Chinese 101

Welcome to Northeast Normal University in Changchun, Jilin!

We are one week into Chinese language study. This week was all about perfecting the Chinese sounds--putting our tongues and lips in the correct positions and making sounds that feel a bit uncomfortable to us native English speakers. We spent our mornings practicing in mass with our 14 classmates with Chinese speakers beside us correcting our form and pronunciation.

We have a break for lunch with classmates in the school cafeteria. We have ordered different dishes each day from Muslim noodles to Korean rice bowls. Most dishes have been good, but they do cost a bit more than what we were used to in little Qufu.

In the afternoon, we have two hours of one-on-one practice with Chinese tutors.

I know a little Chinese, and Chip knows less than me. The tutor pictured below helped us last week in a practice session, so she experienced Chip's low level firsthand. This Monday when tutors were assigned, she was assigned to Chip. That night she went home and cried. She was nervous because she knew he spoke little Chinese and she speaks little English. After one week of tutoring Chip, she is feeling more confident. Yesterday she told me Wang Zi (Chip) is a very good student.

Check out this page from our textbook. At the bottom you can see the pinyin (alphabetical spelling of Chinese characters) which was my former level, but this week I read the top section. I read characters! As we begin to recognize characters, the world around us is coming alive & it is pretty dang exciting.