INTRODUCTION

My first year of Chinese language was a wonderful experience.  Tseng Laoshi is the most 
hard-working and dedicated teacher I have ever had.  Her energy and enthusiasm sets the 
tone for the entire class.  Olga Chernysheva, our teaching assistant, also provided me 
with valuable assistance on my speaking, as well as great conversations about Chinese 
politics.  I took Chinese because I am an East Asian Studies major concentrating in 
China, and would very highly recommend both the East Asian Department and particularly 
Chinese language for any prospective students.  However, Chinese is a difficult language, 
and one should not take the class if one does not have the time or work ethic for it.  
It requires a minimum of one hour studying every night of the week, and involves a great 
deal of memorization.  Still, do not let Chinese scare you off.  In many ways, it is 
easier than the more conventional languages.  For example, there is no conjugation or 
tenses every verb has only one form.  The grammar is very simple, and is often similar 
to English.  The small class size (my class only had six students) ensures much greater 
teacher-student interaction than in the more popular languages, as well as much closer 
bonds between students than in most classes.  Overall, Chinese was a very worthwhile 
experience, and I would very highly recommend it to any student willing to do the work 
involved.

My Most Excellent Work: 1) Mid-Term  2) Seeing a Doctor  3) Travel

I chose these passages because, looking back, these were the passage that I remembered 
writing the most.  Also, I got high grades on all of these passages.



Self-Introduction:       Image File     NJ Star File     Audio File
Mid-term:                Image File     NJ Star File     Audio File
Seeing a doctor:         Image File     NJ Star File     Audio File
Travel:                  Image File     NJ Star File     Audio File