Seukhwan Son |
I, somehow, always thought Chinese language was the most difficult language to learn. Due to the cultural and historical background, Chinese characters often appear in Korean language and it usually left me puzzled wondering about the meaning of my native language. Hence, learning Chinese was great opportunity for me not only to learn a new language, but also to be able to utilize characters in Korean Language. I heard and knew of the complexity of the language and expected the course to be a challenge. The course did turned out to be a tough course. Even though I was familiar with the shape of the characters, number of the characters, the pronunciation and unique grammatical structures often left me distressed and confused. However, surprisingly, despite all those times I put in, I was extremely enjoying the language. The lecture quality was superb. Besides usual lecture materials, Tseng Laoshi always engaged students with active participation with various interests. Most lectures almost always had genuine sincerity and good humor among every single students and the professor. Also, TA approached students with frankness and earnest willingness to help students. I was exposed to several new languages throughout my life, and had to learn most of them, couple by choice and the rest because of the necessity. But, I never actually enjoyed to the extent of the interest I now have in Chinese language. Few friends asked me which language course would be a good one to take, and after Chinese 101 in fall, I don't hesitate to recommend Tseng Laoshi's Chinese 101. I learned that Chinese language is not an easy language to be skilled at. However, Chinese language would be one of the most enjoyable and interesting languages to learn as one learns the true nature, the historical and the cultural background of the language. |