CHNS C1201

Quizzes everyday, journals collected each Thursday. Weird extra credit system, but sure... I guess it worked out for me.

Extensive, but expected for a 5 point class. Regular vocab quizzes (5 vocab words from a list of about 30, along with a sentence or two). Homework due once a week (for a total of 16 homeworks). Three essays and three exams. A final presentation. An actual final. Regular attendance in the drill session and class.

Quizzes about three times a week. If there is not a quiz, then you will certainly have either HW, an essay or a presentation due. The second semester she had us make regular WeChat entries. The work is intense but necessary if you want to achieve spectacular outcomes.

3 quizzes and 2 homework sheets per week, a test every three weeks, a final written and oral exam

Typical Columbia Chinese program: Daily or almost daily quizes, homework that sometimes is turned in and sometimes just gone over in class, four tests plus final, and a handful of essays that are really just grade savers and kinda fun.

Intense, at least 2 quizzes per week, 4-5 exams/semester+ final + midterm oral + final oral presentation. Bright side, you'll be good at chinese by the end of the semester.

homework and vocab/answering a short answer quizzes for every chapter we go through. 3 essays (350 words the first two, and ~550 the last) test for every 2 chapters workload is like any other language class basically... just review/study your vocabulary and grammar.

Wu Laoshi is just starting out as a professor in Intermediate Chinese and had been a TA for discussion sections for quite a while. Her powerpoints are straightforward for the most part, but she often stumbles in explaining grammar points. I think she's still adapting to American culture and there were some cringeworthy sessions that took place over the semester. We spent a full class watching her favorite movie (shown without a rape warning and it contained graphic content including molestation of a minor) Farewell, My Concubine and sat through an awkward 5-minute Youtube video of her favorite contemporary Chinese song. There was another WTF moment when one of the verbal practice prompts was to create dialogue between a patient and plastic surgeon and to present it to the class in Mandarin. There was a cartoon illustration that our dialogue needed to correspond with and I'm sure that she got a bit upset after figuring out that the activity was incredibly awkward and objectifying of women's bodies. A common theme with her verbal practice prompts was dating and she somehow manages to discuss boyfriend/girlfriend dynamics and aspects of attractiveness during each class. I thought it was kind of juvenile and overdone in Elementary Chinese. Overall, she's really nice and generous during her office hours. In class, she creates some cute moments but her confidence conspicuously waver…

Man, was this class an experience. Let me start by saying Wang Laoshi is an absolutely excellent teacher. She might just be one of the best Chinese professors in the nation. She has a very, very good understanding of what students are likely to have trouble with and she focuses her lectures more around those things, which makes going to lecture really valuable (it's also mandatory, and 4 days a week, which can get annoying but it is what it is). However, this does necessitate that you do a lot of work outside of class. You need to do a LOT of work outside of class. There are quizzes basically 3 times a week (remember, there are 4 days of class a week). In themselves, they're quite short (typically 5 vocab words and a sentence), but the list you need to study from is usually around 30 words long. The days we don't have a quiz, we either have homework due, an essay due, or a test. The workload is quite intense, but it is, after all, a 5 point class. And when you do it all, you really feel like you have an understanding of the language. There is about 1 day a semester when all the stars align, and you have nothing due - no quiz, no homework, no essay, no test. Take the day off. It will not happen again. Tests in this course are not terribly difficult, studying the grammar structures worksheet that she gives out in class usually allows you to get at least an 85. Homework is also p…

I had Qi Laoshi for an entire year (Chinese Intermediate I and II), and let me just say, she is one of the most inspiring Chinese teachers I have ever had. Although she is somewhat infamous for the rigorous intensity of her Chinese classes, in the end, if you are serious about improving your Chinese language skills, there is no substitute for Qi Laoshi. Mind you, I am extolling her virtues despite the fact that she HATED me. This professor hated my guts and I still have nothing but the warmest regards for her. She is a driven and passionate educator with a demonstrated commitment to ensuring that all of her students succeed. However, she also has extremely high expectations for all of her students. She has to see you putting in the work, otherwise you may unwittingly become the object of her ire. All this being said, if I could go back in time, I would take her class again. I will definitely miss her teaching next year.