First Day at NCCU - Lord, help me!

I left my first day of Chinese class at NCCU today with very mixed feelings. In fact, I'm quite perplexed over what I should do. Here's my situation. I took their placement test just so they could officially tell me what I already knew; my speaking isn't bad, my writing sucks, and since writing trumps speaking in this system*, I'm going to the beginner class. I mentally prepared myself to be stuck in a class full of "ni hao" learning, but I still didn't despair for a few reasons. One, I knew that the teacher, once I impressed her with my stellar speaking skills, could chose to send me to the next level up (why are the office people often more picky about knowing characters than the actual teachers themselves?), and two, I knew that the class would probably have quite a few students that were in the same boat as me (being able to speak okay but not able to write), and so even if I didn't get moved up I could still have some substantial Chinese conversations and just tune out all the boring stuff. I was also looking on the bright side by telling myself that I could just breeze through this class and easily get a score of over 80, which is just what I need to get a scholarship and then start taking my "real" Chinese class for free next session. Also, as much as I hate to admit it, I do need time to get caught up on my characters.

I looked at the Summer class schedule that they posted on their website, and I thought it said I was in level one. Well, apparently I just don't understand how to read their crazy schedule. It turned out I was put in the next level up. Cool! I was so happy because that would mean I would still learn some new stuff, but it would be easy enough for me to spend time getting caught up on my characters. The class is still book one of the infamous PAV (Practical Audio-Visual Chinese) book, but it starts at lesson 11. This was just what I wanted!

My joy was very short lived. As soon as I got to the class and started chatting with the teacher, she told me this class would be too easy for me. I thought she was just flattering me because I don't think I have a firm grasp of all the grammar constructions in the class material yet. Then this guy comes in. I think he said he was German, but I don't know for sure because he was very hard to understand. He was what you would call a hippie type, which I gathered by the fact that he wore weird pine cone jewelry and had really long hair. Anyway, this guy couldn't really speak Chinese. That's fine, we've all been there. But shouldn't he be in the beginner class? No, because he just finished that class and was indiscriminately funneled up into the next class. I kept waiting to get into PAV, but the teacher had to spend the whole class teaching this guy stuff like how to tell time and the difference between shang ke and xia ke. Where was he during level one? Out gathering pine cones apparently.

It was only me and the hippie guy in the class, so he ended up (although I know he didn't mean to) determining the pace of the class. I learned absolutely nothing new and was not able to have a single substantial conversation. And get this, on the break he tried to English bandit me! He had been using English the entire class (even though both me and the teacher kept trying to guide him back to Chinese), and on the break he asked me if he could please speak English with me because he was also learning English at TLI. I told him, in a very nice way, that he should speak English at TLI and Chinese at NCCU, and that I come to Chinese class specifically to speak Chinese. It didn't do much good though.

Here's where I'm at now. The teacher wants me to try a different level class tomorrow morning, but that class is in lesson 7 of book 2 of PAV. That seems like a huge jump to me! I just don't feel like I'm there yet. I peeked in the book and I'm supposed to already know how to say things like "psychology" in Chinese by the time I get to lesson 7 of book 2. I also have the option of going to a class that is starting lesson 1 of book 2. This seems like the most logical choice, right? That's what I want to do, but my teacher insisted that that class is basically the same as hers, and if her class is too easy then that one would be too. I don't see how that can possibly be true, because there are 14 lessons between her class and the other class that starts at lesson 1 of book 2.

I'm annoyed, to say the least. I'm annoyed because I think that I'm actually in the right level now, but I have to go to a level that's too high for me in order to get away from this guy that obviously should have been repeated and is now slowing down the class I should be in. I'm annoyed because the teachers keep telling me that I should go to another level if I actually want to learn anything, but I'm going to fail all the tests in that "better for me" level because I don't know the Chinese characters. So I basically have to choose between really learning and failing their "system" or succeeding in their system and not really learning anything. I'm also annoyed that they act like they expect so much of you when you take the placement test (and make you feel stupid and guilty for not knowing characters), but then once you're in the system they won't hold back the people that need to be held back (I know this because they're even very reluctant to let people willingly repeat courses at places like NCCU and Shida).

I realize that this is a very ranty post, and maybe I'm being a bit hard on the hippie guy. It's not his fault that he's in the wrong level. He's only been in Taiwan for 3 months (as opposed to my 3 years), and he's obviously just being rushed through their system. Also, his character writing is very good! I did my best to encourage him, but I draw the line at letting him use me for English practice in Chinese class.

There are a lot of good things about NCCU. The teachers seem good, and they have the smallest class sizes that I've ever seen. I'm just so worried about being put in the wrong level. Is it okay to be put in a level that's too high because it'll force me to play catch-up and learn quickly, or will this be completely overwhelming and drive me crazy? Help! Please give me some advice!




*Some may wonder why I'd willingly subject myself to such a stupid system that valued writing Chinese hieroglyphics characters over more important things like speaking. All I can say is that in the 3 years I've been here I've tried learning Chinese many different ways, and as flawed as this system is, it just works the best for me. I struggle with laziness and motivation, and the only way I can get myself to study is with a test looming on the horizon. Also, as I progress in my Chinese, I'm starting to want to learn characters more and more.

Interesting conversation ...

Image via Wikipedia

There's a very interesting conversation going on about the Christian patriarchy movement over at Feministing. Most of you who read my blog know that I hold an egalitarian view of scripture, so I agree with a lot of what's being said over there. That being said though, there are a lot of comments that represent a complete lack of understanding about what Christianity and the Bible is really about. What we have to ask ourselves is where this comes from, why do people feel this way about Christianity? Maybe they only understand Christianity to be a tool of the patriarchy created to oppress women because that's what their experiences have been so far. If that's the case, who can blame them? Because I'm a Christian and I've been researching this for awhile, I know that there are many different beliefs about gender roles floating around in the church (hard complementarianism, soft complementarianism, egalitarianism, etc.), and that the view that the article is referring to is the extreme end of the spectrum, but the extreme views are the ones that get the most attention. It's reasonable to assume that it probably seems to many people that this extreme view is what all Christians believe, and we shouldn't hold that against them. Based on some (not all) of the churches I've been to, I would think this too. I've been to churches that seemed to talk more about gender than they talk about love, grace, and Jesus. I think more churches need to recognize that the propagation of traditional gender roles is just one interpretation of scripture, and that it is no more or less valid than an egalitarian interpretation. Once we can accept that, we can move on to what really matters. What really matters is the stuff Jesus talked about: love, forgiveness, giving. Surprisingly, Jesus never talked about gender. Hmmmm, interesting.

I'd like to encourage everyone to go over and read the post at Feministing along with the comments. Even if you disagree with what's being said, it's always good to be aware of other views. More importantly, we should all strive to understand why people have these views. Happy reading!

Mutually Exclusive

I was listening to the Steve Brown podcast yesterday, and Tony Campolo was on! Tony Campolo is a frequent guest on the Steve Brown podcast, and I'm always greatly encouraged by what he says. It's heartening and refreshing to actually listen to a Christian who focuses on what matters. I'm talking about the simple, important things: feeding the hungry, giving, loving. When did Christians stop focusing on these things and start caring more about supporting useless legislation?

In this particular podcast, Campolo made a statement that struck a chord with me. He argued that one cannot be living rightly as a Christian and own a BMW at the same time. How, by any stretch of the imagination, can one justify owning a BMW when there's war and poverty in this world? I agree with him wholeheartedly, but at the same time this presents a difficult problem. Who gets to decide what sort of luxuries are "acceptable" and what ones are incompatible with living an authentic Christian life?

It's easy for me to say owning a BMW and following Jesus are mutually exclusive, but maybe consuming Starbucks and following Jesus are as well (they don't call it "Fourbucks" for nothing). When should we just relax and enjoy what we have and when should we feel guilty about it?

Guilt is only helpful if it initiates useful change, so instead of just whining and complaining about how horrible everyone else is for not living some sort of ascetic, monk life, I need to take a sober look at my own actions and consumer habits (but I'll still look at people who drive BMWs and think that they're self-seeking asses who obviously think they have nothing better to do with their money).

So, how do I keep myself from joining the ranks of the self-seeking asses? I'm going to ask myself these questions before I buy anything:

1. Do I really need this?
2. Is the price reasonable?
3. Will this help others or make me more effective at helping others?

I think as long as the super-important-item-that-I-just-have-to-have has at least two of these things, there's no need to wallow in guilt and shame. Take coffee as an example. I may not need coffee, but it makes me more effective at helping others. I'm definitely kinder and more patient when I've had a cup (or two or three cups) of coffee. I'm also more effective at helping others when I'm awake. So as long as the price is reasonable, it's all good!

Sometimes, I am so incredibly flippant with my money that it makes me sick (once the euphoria of my newly purchased treasure fades away). What makes me even sicker, though, is hearing a stupid sermon about tithing (last I checked we were under a new covenant and supposed to give according to our hearts and not our calculators, but I digress) and then have the pastor turn around and talk about their new building fund. Hmmmm, does a new shiny building get a "yes" answer to any of the three questions above? I don't think so. You want to know what really makes me sick? Hearing a sermon about how Jesus cared for the poor one week, and then hearing a political sermon the next week supporting a candidate that couldn't care less about the poor (but hey, he's a Christian so he must be good, right?). When it comes to living a truly authentic Christian life, these things, my friends, are mutually exclusive.

The Evolution of "Beauty"

It makes me sick the way women are made to feel that they owe everyone beauty and sexiness at all times. This pressure we feel to constantly look good causes us to compare ourselves to something that isn't even real! See for yourself:






I actually found this clip on Chats with an "old lady" (Titus 2:3-5), and Gina writes a much better post on the matter than I did!