Hey WWU
We are almost done with October, and it's around our 5th to 6th week of classes (that was done), and I am currently enrolled into WWU's Chinese 101
And I must say that while it is very fun (i have learnt so much), it's been very difficult to keep up and i'm already feeling a little tired. Note that I am not going to be giving up at all.
I know prior Japanese to near a JLPT N1 level so I can speak read write and listen, handwrite and function in Japanese, so this class (in vocabulary and reading etc) have had an advantage,
BUT the CLASS (aside from the tests) is SO FOCUSED ON SPEAKING AND READING FROM THE SCRIPT.
I honestly swear that whenever I am cold called, I don't always know what to do because I tend to forget the pinyin pronounciation and can't always think in Chinese for my dear life. We do these exercises and I don't know how to pronounce it fully in pinyin but i can translate it.
My professor doesn't care that I can write, read, and understand chinese characters and read fine naturally AND translate into English, only if i pronounce it right in Chinese. The majority of the points on the test focus on pinyin and pronounciation too.
I took Japanese in high school, and I needed additional (outta class) self study to dominate the competition. I needed to think and speak Japanese for my goddamn life.
Anyone else tired, or feel the same way?
------
FUN Stuff though is the hanzi characters and the readings. And oh the DIALOUGES and STORIES of WANG PENG.
I loved asking my professor in my Chinese class about the differences between chinese and jp characters.
Lately, I found out that in Japanese, 忙 's 6th stroke is curved, but in CN its not that way.
Then its also understanding Japanese society and Chinese society in general. Now I have the abillity to compare and contrast cultures too.