The following is a student preface written by Nick Higgins on behalf of his peers in the Spring 2000 class of Elementary Chinese:

Because this website has been a primarily student-driven project, we felt that it would be appropriate if there was a student preface in addition to Tseng Laoshi's preface. First of all, we would like to thank Tseng Laoshi, not only for her many hours of assistance with our website, but also for her dedication and patience all year. This website serves as a sort of yearbook or memento of the Spring 2000 Elementary Chinese class. It was a special class for all of us. Working and studying together everyday in small sections enabled us to form a strong bond amongst the Elementary Chinese students that is rarely found at the university level. We have all endured the same difficulties and struggles, and are stronger for it.

In addition, we hope that this website will be a useful learning tool for future Elementary
Chinese (CHIN 101 & 102) students at the University of Virginia, as well as elementary
Chinese learners everywhere, in particular those using the Integrated Chinese curriculum.
The dialogues and narratives we created throughout the year took a lot of hard work, and now
that they are preserved on the Internet, future students can use them as supplementary
materials.  Furthermore, the only method for practicing listening comprehension at our
disposal was listening to the passages provided by the textbook company.   Now that many
recordings have been made under the supervision of Tseng Laoshi, students will have a wide
range of listening choices.   In addition, these high quality audio recordings will be
readily available on any student's home computer or in any computer lab.   Also, we hope
that this website will encourage future students to take Chinese language.  As you can read
in our English reflections, we feel that the class is a great experience, for anyone willing
to accept the challenge.  We are proof that it can be done. 

Elementary Chinese Spring 2000 syllabus