So the teacher of Chinese 1A wants to interview me...

Colleges & Universities University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>I’m Chinese, but I’ve never learned any Mandarin. I put that in the questionnaire she sent to all of us, but she still wants to interview me. I just don’t know how to prove I don’t to her without her doubting it.</p>

<p>Is this normal for a basic language teacher to do? Or is she suspicious just because I’m Chinese? Also, the interview is scheduled after my tele-bears, so does that mean if she doesn’t think I should be in Basic, that I just get the boot from that class and have nothing to replace it?</p>

2

<p>If you don’t know then you don’t know mandarin. She can’t boot you for that I don’t think. Is she interviewing everyone?</p>

3

<p>Are you enrolled in Chinese 1A or 1AY? If it is 1A, then you should be in 1AY regardless if you know any Chinese or not.</p>

4

<p>I don’t know why you are viewing this negatively. They want to place you in the correct class.</p>

5

<p>But I think the fact that I’m of Chinese origin is the only reason they want to interview me. Otherwise, there’s no reason - my grandparents are dead, so I don’t need to bother learning about any chinese to talk to them, my parents have been here for more than 30 years now, so their English is fine, all of which I’ve stated before.</p>

<p>And I don’t understand how I should be in 1AY because I’m Chinese, when I’m not a native speaker of any dialect whatsoever… and even if she were to switch me, wouldn’t it be way too late to find another class regardless?</p>

6

<p>Like I said, I would relax and just explain your situation to the instructor so she can place you in the correct class.</p>

<p>Note, if you’ve never studied characters before, you’re in for a hard time in Chinese 1A…</p>

7

<p>Wouldn’t it be even worse in 1ax and 1ay?</p>

<p>Also, even if I’m in the wrong class, will the instructor bother placing me in the right class? Or will the professor just flat out drop me and leave me to die?</p>

8

<p>This is not unusual. They just want to make sure you’re not one of those kids that knows how to speak who is trying to get an easy A</p>

9

<p>It should be a honor to speak with the chinese instructor</p>

10

<p>^^ LOL! Yah with the giant class of 17-21 this might be your only chance to ever talk to the instructor. Honor indeed is in place.</p>

11

<p>You should be in 1A not 1AY, which is for speakers of other dialects. By the way, what kind of housing offer did you end up getting?</p>