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About this blog

Well, I thought that starting a blog might help me keep focused on studying a little bit, and also just be helpful to continue gauging my process.  My name is Jonny and I am not really sure how long I have been studying Chinese, it has kind of been off and on.  I would learn some characters and a bit of vocab and then stop.  Then I decide that I really wanted to learn the language so moved to Harbin, and just finished a semester of a language program at the language school there.  In September I will be starting a 4 year degree.  I haven't taken any exams to assess my level, but I bought the HSK 4 book, did the first practice test just to see how hard it was, and passed with no real problems (238 or something I think).  My listening is where I really struggle, because I never had the chance to hear people speaking Chinese much before coming to China.  

I am on my break right now, but I bought the book for the level above the level I just studied at HIT, and I am slowly starting to make my way through that (whilst also trying to enjoy my rest)!  One of my teachers would actually like to do language exchange with me when she starts her break at the end of the month.  I think this would be beneficial because although I can easily learn Hanzi and new words by myself, context and getting the grammar down can often be a big challenge, so having a professional teacher will definitely help!  Normally I would avoid language exchange, but being as it is free and with a teacher I know well and who knows me, this sounds like it could be just as useful, if not more so, than a regular tutor.  

The materials I am currently using:

 

Anki - for new vocab etc.

Short Term Spoken Chinese (Elementary) - Beijing Language and Culture University Press

Hanyu Jiaocheng (Book 3, the blue one) - As above

Also just chatting with people as much as possible out and about

 

Today I had to go and get my physical health check done for my 4 year visa so I haven't gotten anything done Chinese wise, and now I am about to take my kids out to play.  Hopefully this will be a great chance to try chatting with some people!  Not sure if there is anything I should have added here or what, but that's it for now, and I am really looking forward to seeing how this looks in 4 years time!

 

 

Entries in this blog

js6426

大学毕业

By js6426,


Study

Hey guys, sorry it’s been so long since I did an update.

 

I graduated successfully with a 92 average, which was number one, but honestly it basically feels meaningless. My final thesis was on the 3 body problem.

 

Doing the final year and a half online was a disaster, and my Chinese went downhill massively - thanks covid.

All the student had to speak, which meant we got about 3 minutes per class to actually use Chinese. Time differences also made it challenging. 
 

Glad that I graduated of course. I guess the question is, would I recommend this degree to anyone else? Probably not, but it depends on what you want to get out of it. My classmates were all young and were basically there to party and end up with a degree, I was there to learn Chinese. In person was better by far. Also important to recognize it was a Chinese language and literature degree. Classes on Chinese mythology were a waste of time for what I wanted, and my time would have been better used doing self study on stuff I would actually use.

 

I also really struggled with being treated like a child - things like having attendance taken at every lecture. In England you can attend lectures if you want, but exam results are what matter. If you fail then that’s on you, if you can pass without attending class then it’s all good, but that just wasn’t an option for us in China, to the point where you wouldn’t get a visa if you missed a certain amount of classes.

 

I’m glad I did it as I learnt a lot, but if I could go back in time I probably wouldn’t have bothered.

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