21 messages over 3 pages: 1 2 3
annette
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5508 days ago
164 posts - 192 votes 
Speaks: English*
| Message 17 of 21 05 February 2010 at 12:24am | IP Logged |
Another thought:
A best case scenario might be for you to pick a different class for credit but to audit
the Chinese class if that fits into your schedule (I don't know how your hs does
schedules). Then, if you think the level isn't right, you can just gracefully bow out
with the excuse that your credit courses are taking all your time. If the class does seem
useful, you can just stay on, and because you're auditing, you won't have to do the
homework... although I would recommend at least doing some of the drills ;).
WHEW that last post before this one was longer than I thought it'd be. Sorry!
Edited by annette on 05 February 2010 at 12:36am
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| Johntm
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Joined 5424 days ago
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Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish
| Message 18 of 21 05 February 2010 at 1:37am | IP Logged |
annette wrote:
Another thought:
A best case scenario might be for you to pick a different class for credit but to audit
the Chinese class if that fits into your schedule (I don't know how your hs does
schedules). Then, if you think the level isn't right, you can just gracefully bow out
with the excuse that your credit courses are taking all your time. If the class does seem
useful, you can just stay on, and because you're auditing, you won't have to do the
homework... although I would recommend at least doing some of the drills ;).
WHEW that last post before this one was longer than I thought it'd be. Sorry! |
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What do you mean by auditing classes? I've never heard of that. But the class might not fit into my schedule, it's not fully planned out yet.
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| Johntm
Senior Member
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Joined 5424 days ago
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Studies: Spanish
| Message 19 of 21 05 February 2010 at 1:46am | IP Logged |
annette wrote:
That's always a good attitude to take; I'm not offended at all that you aren't falling
in line behind me.
I probably came off as really strident and TOTALLY AGAINST high school Chinese classes
in my last post, but I've actually had and witnessed great experiences at the higher
levels, such as the level of study your friend is undertaking. But at the same time,
I've seen smart kids thwarted again and again at lower levels, particularly at the
beginner levels of high school Chinese. High school language courses almost never teach
at an appropriate pace for beginners. If you ask your friends in college, you'll often
find that one year of high school Spanish only equals half a year of college Spanish or
even less. This goes doubly for languages that are less commonly taught. My college's
Chinese department administers placement tests to MANY students every year who studied
4 years of Mandarin in high school... almost all of these students end up in the 1st or
2nd years of college Chinese and a few in the third. All of my friends who only studied
one year of high school Chinese had to start again from scratch in their colleges with
Chinese 1. One or two who had studied intensively on their own for that year of
exposure were lucky enough to enter 2nd year.
I guess what I'm saying is, I really applaud the motivation you have, and I hope that
you go far in your Chinese studies. But if you can only take one year of high school
Chinese before continuing in college, I don't know if it'll help much at all further
down the line, unless you combine it with dedicated self-study. And if you're going to
self-study past the level of the class anyway, especially as you have access to native
speakers who can help with questions or pronunciation, why not take a different
interesting course instead? That said, in my experience high school language courses at
the beginning level generally guarantee an easy grade, which can be a blessing during
the stress of senior year. |
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I know what you're saying, I take Latin as an easy grade and to get enough foreign language credits to graduate. I can barely make the sentence "The farmer carried the water to the girls" in Latin. Thats from 3 years of Latin. If I find the Mandarin class isn't helpful, I'll drop that class like it's hot and continue self-studying. I probably won't take Mandarin in college, I'll just keep self-studying.
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| annette
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5508 days ago
164 posts - 192 votes
Speaks: English*
| Message 20 of 21 05 February 2010 at 2:33am | IP Logged |
Auditing is just taking a class, not for credit/grades. Because you don't get grades
and are there essentially out of the goodwill of your teacher, you don't have to take
any of the tests or turn in any of the homework. If you DO have time in your schedule
for this, it might be worth looking into because then you would get all the benefits of
sitting in on class without the added workload. Teachers are usually happy to let you
listen in, and it's kinda a compliment to their teaching as well as you're really just
there to learn.
Of course, I don't know how course scheduling works at your school so maybe this isn't
possible at all. Still something to keep in mind, though, maybe for college when you
probably will have more freedom in scheduling? :)
I personally like auditing because it's kind of a compromise between self-study and
classroom study. I generally prefer to learn by myself, but the classroom can be good
for review and for asking questions, and because I don't have to do the (sometimes
useless) homework, I can spend that time studying on my own or doing other things.
Whatever you decide, good luck!
1 person has voted this message useful
| Johntm
Senior Member
United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5424 days ago
616 posts - 725 votes
Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish
| Message 21 of 21 05 February 2010 at 5:54am | IP Logged |
annette wrote:
Auditing is just taking a class, not for credit/grades. Because you don't get grades
and are there essentially out of the goodwill of your teacher, you don't have to take
any of the tests or turn in any of the homework. If you DO have time in your schedule
for this, it might be worth looking into because then you would get all the benefits of
sitting in on class without the added workload. Teachers are usually happy to let you
listen in, and it's kinda a compliment to their teaching as well as you're really just
there to learn.
Of course, I don't know how course scheduling works at your school so maybe this isn't
possible at all. Still something to keep in mind, though, maybe for college when you
probably will have more freedom in scheduling? :)
I personally like auditing because it's kind of a compromise between self-study and
classroom study. I generally prefer to learn by myself, but the classroom can be good
for review and for asking questions, and because I don't have to do the (sometimes
useless) homework, I can spend that time studying on my own or doing other things.
Whatever you decide, good luck! |
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I don't think that's possible in my school system. I'll probably take it, after looking at my schedule, and there are no other classes that really interests me and I need one more class. But thanks for the advice.
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