PART A. ALL ABOUT YOU

A.1 Your Self-Introduction in Chinese

我姓花，我叫花菜惠。我今年二十九岁；我的生日是一九九二年三月八日。我是加拿大人，我也是美国人, 我也是日本人。我是UBC的学生，不是老师。我喜欢中国课。你喜欢什么课？我今年在美国是医学生。

我家有六口人。有我爸爸，我妈妈，一个妹妹，我丈夫，我嫂子，我狗和我。我周末晚上常常请我的家人吃晚饭。我们有的时候吃墨西哥菜，有的时候吃韩国菜。

我二〇二一年七月想去台湾和我的朋友因为我觉得台湾很有意思。可是，因为现在有COVID-19，所以我们不可以去台湾。

Hello! My name is Rosemary Wright (Hua Caihui). I am currently a Program and Research Coordinator, responsible for coordinating and evaluating different programs related to early childhood development in a rural clinic in Arizona. Prior to this, I was a public health graduate student at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health focusing on maternal and child health. Beginning in July 2021, I will be a medical student with the goal of becoming a family physician.

A.2 What were the reasons/motivations and goals for you to choose to learn Chinese at UBC?

I was previously a UBC student (2010-2014) and wanted to learn Chinese and Spanish. I, unfortunately, only had time to learn one language during my undergraduate studies. I took several Spanish courses at UBC then became fluent in the language during my time in the Peace Corps. Now that I have spent several years learning Spanish, I would like to spend some time learning Chinese. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, my schedule opened up quite a bit and I decided to attempt learning Chinese as my 2021 New Year’s Resolution.

A.3. How are you doing with achieving your goals in CHIN131? Where are you going from here?

Midpoint: I am somewhat achieving my goals in CHIN 131. Although I am completing the required assignments in a timely manner, I am not spending as much time as I want with learning/grasping the language. Moving forward, I hope to spend at least an extra 90 minutes per week on Chinese to widen my vocabulary and to improve pronunciation.

Endpoint: I feel like I accomplished a lot during these last three months in CHIN 131. My comprehension for the language has expanded much more than I expected. I am planning on taking another Chinese course over the summer to further my abilities to speak, read, and write the language.

 

PART B. LEARNING STRATEGIES

B.1 Chinese learning strategies or challenges

I have been incorporating different learning strategies to make Chinese speaking, writing, and listening more effective.

1. Vocabulary: I use index cards to memorize the new vocabulary words. While memorizing the words, I listen to the Vocabulary audio (found on Canvas) for that particular lesson.
2. Pinyin pronunciation: I use the website to listen carefully to the pronunciation of all syllables. This website came in handy when we had the pinyin quiz.
3. Grammar learning: The short You Tube videos posted on Canvas are very helpful. I watch each video about 2-3 times to fully understand sentence structure.
4. Character learning: See image below to see my handwritten work.

I also have had many struggles while learning Chinese. I explain certain challenges followed by ways to overcome these challenges below:

1. Vocabulary: Remembering the pinyin for each new vocabulary word is difficult. I try my best to memorize new words by listening to the Vocabulary audio. I also periodically look over my index cards to brush up on my vocabulary knowledge.
2. Pinyin pronunciation: I struggle with a variety of pinyin syllabus including “z”, “s”, “c”, “r” as well as “zhu”, “shu”, and “chu”. This website helps me remember how to pronounce certain syllables.
3. Grammar learning: I sometimes forget the order of words is a sentence. For example, I forget whether or not 不 or 都 or 常常 go before or after the verb. Classroom time is a great way go over certain uncertainties.
4. Character learning: CHIN 131 does not focus much on Chinese characters so it is difficult to write each one out. I need to read the dialogues in the textbook many times to memorize the characters.

B.2. Transferable learning strategies between language learning and learning in general.

Organization and time management are key to learning a subject efficiently. CHIN 131 and other courses I have taken are quite organized and lay out exactly what is expected of students. Specific strategies I used in CHIN 131 and other courses include creating index cards to memorize words, using external sources to gain a better understanding of the topic, asking the professor or TAs for help, and most importantly, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. In addition to all these strategies, I make sure to write down all deadlines into my calendar so I do not miss an assignment.

I have not developed any unique learning strategies in CHIN 131 that can be transferred to other subjects.

PART C. CULTURAL LEARNING

• Family name and given name

In Chinese, the family names (which are mostly monosyllabic) always precede given names. When meeting someone for the first time, it is custom to use 姓 rather than 叫. For example, I would say “我姓花”when meeting someone for the first time. The given name is only used with close friends, family members, and significant others.

In English, on the other hand, the family name follows the given name. When people greet each other when meeting for the first time in Canada/United States, we usually mention our first name. For example, I would say “My name is Rosemary” when meeting someone for the first time. There are some exceptions to this. For example, we sometimes address teachers, supervisors, doctors, or someone of great importance as Mr. or Ms.

• Family structure

Canadian/American family structure is similar to Chinese family structure. A traditional family consists of a father, a mother, and one or two children. Commonly the parents will be married and all family members will carry the father’s family name. At 18 years of age, Canadian/American children will leave the home to either attend university or go to work. Nowadays, it is not uncommon for the children to return home for some time due to cost of living. Many young adults do not get married until their late 20’s or early 30’s.

• New Year

Western New Year and Chinese New Year are very different. First, the New Year is celebrated on different dates; in Canada/United States, New Year is celebrated every year on January 1 based on the Gregorian calendar. Chinese New Year is celebrated on different dates (late January/early February) based on the lunar calendar.

On December 31st, American/Canadian societies celebrate in different ways such as attend parties and/or go out until midnight. Many hang out with friends or travel to see family members. At midnight, fireworks go off and individuals cheer, hug, and kiss. The New Year is a new start for the year.

Chinese New Year, on the other hand, is time to be with family. Families stay in to watch TV or play games together. The homes are cleaned beforehand and a large meal is prepared for the family on New Year’s Eve. Parents or grandparents will hand their children red envelopes with money for good luck. Individuals also wear red for good fortune for the new year. The New Year is celebrated for 15 days and on the last night of the full moon, the Festival of Lanterns occurs.

• Eating out with family, friends, or co-workers

Generally in American/Canadian culture, it is common to split the check among friends when eating out especially when friends are still university students. It is also common to see co-workers split the check when eating out unless it is a business meeting, in which the company will take care of the bill. Nowadays, many end up ordering food and getting their food delivered to their workplace or home.

In Chinese culture, it is not common to split the check when eating out. Someone at the table will insist on paying and sometimes small fights arise. Chinese individuals also do not ask for the receipt unless they are looking to get reimbursed.

• Privacy

Privacy rights are a very important matter and is taken very seriously in American/Canadian societies. It is not appropriate to ask personal questions to people you just met nor it is appropriate to ask personal questions to co-workers. Some may feel offended or even angered by such questions. Also, when we want to meet up with someone, we plan ahead of time and come up with a date and time that works for both parties. In general , it is not acceptable to drop by someone’s house unexpected, even if you are a family member!

In Chinese culture, privacy rights are not as serious an issue but many people are becoming aware of the importance of such rights. Many friends or family members will ask personal questions including salary, marital status, and age to a friend or an acquaintance. These personal questions tend to build trust among all people involved. It is also normal to drop by one’s house to chat without notice. Things are rapidly changing, however, in cities across China.

PART D. CHARACTER SHOWCASE

D.1 Characters in Chinese Signage

 

Character: 幸福堂

Pinyin: xing 4 fu 2 tang 2

Meaning: 幸福 means “happy”. 堂 means “hall”. The characters together mean hall of happiness.

Structure:

Context: This picture was taken in Taipei, Taiwan in 2019. I drank the famous Brown Sugar Pearl Milk Tea from different Xing Fu Tang stores around Taipei including at the Zhongzheng district, the Rao He Night Market, and near Ximending. I drank at least one tea a day for one week.

History and Cultural Background: The brand opened its first store in 2018 and has quickly expanded within Taiwan and in various countries around the world. You can find more information here.

Personal Importance: The brand’s signage does not have any significance to me but every drink brought me happiness, so the drink lives up to its name. When I go back to Taiwan, I will be drinking a lot more brown sugar boba teas from Xing Fu Tang.

Character: 茶

Pinyin: cha 2

Meaning: 茶 means “tea”.

Structure:

Context: This picture was taken in a teahouse (A Mei Tea House) in Jiufen, Taiwan in 2019.  I was blown away by its ambiance. The tea house was also beautifully built. I ordered an afternoon tea set which came with tea, crackers, mochi, plums, and a bean cake.

History and Cultural Background: One of my favorite movies is Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. From my understanding, Jiufen’s architecture inspired some of Spirited Away’s artwork. The iconic tea house building stood out in the town and I could see the similarity between this building and the bathhouse scene in Spirited Away.

Personal Importance: Although the location was very touristy, it was fun to see the very popular tea house first hand. It was exciting to be able to drink tea (a culturally important drink in Taiwan) and explore the town.

D.2 Radical and/or Character Structure 

The table shows the three radicals 讠, 口, 女:

The table shows the three radicals 辶, 艹, 氵/水:

Since characters are neither letters nor words, it can be difficult to recognize them especially if one is not familiar with such characters. Fortunately, radicals can be used to help one understand the meaning of the characters. For example, the woman radical 女 can be found in words such as 妹妹 (younger sister), 女儿 (woman). These words are related to one another as they share the same radical. This means that once a radical is learnt, we are able to determine the meaning of certain characters with that particular radical.

Chinese mandarin is very different from English in terms of length of word, punctuation, and alphabet. Chinese words are formed by combining different characters together, sort of like Legos. For example, 他 (he) is written as one character. To write 他们 (them), you simply add the second character. English, on the other hand, write “he” and “them” differently with no connections between the two words. Moreover, there are over 5000 characters in the Chinese alphabet whereas there are only 26 letters in the English alphabet.

Thank you for reading!!