fanta_orange

Hey I took spanish for 3 years in high school but admit that my level of spanish is well below even the intermediate level. I know that you have to have a foreign language requirement so I was thinking of taking Chinese next year. Does anyone have any experience with how hard it is to learn Chinese in college without any knowledge or experience with Chinese before hand? And do some native Chinese speakers taking Chinese 1 just to get a gpa booster. i would hate to have a ridiculous curve on everything. Thanks

flachica412

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!

fanta_orange

Hey thanks a lot. What do they teach you in the first year of Chinese? Like how advanced does it get?

flachica412

I can't answer exactly how advanced it gets, but I can describe what we've learned. The class is integregated, so every chapter is reading, writing, speaking, and listening. You will have to learn characters as well as pinyin and pronunciation. Chapters take a little over a week to cover, and the class moves at good pace-not too quick, not too slow. By the end of the first semester, you could have a conversation in Chinese about certain topics. Some of the topics we have covered this year: introductions/greetings, food, seasons, dating, shopping, etc. If you are at all interested, there is also intensive first year Chinese which basically does two years of Chinese in two semesters. However, I wouldn't really recommend that unless you have a decent background as a lot of students seem to take that class if they already know a fair amount.

freetense

it's pretty tough course but I think it's great for that reason. You learn a great deal in just one semester. It's difficult and lots of work, but if you are committed to learning the language then you will do fine. If you suck at opening your mouth and speaking loudly and making your tones very distinct for fear of sounding silly, then don't bother taking the course. Too many people barely open their mouths and think they can learn the language that way. The course is good in pushing you, I guess.

ilovebagels

I also did Spanish in high school and was in the same dilemma. I did Chinese at Penn and it was very challenging for me (I suck at languages). But it was also very, very rewarding. It's just really cool and different. Not to mention useful. I got an internship in Beijing because of Chinese.

And welcome to Penn