| I'm actually in first year Chinese right now. I had no experience going in besides a little prep work I did over the summer. I also took Spanish in high school and a little at Penn to fulfill the language requirement. Anyway, it's definitely a lot of work but not insurmountable. The class is not at all curved. If you put in the work, you will do well as there are so many things that make up your grade that you can balance harder aspects with aspects you do better with. There are some native speakers who seem to kind of take it for the easy grade, but since it isn't curved it doesn't affect your grade at all. While it's definitely been stressful at times, I'm really happy that I've taken Chinese at Penn and will continue to take it until I graduate. Let me know if you have any other questions! |