Studying Chinese in Texas

[abcdefg]

Post away, Texan Chinese learners . . .

Edited June 25, 2009 at 03:36 AM by roddy

[Meng Lelan]

Thank you roddy for moving this thread to its most appropriate home.

The Texas Study Group is for Texans (native or non native, we all know the saying "I wasn't born in Texas but got here as fast as I could") who are interested in studying Chinese anywhere in Texas or want to know Chinese culture anywhere in Texas.

I think there's a need for a Texas study group because this is a large state with large Chinese populations in Houston, Austin, Dallas, etc.

If you are in Texas (or wish you were) then by all means come here and drop us a line.

Just to clarify things a little more this is not a language exchange group. It's more of a resource for those of us in Texas who are interested in getting the most out of anything Chinese that Texas has got to offer.

roddy let me know if this post looks okay to you and if this is moving in the right direction. The title is great. Thanks again.

[roddy]

Thank Imron, although you can also thank me for removing the the non-relevant posts and tweaking the title again. So who's in Texas, and where and how are you studying Chinese?

[isela]

Great to see this!

I'm getting back to Texas in August, and I'm certainly in!

Let's get going on this!

[Meng Lelan]

Thank you imron for the proper placement of this new forum.

Ok, I go first - I am in San Antonio now. Lived in Austin for two years while I was at UT Austin so that makes me a Longhorn. I guess that puts me at odds with isela :-)

I also commute regularly to Houston for wushu training.

My Chinese studies were mostly in Beijing but I have to keep up with my Chinese here in Texas in order to keep up with my Chinese School students.

My Chinese conversation practice in San Antonio generally consists of begging Chinese School administrators for more chalk, teaching materials, classroom space, etc. not a large Chinese population here, so for me it's a real challenge to just keep up with changes and new trends in the Chinese language.

[OneEye]

I live just north of Dallas but I'm moving to Austin next month (going to UT Austin next year to major in Chinese). There's a tiny "Chinatown-like area" in Richardson, so I make the trek out that way sometimes. There's a pretty cool little bookstore there (very little learning material, lots of native and translated into Chinese books, movies, music, etc). There are some pretty good restaurants over there too, and an Asian grocery store. There's another Asian grocery store/market over in Plano.

[Meng Lelan]

but I'm moving to Austin next month (going to UT Austin next year to major in Chinese).

Aha! Another Longhorn here. Are you going to be a grad student or undergrad student?

[isela]

Ttttttsssssssssssssss~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But since I never really considered myself as a peasant, can I ask, is there anything I can do for you guys here? Any books I can bring?

I don't have a car yet in the US (planning to get one by end of the year), but I can send things out in packages. Please DO let me know!!!

[abcdefg]

I live near Dallas and have studied Chinese off and on for about two years in different parts of China, currently in Kunming. When I come to China and “immerse” I make good progress since there is an immediate reward to learning how to say new things.

When I go back home the learning curve flattens out and I soon lose much of my recent gains. I realize it doesn’t have to be that way and it’s frustrating to lose hard-won vocabulary through disuse. I’ve learned how manage a trip to the post office about 5 times by now.

Chatting with the wait-staff at “Golden Palace Chinese Buffet” once a week or so doesn’t cut it as a substitute for continuing study. Perhaps focusing on reading would be a good avenue while "stateside."

[OneEye]

Aha! Another Longhorn here. Are you going to be a grad student or undergrad student?

Undergrad unfortunately (this will be my second bachelor's).

[Meng Lelan]

Ok. UT Austin has Chinese language courses up to third year.

I think someone here on the forums said they use Practical Chinese Reader not the New Practical Chinese Reader.

Maybe when you get to UT Austin you can report on what the Chinese department there is like and what you think of the Chinese classes.

[OneEye]

That was me.

They actually have fourth year courses too, but they're "Topics" courses, so their content changes (one is a literature class and one is modern Chinese, which I think is basically also a lit class). They also teach intro to Classical Chinese, and one of their Lit. Topics is Classical Chinese Poetry. They do use PCR I and II for first year Chinese (I visited the campus a few weeks ago and checked out the book store). They use Intermediate Reader of Modern Chinese for 2nd year, and I forget which book for 3rd year.

If anyone's interested, they use Yookoso! 1 for first year Japanese and Yookoso! 2 for second year.

[Meng Lelan]

Ok, it was you from that thread about summer classes. Are you going to take summer classes in Austin and do you know yet who will be teaching the Chinese sections?

[OneEye]

I'm not sure yet, and I'm not even quite sure I'll be moving to Austin when I thought. I may stay in Dallas another year and get some of my generals done at a community college (my music degree had few generals, and different from what UT requires). I have a good job right now (esp. money-wise) so I may take advantage of that for a while and save up so paying for school isn't so painful. That would also give me another year to study Chinese on my own, and possibly start Japanese so I can hopefully test out of more when I get there.

Of course, we may just end up moving next month like we planned. Who knows?

[abcdefg]

One Eye,

Are you currently studying at UNT Denton or UNT Dallas?

[OneEye]

Neither. I'm starting school this fall. I had applied at UNT in Denton but since we will be moving to Austin (it's final now), I won't be going there. I'll be at Austin Community College this fall, and I'll start at UT in the spring.

My wife went to UNT though, for music education. The Denton campus, of course.

[Meng Lelan]

Are you going to take any Chinese classes at Austin Community College? I know that UT Austin does have its own Chinese exams for proficiency purposes in case you want to place out of first year Chinese, or at least that was the case two years ago.

[OneEye]

I've thought about it, but I may just end up getting as many general courses out of the way since it's so much cheaper. I'll definitely be studying Chinese at home though if I end up doing that.

[abcdefg]

Neither. I'm starting school this fall.

Good luck! 我预祝你！

[stevejohnson]

well i am resident of texas and i often use to visit china for promotion of my company goods so i am interested in learning chinese language but from where to start