Learning Chinese is really really really difficult. I think it is
probably the hardest class of my college career so far. The sounds are
different and even when I write in pinyin (American letters) the letters
mean totally different things. For example the letter q is pronounced
“chi” and the letter x is pronounced “she”. I already have a good
study group that meets the night before every class to work on homework
together and study for our dictation quizzes. Aside from my Chinese
language class I am really excited about my other classes. I am taking a
research seminar to help with the progress of my Ricci project and the
professor is extremely knowledgeable, helpful, and encouraging. He has
already helped me to think about what I want to do with my project and
make sure it is really what I want to study. I have decided to focus on
Buddhist temples in Beijing, especially some of the historically
significant ones. My research mentor is also wonderful and has even
offered to drive me to some temples later in the semester. My favorite
class so far is Daoism. The professor has a great sense of humor and has
us meditate in class. I am also taking a sociology class focused on
society and religion in China. The class seems like it is going to be
extremely helpful for my research project and will also be a very
interesting class. My professor is a Pulitzer Prize winner and seems to
be an all around amazing person. He wrote one of the books I have for
class and is going to have the author of one of our other books come and
speak to us about his experience in China. We are also going to get to
go on some field trips! Overall, I am already really enjoying my classes
here and love learning so muchabout China and Chinese culture while here
in China. My classes have been keeping me very busy.
I’ve also been preparing for a two-week trip to the Yunnan Province of
China. It is a mandatory educational study trip sponsored by my program.
We will be traveling through Yunnan for two weeks and five of the nights
we will be in minority villages spending the nights sleeping in the homes
of minority villagers. Unfortunately I won’t have internet access during
the trip so I won’t be able to post any blogs for the next two weeks but
I’m sure I will have tons to write about when I get back!
probably the hardest class of my college career so far. The sounds are
different and even when I write in pinyin (American letters) the letters
mean totally different things. For example the letter q is pronounced
“chi” and the letter x is pronounced “she”. I already have a good
study group that meets the night before every class to work on homework
together and study for our dictation quizzes. Aside from my Chinese
language class I am really excited about my other classes. I am taking a
research seminar to help with the progress of my Ricci project and the
professor is extremely knowledgeable, helpful, and encouraging. He has
already helped me to think about what I want to do with my project and
make sure it is really what I want to study. I have decided to focus on
Buddhist temples in Beijing, especially some of the historically
significant ones. My research mentor is also wonderful and has even
offered to drive me to some temples later in the semester. My favorite
class so far is Daoism. The professor has a great sense of humor and has
us meditate in class. I am also taking a sociology class focused on
society and religion in China. The class seems like it is going to be
extremely helpful for my research project and will also be a very
interesting class. My professor is a Pulitzer Prize winner and seems to
be an all around amazing person. He wrote one of the books I have for
class and is going to have the author of one of our other books come and
speak to us about his experience in China. We are also going to get to
go on some field trips! Overall, I am already really enjoying my classes
here and love learning so muchabout China and Chinese culture while here
in China. My classes have been keeping me very busy.
I’ve also been preparing for a two-week trip to the Yunnan Province of
China. It is a mandatory educational study trip sponsored by my program.
We will be traveling through Yunnan for two weeks and five of the nights
we will be in minority villages spending the nights sleeping in the homes
of minority villagers. Unfortunately I won’t have internet access during
the trip so I won’t be able to post any blogs for the next two weeks but
I’m sure I will have tons to write about when I get back!
No comments:
Post a Comment