a hard skill to acquire and entering it with little background can be hard. The Middlebury Chinese community is very friendly and supportive, but the course is very time intensive. I recommend not balancing it alongside other reading or writing intensive course work. One must always be on their game and stay ahead of their work.
If your goal is to master Chinese, take this course. Chinese language is a hard skill to acquire and entering it with little background can be hard. The Middlebury Chinese community is very friendly and supportive, but the course is very time intensive. I recommend not balancing it alongside other reading or writing intensive course …Read more
This is a very fast-paced, high-intensity course. You WILL learn a significant amount of simplified and traditional Chinese within your first semester. The classes are small (mine was about 12 people) and there is an expectation that you speak regularly in class and in drill. The professors are excellent and very experienced in instructing beginner Chinese. This is absolutely an excellent class if you want to learn Chinese—if you're just doing it for your LNG distribution requirement, probably not the one to take...
This is a very fast-paced, high-intensity course. You WILL learn a significant amount of simplified and traditional Chinese within your first semester. The classes are small (mine was about 12 people) and there is an expectation that you speak regularly in class and in drill. The professors are excellent and very experienced in instr …Read more
This course was taught in tandem (Professor Harris and Professor Du). They are incredible teachers of Chinese, but I wouldn't take this class if you don't (1) plan on studying Chinese for most, if not all of your time at Middlebury and (2) make this your priority course. There is a lot of homework for this course and it's fast paced. Nothing is busywork and you learn so much. Highly recommend!
This course was taught in tandem (Professor Harris and Professor Du). They are incredible teachers of Chinese, but I wouldn't take this class if you don't (1) plan on studying Chinese for most, if not all of your time at Middlebury and (2) make this your priority course. There is a lot of homework for this course and it's fast paced. …Read more
Absolutely loved this class! It is a lot of work and if you don't put in the effort you probably won't get an A. Don't take the class if you don't actually want to learn Chinese. If you want to progress in your Mandarin, however, this class is 100% for you.
This course is definitely difficult, however the curriculum, study schedule and resources provided to students are very thorough. Class is quick paced, and not one which you will be able to take notes—it is speaking oriented, and it is common to be cold called at any point—ultimately, while it is hard, it is very rewarding in the amount of Chinese you learn.
This course was really difficult. A lot of new vocabulary and grammar is introduced each week. You are responsible for learning Chinese characters, pinyin with tone marks, and their meanings, as well as understanding grammar structures, so expect a lot of homework and study time. That being said, I found the class very engaging and interesting, as you are speaking most of the time. Pros: You will learn a lot of Chinese. Cons: Lots of homework and study time.
This course was really difficult. A lot of new vocabulary and grammar is introduced each week. You are responsible for learning Chinese characters, pinyin with tone marks, and their meanings, as well as understanding grammar structures, so expect a lot of homework and study time. That being said, I found the class very engaging and …Read more
To be honest, Chinese it self has never been an easy language. So of course this course is going to hard. The way I am surviving this course is by staying consistent with practicing writing the characters we learn. (Both Tradition and Simplified). Truthfully, I believe that Du LaoShi teaching style is hard but it is very effective. If you put the effort in this course, then you should be able to pass.
To be honest, Chinese it self has never been an easy language. So of course this course is going to hard. The way I am surviving this course is by staying consistent with practicing writing the characters we learn. (Both Tradition and Simplified). Truthfully, I believe that Du LaoShi teaching style is hard but it is very effective. …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.
I love the class, but professor teaching style does not match with me. A lot of homework and study to do everyday as we are study a new language. Worth it! If you have time everyday and ready to study something everything this course is for you. If you slack off it will be very hard to catch up
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
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
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