The story that we read was very intresting. First seems intresting that you have a clash between the two biggest peoples in the country. At that time it was unheard of to mix classes. It starts to unravel as the high and powerfull manderin family son would love a poor farmer. The conflict begins when the boy gets imediatly sick when he could not live with out his love, Ying seems to get sick as soon as she is in the present of what she does not want. It true seems that the love is not ment to be true. Yet as people know, for there to be true happiness there needs to be sacrafices that each people need to make. As the story ends you see that the ultimate sacrafice turns out to be amazing for both of them. It seems that farming was the way to go and was the simple answer to all the problems. It seems intresting on a seprete note that such a love story takes place with the countries biggest job
Jesse Nagel

This i believe was one of the more interesting reading assignments so far. One of the things that I found so interesting was that marriages were arranged between families instead of the people deciding themselves. Even if she could she would have a hard time because the father of the man she was supposed to marry was none other than the mandarin who was the most powerful person in the region.
I felt bad for her as she would be forced to whatever her parents wanted her to do as i too would also feel board living the royal lifestyle. Of course it would be easier but the day to day life in a palace would be very boring as you would do nothing and sit on your rear all day every day until something serius came up. However on a place like the farm you would be working hard every day but it would be worth it because you would have more fun living life.
It was good that she could convince the prince to convince his father who was the mandarin to allow them to create a farm on the property for the two of them to live together happily.
victor Kuc

I thought the story was Disney-cute. You know, good for little kids with short attention spans and no capacity for attention to detail. It would have made me feel all warm and fuzzy, if it had paid a little more attention to to detail. Clearly, Ying King didn't really care for Bing Sum all that much. I think this shows the chauvinistic views most early civilizations held, especially in regards to love and marriage.

I think this story was another thing that shows Chinese culture very well. It was also very cute love story. This shows that in China, they were allowed to change their job from being rich to being a farmer. In Korea, social rank was extremely important long time ago. I did not know until end that the two characters loved each other because it seems like only Bing Sum loved Ying King. When he was not able to get married to Ying King, he was sick, but Ying King was never sick, except for when she was living in different enviornment. To me, even though the story was cute and lovely, it kind of not make sense. I think Yink King did not really love Bing Sum because she married only when he became a farmer.


Sara Kim

I enjoyed to watch both video clips. I was very surprised about huge number of population do kung fu and they practice kung fu to be a soldier or police officers. Also, I surprised about that people keep their traditional clothing for kung fu still now. I could not believe that this video clip is about today's china because people who do kung fu in traditional clothing seems characters of chinese movie about old china. Also, I'm sad about that I can not really see real traditional bow today. I hope that someone could find method to make real traditional bow again. I think these video clips were very entertaining.

discovering china post

i found that the fact that china is the oldest surviving civilization to be very interesting however even though the basic civilization has remained the same, it has gone through several evolutions like the evolution of kung fu for how it was used against the barbarians for self defence to becoming a national fighting style and can be considered almost essental for getting certain jobs.

Victor Kuc

I believe both videos were very entertaining. I personally liked the first video more. I thought it was intresting how one of the most known martial arts was started by a peacefull comunity. There purpose was to defend and keep peace amoung fighting neighbors, but some use it wrongfully. I find it strange how the master uses the same values that the monks once used to teach his students martial arts. His school is even located with in a temple. Truthfully the wise teacher is killing two birds and one stone. He is both teaching his students martial arts and both teaching them the true value of what there learning. It is depressing though that his best student is only proofing the temptations of the modern world.

Jesse Nagel

This video talked about the martial art. Martial art shows the part of traditional China and I think it was beautiful and astonishing to see people doing martial art. In a temple, students of martial art praise their Buddha and this tradition has continued about 2000 years. Martial art is way of firing up the spirit. It is very amazing how much people love and still does martial art. They not only practice martial art, but they practice using archery in ancient style. I think this is kind of similar with Korea, how some people show interest in archery. In China, people eat many different things, such as snakes, duck, frog and etc. this was kind of surprising.


-Saila Kim-

Im sorry about not posting this earlier, but I would like to thank you for allowing me on the blue slip to add my post late. The videos that we had watched were very intresting. It allowed me to venture into the lives of a normal family in China. Although the family seen are classified as peasents; it seems as though if i were to live there many of us would be in the same situation. I personally thought the begining few minutes of the video was very entertaining. It was suprising to see the thousands and thousands of lines of martial art students doing the same thing at the same time. I can easily compare this to what I learned about china in the past about how they in the morning do stretcches as a school in the front of the building. It seems as though perfection and unification is honored. Something that seemed also intresting on the comunists part was that they alloud the peasants to govern them selves practicly. They were in charge of their life. for many this would seem like a chance to take over and ruin the civilization, but it seems as though the country has flourished under this new idea. You can just tell from the single family used as an example.

Jesse Nagel

Discovery China

There were two thinkgs I found very interesting about the documentary. One was how similar the paddy part was to the 'human interest pieces' news networks became fond of while the economy was in a downward spiral. It made me pretty sad that while the major cities were advancing at a dizzying pace, the rural areas did not seem to be advancing culturally or tecnologically at all. The second thing that interested me was the Mongolian Horse Race. My sister loves horses and as soon as I saw them I called my sister over so she could see them too. Turns out she already knew about them, and she gave me more facts about it than the documentary did, but it was still cool.

Interesting things about China video

There were 2 things I found to be very interesting about the discovery channel China video. The first was the martial arts training seeing the martial artists standing behind the pales of water and striking the water with their hands. I am wondering why this would help them in a fight maby because it would build up tollerance to pain in their hands/ arms.
the other thing that intrigued me was seeing the farmers constructed the rice fields by having them set in layers. the only explanations that i can think of is that either this is because the area has many hills and this would be the easyest way to do it or because the design is better for irrigation among the rice or possibly a combination of the two.

I could know many informations from this video clip. I learned part of chinese history since elementary school becuase china is neighbor country of korea. However, I have never learned about today's china before. I was shocked about huge gap between modernized cities and farm in country sides. Also tools they use for farming, such as cows, shocked me again. Also I knew there are not enough land for farming but I did not know only 10% of chinese land is available for farming. This video clip was very impressive and I liked the landscape of farm in china mostly.
+I have a question about this video. Is Mongolia a part of China? It is what video clip saying but I learned that Mongolia is not a part of China but another country.

This video explained that China has the largest population, will become the most powerful nation in the future. Something that interested me was that Chinese people still practices tradition till today. I also learned that China has that largest horse race, and many people prepare for it. Mongolians are extremely good at riding horses. They have unbelievable skills. The most shocking information was that even though China has a great amount of lands, they only have 10 percent of farming lands. This means that when they fail in harvest, they have less food to eat, when they have a greatest population in the world. Another thing that I learned was that China has the most steels and has half of the concrete in the world. As a large country, China has every large amount of things. I was surprised that people who live in a country-side are more traditional than the people who live in the cities. After the harvest, family has a feast with traditional dumpling that is wrapped in leaves. It is also a competition in school that who has the largest dumpling. I was also shocked that people who are from the rural place take very dangerous and unpleasant jobs in the city. Over 2 million in China have difficult jobs.

-Sara Kim-

This short story is very familiar to me. There is a similar story in South Korea but has different ending. (The guy marry with snail lady at the end of the story) While I read this story, I was surprised about reasons why the guy couldn't marry with ladies. Also there is similar tradition in Korea, which is Goong-hap宮合, but I did not know there is similar tradition in China too. If I have a chance, I would like to do more research on this tradition. Even the story was very familiar to me, I enjoyed to read this story and I like this story.

Folktale

For the first few minutes after reading the folktale I thought the story was pointless and I was kind of angry. Then I tried to think about why it might of ben assigned. I remembered that most folktales had a moral. I thought for a few minutes about it then I gave up and went to the student center. While I was there I felt I had an epiphany; it was probably meant to explain a couple living together before marriage, but that explanation doesn't really fit, so I'm not sure. I guess it could also explain how a bachelor could take care of himself. I don't really know. This story confused me.

This story is really sweet. I think this story tells that Tuan was too nice that the heaven tried to help him. This short story explains the Chinese culture. When people try to get married, they look if their birthdays match well enough to marry. They also look at which characters they use for their names. It also explains that finding something that is uncommon and valuable are the signs of good luck. If the man’s name stands for something that is weaker than the woman, it is a bad sign to marry that girl. Tuan’s experiences explained well what why he could not get married easily. I think Tuan and the fairy should have married because it seemed like the fairy liked Tuan. In Korea there is similar story. In this similar story, the man gets married with the snail that helped his living. I think this ending is better because I think they both liked each other and this seems sweeter. I like how this story shows the tradition that China have and the message that the heaven helps someone who is kind and hard working. I am curious about what kind of character Tuan’s new wife had and how this name go well along with Tuan’s character, earth.



-Saila Kim-

This is Jesse Nagel, and I would love to gain many things from this years class. First, I would like to learn about one of the most ancient of cultures. It would be a privalege to learn about all the different aspects of this large country. I would also like to gain the ability to speak and write parts of the Manderin language. Where I can be able to learn all the beautiful characters and words. I dont expect to become fluent in just one year, although I do think you are probably an amazing teacher it unfortunatly is not possible. At the end of this year I would like to get about a B+. As you said before there was only one person who got an A+. So I believe with hard work and allot of effort I can reach my expectations and yours.

I have took many 2nd language classes, such as English, Spanish and Japanies. When I was a middle schooler in Korea, I had a choice for taking 2nd language class. Because I had more interest in Japanese, I took Japanese class rather than Chinese class. In my senior year, I want to have a chance that I didn't take in middle school. Also, I want to talk with my chinese friends and my roomate in Chinese. I want to learn listening and speaking skills in this class. I would like to get B range or higher grade. I believe that experiences from Japnese and Korean-Chinese writing class will be very helpful.

I have studied a few languages so far, so I think I have a pretty good idea of what I would like to get out of this class. I would like to get a very good handle on the language. I would also like to learn commonly used characters and all about the culture. My ultiate goal is to learn enough in this class (whether just this year, or for a few years to come) to visit China.

my expectations for mandarin 1

The things I want out of mandarin I are rather simple. I have always wanted to hold a fairly advanced conversation with someone semi-fluently in the language as well as send messages or write letters to people in Chinese. Not only does it show aptitude for world languages but it would also be considered a kind and flattering gesture because it shows an interest in his or her culture. Grade wise, I would push my self to have an above average grade such as a B or B+ or if possible, somewhere in the A range. Lastly, I aim to have fun as Asian languages have always been an interest of mine and having fun doing it is a significant bonus.

I have already told the first day that I took Spanish for 3years. I thought that I might need to learn different foreign language because I studied Spanish for too long. There are several things that I expect from this class. One of the most important things I expect is high grade. My desired grade is A- and more. Many Korean languages are based on Chinese characters. I came to the states before I learned some basic Chinese characters that Korean students learned in their school. From this class I want to learn many Chinese characters because this will not only help me with learning new language, but also improving my Korean language skills. My name is based on Chinese character, but I only can right first two letters. I want to finish writing my name. Another thing that I want to get out of this class is speaking like everybody else, so I could speak to some of my friends.

-Saila Kim-

Welcome to Mandarin I --2009/2010

Please use the blog as a home outside class to continue the fun we all have in class.

During the year, you will be asked to submit some homework here. Also, we will use this tool to discuss fun topics and plan for events.

Course Survey

Would you please follow the link to fill out a survey for this course? It takes about 2 minutes to complete. Please copy and paste the link into your internet browser.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=hcD9Yi_2fDzhVwBF5FiA9BMQ_3d_3d


谢谢大家

Senior Project

Mr. Lin can the seniors please have a project?????????? I think that it would be a good idea for us (Lauren, Eve, Stefan, Chris F,Danielle) to read a childrens book in Chinese, translate it and act out the story instead of taking a final exam. or maybe we could each make a presentation on a place that is important to the Chinese history in front of the class? PLEASE say yes to one!!!! :)

Danielle

Sunday Cook-out

I have the same problem as Eve. I am going to my aunt's house and I do not think I will be here because I am pretty sure that we are going to do something special for her. Is it possible for us to do it during a class period or something like that?

Danielle

Mr. Lin
sunday is mothers day, so i can't go i got to do family things all day. i would imagine this may be an issue for most day students... if we can change the date to the next weekend it would be better.
Eve

Tentative Plan for Cook Out

Hi all,

As of today, the plan is that we will be having a Chinese cookout on May 10th between 2:30 and 4:00.

We'll play some Chinese music as well Chinese games.

Please reply yes for me to get a headcount so I can apply for funding accordingly.

If you have specific suggestions, please leave your message here or talk to me privately.

Chinese Food

I think it would be a really good idea for us to cook chinese food, but an even better idea for us to eat it. :)
-Chad Salter

Ryan Dibble

I think this would be awesome! i hope we can do it soon, i starving for some chinese food right now!! xD

FOOOOOOODDDDDDD

Haha You just made my night with that idea mr.Lin
that would be awesome if we did that..my ah friend says she wants to help with that shes a really good cook and shes from bejing. I also think it would be a good experience for the class to participate in.

RJ

food

I think that this sounds like a great idea for our class. I would love the opportunity to learn how to cook Chinese food and think this would be a very fun and productive thing for our class to particulate in.

i think that would be so sweet! i want to learn how to cook Chinese food! i'm there... but i also think it would be better to either do it on a friday night or sunday.
-Eve

Cooking Chinese food

I think it would be cool.

-Chris Falzone

Tony

I think it'd be pretty cool =P
i'm kinda hungry now hahaha
lets do itttt! =O

--Kris

I think its a good idea and a good way to learn more chinese its just im a border so i would have to know when and if i can get there.

Lauren

I think that's an AWESOME idea!
p.s. lin laoshi i need the worksheet you handed out friday its on the portal but i never got it.

Chinese Cooking

I think that would be a great idea! I would the opportunity to cook with them and try talk to them in Chinese.

Danielle

Food

I think that Friday night is also good time to make Chineses food in the student center.

_Juyeon Kim

Chinese Food Cooking Weekend

I'm asking for your input on the idea of cooking Chinese food on a weekend with Chinese students at the student center in late April or early May.

I know some of you are day-students, but if more people can come, bigger budget we are likely to request.


Please post your opinions.

Spring Break in China

Beijing Zoo

China at Night--shops don't close until 11:00 or 12:00 midnight.

Terra-Cotta Soldier

Riding a bike on City Wall

Bird's Nest

Water Cube--where Phelps made his name

Jumble Sushi -- do you see a smaller sushi roll in the middle

Temple of Heaven

Chinese Language Helper

This is pretty cool and free all you do is download the program which can help with studying Chinese. (It even has study quizzes!!!!!)

http://www.euroasiasoftware.com/ht/index.html

Danielle

Spring Break

On spring break when ever my friends and I hung, Eve and I tried to teach them Chinese words so that we could all talk in code so that no one could understand us. It was so much fun because whenever we said anything, people would look at us funny and confused. One of my other friends was so surprised that all us girls were trying to tell each other things so that he could not understand. It was hilarious because every time we said something whether it was good or bad it made people wonder what we were saying and if we were saying stuff about them. I think it was so cool jut being able to communicate in Chinese and when people would ask if I could speak Chinese it was such a good feeling saying that I knew a little.


On the train ride back from North Carolina Chad and I met a Chinese man and spoke to him a little. it was obvious that the guy was surprised that we could speak Chinese and told us that we spoke it well for beginners. Then the next day when I went to go get my nails done before I went back to Jamaica, the guy who was doing my nails was Chinese and I talked to him and asked him questions in Chinese. I had a few grammar mistakes but he was nice and corrected me when i made a mistake.

Danielle

Website + Spring Break

http://www.chinese-tools.com/learn/chinese

My spring break was cool because I was in New York. WHats cool about New york is that there are people from every country which is why I got to speak a little MAndarin. I spoke with a man at the food court of a mall who was impressed to hear me as "Ni3 Shi Zongguoren ma?"

so i went home with danielle to jamaica for the first week of break. it was an awesome time. while we were there we actually every once in a while spoke to eachother in chinese. which worked out really well because only the two of us new what we were saying it was like our own code.

- Eve

Extra Credittttttt

Ok so for Discovery Week I was in the yoga group. I thought it was going to be really boring, but I actually loved it it was really fun! There are some really cool pictures from it actually but I cant figure out how to post them. It was awesome though!

Lauren (:

Xtra Credit assignment

Website here

the website can be usefull with pinyin
-RJ

extra credit work

over the break, please do some search online to find any free or low-cost online resources, such as Pinyin talker or stroke order demonstrator to share with the class. All you need to do is to post the link and a sentence of description. You will be given an extra credit.

please do not post anything that you personally don't think is useful.

a site for finding local tutors

to find a local Chinese tutor for yourself, check out

www.FindChineseTutor.com

i thought that the movie was very good except that the guy died. i think that it was very cool and i liked it a lot. I hop we get to watch more movies like this soon!
- Ryan Dibble

Kung Fu Thieves

Good and interesting movie
the scenes where they fight are really interestingly done; well acted out
It sucks the guy dies, but its cool the lady is having her baby.
It was all out a good movie
-RJ

Movie Comment

I think this movie was a really good movie. I cannot believe that the guy died! I am so upset that he was not able to escape and live with his girlfirend and see his baby grow up. I don't kike the ending of the movie because it is too sad and it sucks that the stupid old thief does not die instead. I really liked the movie though, but I wish it ended happier.

Danielle Chin

Movie comments :P

I was really not expecting him to die.
That was a real kind of heroic ending but I think it will upset more people than there will be people who understand it as a "heroic death".
At least the mother is alive with her child and the baby will be able to lead a normal life after all of this.
Still a very touching ending, and a GREAT movie. :)
~Stefan

Movie

It was so good to watch movie in the class.
Becuase of the sad ending of the movie,
I felt better not watching this until the end in the class.
I hope we can watch other moives (the happy ending story moives) more in the class!~!
.

Juyeon Kim

Moviee

oh my gosh SO SAD!
I almost cired, like my heart hurts a little right now..
Why'd he have to die?!
They were supposed to be all cute together with their little baby.
And what happened to the baby?
Did she like give it up?
Oh my gosh this movie was so sad
It was rele good it was just SO SAD =[

-Lauren Brochinsky

WHAT HE DIES?!?!?!?! geez good way of killing my hero! =O
overall this movie was pretty great
我们需要看另一部电影!!!!
-Tony

Good Movie

Yea it was kind of surprising that he died at the end but atleast they got the uncle guy and the woman is alive with her baby. Good Movie.

---Kris

O0o0o0o i can't believe he died!! not what i was expecting that for sure. such a good movie! a+ for movie choice!
-Eve Sussman

World Without Thieves 天下无贼

Here you can finish watching the movie, World Without Thieves.
天下无贼

after watching the movie, please comment on the movie.

Gossip Girls in Chinese

Click Here



Enjoy watching and learning Chinese

Character Flash Cards

hey class,

please find a lovely website for providing us with pre-made flash cards for learning characters in Integrated Chinese. It's organized by lessons.

You can find the link on the right side of this blog.

1)My goal is to be able to communicate in chinese.


2)I want to be able to speak chinese fluently and write a great majority even though it might take time to learn. i'll have to start studying and finally do my homework ><
SORRY Mr. Lin.


3)I wouldn't mind if we could slow down just a bit and focus more on communicating with eachother more. and have u see if were doing ok.

- Tony Padron

Homework

1)My goal is to understand more when people speak in Chinese.


2)I want to improve speaking Chinese and memorizing more characters
to be able to briefly communicate with the Chinese friends.


3) I wish we can watch more Chinese movie this semester.

Juyeon Kim ~

Next semester expectations

1) what are your goals for this semester?
I would like to become alot more fluent in mandarin and to learn more characters.
2) What will you do differently to improve your grade and Chinese?
I will make sure that i fallow stroke order and turn in all homeworks.
3) What would you like Mr. Lin to do more or less for you?
I would like Mr. Lin to show us another movie and to make Mandarin a little more lively.

-Chad Salter

New Semester, New Beginning

1) what are your goals for this semester?
My goals for this semester are to learn more words/grammer, writing quicker, and speak quicker.

2) What will you do differently to improve your grade and Chinese?
I won't miss anymore classes. I'll study all the words, not just the required ones.

3) What would you like Mr. Lin to do more or less for you?
I would like to do more speaking as in full long dialogues, so I can get better at speaking. Also maybe more extra sessions like the ones during study hall, but also after school.

-Chris Falzone

1) what are your goals for this semester?
to get a b or higher in the class
2) What will you do differently to improve your grade and Chinese?
study more often and harder than ever before
3) What would you like Mr. Lin to do more or less for you?
focus on pronunciation, and say some sentences a little more slowly

- Ryan Dibble

All around..goals

1) what are your goals for this semester?:
A)Get better grades and learn more Chineseeee (mandarin)
2) What will you do differently to improve your grade and Chinese?:
A) Not be as lazy
3) What would you like Mr. Lin to do more or less for you?:
Let us watch Chinese movies

RJ
Πρώτη σπίτι αυτό σήμανση περίοδο

My Goals For The New Year

1. This year my goal is to perfect my characters and improve my grade. I hope to learn and recognize as many characters as possible so that I can finally understand what my roommate and her friends are talking about when ever they all come over.

2. To improve my grade I plan on talking to as many Chinese speaking students as possible and practice all my characters so that I will not forget any strokes.

3. I would like Lin Laoshi to have more fun activities to participate in class so it will be more fun. I would also like to suggest that we have a get together and cook some Chinese food and learn a some of the culture through the food because of the importance of food in Chinese culture.

Danielle

improvment

In this semester of Chinese class i would like to learn to recognize more characters, i think now i am much better at the pinyin and hearing and recognizing the character rather than seeing and recognizing. I would also like to just be able to pronounce each character so it doesn't have such an accent to it. The best way i could practice these are to just study the book more and also use the pinyin talker to help my pronunciation.

Goals huh~

1) What are your goals for this semester?
Learn more characters and try to use more and more words to try and learn as much as I possibly can. =)

2) What will you do differently to improve your grade and Chinese?
Spend more time on the tests checking over my work.

3) What would you like Mr. Lin to do more or less for you?
Go over more words, not just from the book but words you would use in everyday life.

~Stefan

Kris Daoud

The one thing i need to improve in is writing characters. I know all the vocabulary and i can recognize the words and what they mean, it's just writing the characters. To improve my grade i need to practice writing the characters. I would want Mr. Lin to go over the writing of characters more and practice learning them.

Lauren Brochinsky

ok so my goal for this semester is to get good grades and stay focused and actually retain my mandarin.
To improve I plan on making sure I do all my homework and study for the tests and quizes.
And I think Mr. Lin should have us play games in Chinese!!!!!!!!!

new semester...

1) what are your goals for this semester? to become better at listening comprehension.
2) What will you do differently to improve your grade and Chinese? try to take the time to and talk to more chinese students so that i can work on my speaking... i've been told that my speaking is really quite bad.
3) What would you like Mr. Lin to do more or less for you?
work more on pernonsiation and say sentences slower so that i can work on understanding what is being asked. and eventually hopefully be able to understand listening parts of tests (the sentence ones)
-Eve Sussman

新年, 新行动/New Actions

Please post your answers to the following questions.

1)What are your goals for the spring semester?
2) What will you do differently to improve your grade and Chinese?
3) What would you like 林老师 to do more or less for you?
4) any other comments?

A hippy website for learning Chinese

www.popupChinese.com

It's a very cool website with many lessons on daily life situational conversations.
Please check this out. It has videos and podcasts.

Winter Break

Over winter break, my family came over and we were celebrating Christmas and i told my aunt and uncle who lived in Singapore and Hong Kong for 6 years, that i took mandarin and they said oh really? They asked me if i can recite the numbers and ask how are you and different kinds of phrases. They were impressed.

Chinese Winter Break

Over the winter break,I went to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem. They had an exhibit that was inside an actual Chinese house. The tour explained the use of different rooms and how the family lived and how the lifestyle change during the 20th century. I enjoyed learning about Chinese culture on a visual level.

chinese over my break

Over my break i watched a few chinese movies, Kung Fu Hustle among others was my favorite. Evem though it had subtitles it was quite enjoyable. My favorite part was the ending battle scene when the hero uses buddhist palm. I think the whole movie was hilarious!

- Ryan Dibble

Wo de jia qi

During my break there were a few chinese related things. I was at the mall getting christmas presents for my family and i overheard a group of people speaking chinese. i knew it was chinese since they started the conversation saying ni hao. Also during break i taught some my friends how to say a few things in chinese. I also listened to some chinese music, and showed it to my friends too.

-Chris Falzone

breakkk

When break started it was planned that i was going to be playing in A basketball tournament with the Basketball team. However, due to poor weather we were forced to stay overnight at Ca for an extra night. Since dinner was not being served we went to a Chinese restaurant up the street. While we were at the restaurant there was a waitress that everybody was really curious to how old she was, so i dident hesitate to ask her in Chinese. Everyone was incredibly impressed and i went on to tell them all how i took mandrain.

-Austin

Wo de...break!

Over my break I was with a lot of my friends. We were talking about what subjects we were taking in school when I mentioned that I take Chinese. Their mouths dropped open "Chinese?!" they all shouted. They asked me if i could say something. I get this question a lot and i always say the same thing. Qing ba niu nai de gay wo (sorry for the spelling), or please pass the milk.

~Joy~

Over the Winter Break

During the Winter Break, I did not meet any Chinese people who I can try to speak Chinese but I had friends who speak Chinese as native speakers and know lots of characters. I told them what I know and they corrected me some pronounciation. They also told me how to talk about the weather.

Juyeon Kim

My Break

During the break my chinese friend had his birthday party and we went bowling in East Haven. on the way i started writing chinese characters and asking him to correct them if i was wrong. and we also spoke chinese, =D.
i learned how to say Girlfriend in chinese, i THINK it's NU PEN YUO (i dont know the pinyin lol)
~Tony

Chinese activities over break

Over my break I was able to stay active in chinese by practicing with native speakers. I was able to practice three times at different Asian restaurants. I was lucky to a have a chinese waiter all three times and I started by asking "ni3 shi1 zongguoren ma?" Each time they said yes and said "wow, you speak mandarin" and I would say "wo3 shi1 xuesheng." Each waiter was very excited and pleased to learn that I was learning thier language.
-Chad Salter

Chinese related things over break

Over break i visited my relatives who are chinese and had various chinese dishes for new years and christmas. I also watched a movie with chinese subtitles and it was cool to actually recognize some of the characters, even if it was only two or three per subtitle change. I also spoke a little chinese with my relatives and was surprised to learn that my cousins knew a little chinese and could have a conversation with me, even though it was only simple questions and answers.

~Stefan

Chinese related over Xmass Break

I went to london and while i was there i went by the chinatown there. The chinatown in London has almost no one actually living there, except one district where there are a few residents. We ate lunch there, and went to a party that was being held in honor of the owner of a restaurant's daughter.
--
RJ

My Break

So over break I only had one thing that related to Mandarin. I was playing this game, and in the game I had to open this box that had Chinese symbols on it. I was so excited that I knew some of the symbols it made me so happy! Haha so basically I love our class <3

-Laurennnnnn

Things I did over break related to Mandarin

First, I really didn't think that I had any exposure to Mandarin, but then I realized that I used it for a requirement for a scout badge (citizenship in the world). I had Chinese food, counted in Mandarin to my 4-year old cousin (which didn't work out so well, she counted in french), and watched a Jackie Chan movie. Okay, I did use my Mandarin this break.

Elliot

so over my break two things related back to chinese... one is more comical then the other. on Christmas day my and my family did the very Jewish thing and went to a movie and chinese. in the chinese restaurant i was looking at there hanging wall drawing trying to figure out what it said.... unfortunately it was all in traditional script and i couldn't figure it out. it was a bummer that's for sure. NOW for my funny story: so on new years day my cousin and i wanted to take a picture of us making the symbols 2009 out of are hands, as you can figure we didn't have enough fingers to make the nine at the end so i told her to make the chinese symbol for nine. it was really funny because looking at the picture now she had her hand facing the opposite direction( towards her body). it probably would sound funnier in person but it made me laugh. I LOVE this class. it always keeps me entertained.
-Eve Sussman

My Holiday

During my Holiday I went to go get my nails done and the lady who was doing my nails was Chinese so I started talking to her ans asking her little things. She seemed pretty surprised that I actually knew something and she even started to help me and tried to teach me the four different tones. Also while in the airplane on my way back to JFK there were two Chinese ladies sitting in the seat in front of me and I tried to understand what the were saying (even thought I was eavesdropping) and I also tried see if I could recognize the different characters on the airplane brochure. Chinese is so much FUN!I am so happy I can now say I can speak a little bit of Chinese YAY!

Danielle Chin

新年快乐, anything Chinese?

Please post here anything or any activity you engaged in over the break that has something to do with the learning of Chinese. It could be a Chinese joke you heard from a friend, a new word you learned, Chinese news you read, a Chinese movie, or some review work you did for this class and etc.