Chronicles of a Chinese Language Student Crammer

We had our second class (di er ke) in Basic Chinese 3 last Saturday and this time, only four (si) of us attended. Honestly, I like the set up even if that means I'd be called to recite more often because it is practically a tutorial class unlike in Basic Chinese 2 which was a big class with a lot of chances to slack. I also like the way the teacher (laoshi) conducts the class, just like my Chinese 10 and 11 teacher in U.P. It was just too bad that some students (xuesheng) in Basic Chinese 2 are quite advanced for their class so they were transferred to our class. Next week, seven of them will join us and since they have attended Chinese schools, the pace of the class will change for sure. And to think it was bad enough that I'm trying to catch up with the characters (hanzi) I should have learned in Basic Chinese 2. Anyway, it is really dificult to gauge which xuesheng should belong to which level especially since the Ateneo Confucius Institute is just on it third batch of xuesheng. I myself initially wanted to enroll in Basic Chinese 1 until I realized it would probably be a repeat of my lessons Chinese 10/11 - introduction to pinyin, pronunciations and introduction to Hanzi. And so I decided to be bold and plunged into Basic Chinese 2. It was actually a good decision except that I wasn't able to focus that well and I was coming to class unprepared. This time though, I vowed to myself that things will be different and I will make sure to learn as much as I can in Basic 3 even of I have a lot of catching up to do.

So far so good. Despite the initial setback of not having the CD (guangpan) companion of our textbook (the Institute doesn't have it), I have kept myself abreast with the lessons. Since the textbook doesn't have pinyin anymore, what I do is read the lessons again and write (xie) on my notebook the hanzi along with the pinyin. This way, I am able to remember easier the characters as well as the pronunciation. Since there are a lot of hanzi I cannot recognize, I painstakingly look at the hanzi index of my Basic Chinese 2 textbook (New Practical Chinese Reader Book 1, which is what is used for both Basic Chinese 1 and 2). If I am lucky and I remember the hanzi vaguely, I can look under a particular letter. If I have no idea at all, I look at each hanzi - yep, one by one. It is actually not too bad as I only have to look at three pages of the index. Last week, I spent more than an hour on Wednesday (xingqi san) at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf re-writing the characters for the two dialogues. After my class last Saturday (xingqi liu), I stayed at Starbucks for four hours and did writing and memorizing the characters the entire time. I was also able to review the important phrases which the laoshi asked us to memorize. I'm just lucky I got just a mild headache (touteng) for it. I got my reward afterwards as me and my friends (pengyou) had dinner at Sweet Inspirations and played a game of bowling afterwards.

I can see that my "learn Chinese" project would entail a lot of hardwork, no doubt about that. But then again, I'm really enjoying it and I really want to do it. These days, I carry my two textbooks around wherever I go. I don't want to miss the chance to get to read whenever I can cause really, I have a lot of work to do. I just wish I'll get to learn how to use the IME editor so I can type Chinese characters using the conventional keyboard.

Level Up

I started Basic Chinese 3 at the Confucius Institute last Saturday. The program will be conducted in eight 3-hour sessions every Saturday. I was initially hesitating whether to enroll in Basic 3 because I felt I was not able to maxminize my learning in Basic 2 and I might be too behind in Basic 3. I also learned that most of my classmates in Basic 2 decided not to enroll, having the same misgivings as I have. However, it occured to me that not enrolling might take away the motivation for me to continue learning and what I already know might waste away in attrition, and so I decided to enroll.

I was at the Ateneo Loyola Campus earlier than 9am because I haven't paid my fees and I haven't bought the materials - the textbook and the workbooks. I was quite daunted when I flipped open our textbook and saw that the dialogues are already in characters - no more pinyin! As if it wasn't bad enough, the CD for the textbook is not available yet.

Anyway, I proceeded to the classroom which is at Room 1 of the ISO Bldg. There I was met by my classmate in Basic 2 who was with a woman who was the same age as she. I remember seeing the woman on my way to the Conficius Center office. I was so glad to see my classmate and I was also eager to introduce myself to the woman who appears to be a new classmate too. I was done introducing myself when my classmate said, she is our teacher. Uh oh.

But I like our new teacher, she goes by the book which I think how it should be done. The teaching of Chinese all over the world as conducted by the Confucius Institute is done using the New Practical Chinese Reader. Naturally, I would think that all the exercises in the book have been proven useful in teaching foreigh students to learn the language. She stared with new words to familiarize us with the characters and the sounds. She also made us read the new words and corrected us in our pronunciation. After that, we went on to read the dialogue. Since I was seated in front, she asked me to read the part of Lin Na. Yikes! I could read some but not all the characters, a fact which I politely told her. She was so helpful. A couple of more repetitions and the characters began sinking in. Coming out of our first class, I know I still have a lot to do and first on the list is to do our homework. I'm going to enjoy this class. Hopefully, if I just stick to a regimen, I'll learn enough in Basic 3 so I can enroll in Basic 4. From there, I plan to enroll in the Intermediate class too, also 4 levels and eventually be able to take up Business Chinese.

Schedule of Classes at the Confucius Institute at the Ateneo

Here is the schedule of classes for April to May 2007:

Ateneo Loyola Heights, Quezon City

Basic Chinese 1
Mondays and Thursdays, 6-8 pm, ISO Rm. 101 (April 16-May 24)
Tuesdays and Fridays, 6-8 pm, ISO Rm. 101 (April 17-May 25)
Saturdays, 9am-12nn, ISO Rm 101 and 220 (April 14-June 2)
Saturdays, 1-4pm, ISO Rm. 101 (April 14-June 2)

Basic Chinese 2
Tuesdays and Fridays, 6-8pm, ISO Rm. 2 (April 17-May 25)
Saturdays, 9am-12nn, ISO Rm 4 (April 14-June 2)
Saturdays, 1-4pm, ISO Rm. 4 (April 14-June 2)

Basic Chinese 3
Saturdays, 9am-12nn, ISO Rm. 1 (April 14-June 2)

Basic Chinese 4
Saturdays, 9am-12nn, ISO Conference Rm. 211 (April 14-June 2)

Ateneo Professional Schools, Salcedo Village, Makati

Basic Chinese 1
Mondays and Fridays, 6-8pm, APS Rm. 502 (April 16-May 25)
Saturdays, 9am-12nn, APS Rm. 502 (April 28-June 16)
Saturdays, 1-4pm, APS Rm. 502 (April 28-June 16)

Basic Chinese 2
Mondays and Fridays, 6-8pm, APS Rm. 509 (April 16-May 25)
Saturdays, 9am-12nn, APS Rm. 507 (April 28-June 16)

Business Chinese 1
Saturdays, 9am-12nn, APS Rm. 509 (April 28-June 16)

Xavier School, San Juan

Basic Chinese 1
Mondays and Thursdays, 6-8 pm (April 16-May 24)
Saturdays, 8-11am (April 14-June 2)

Basic Chinese 2
Mondays and Thursdays, 6-8pm (April 16-May 24)
Saturdays, 8-11am (April 14-June 2)

Basic Chinese 3
Saturdays, 8-11am (April 14-June 2)

Classical Chinese
Thursdays, 6-9pm (April 19-June 7)
Basic Chinese 4
Saturdays, 9am-12nn, ISO Conference Rm. 211 (April 14-June 2)

I already posted the course description and applicable fees in my previous blog.

Deadline for registration is on March 31, 2007.

For details, you may contact:
426-6001 local 5208, 5209 and 5280
confucius@admu.edu.ph


Women xuexi Hanyu!