I started taking Chinese classes at the beginning of my Sophomore year here at Davis. Up to that time, I had not been exposed to the Chinese language or culture, which meant that I couldn't write a single character, nor say a single word of Chinese. However, every one of the three Chinese teachers I had over the past two years has helped me develop my Chinese skills thoroughly. Each and every one of them understood that I wasn't as proficient as other students who grew up in a Chinese home, and always helped me accordingly. For two years, my three different teachers monitored my progress, gave frequent checks on my learning, and completely immersed both myself and the rest of the class in the language through teaching various Chinese concepts, and requiring us to go to Chinese tutoring. Without fail, the classes themselves were all very structured, and were directly related to the texts we were given. The lectures and texts not only taught us important language patterns, but also taught us important aspects of Chinese culture. These aspects were the things that made CHN 001-006 both interesting and rewarding to learn. Although Chinese was a lot of hard work, it was a pleasure to learn and has made me want to minor in the language throughout the next year.
UC Davis Class of 2013
Major: International Relations
Minor: Chinese