Reflections

Heisuke Nakayama's Reflections

In this project, I take a role in editing video and acting Jackie Chan. Both editing and acting are first experiences for me, so I sometimes felt difficulties. However I could finally acquire those skills and how to go forward with group work through this project. Besides; in case of me, this module gave me the opportunity to study not only Chinese but also English. I felt anxiety at the first of this Chinese class because of the difference from education system of my home university. For example, basically one module has only one lecture a week, there are not group project, it focuses on grammar rather than a conversation skill. In short Japanese education system is not harder than Singapore. However I could enjoy the lecture and feel more interest in Chinese as I adopted the study in Singapore.   I owe this fruitful experience to Lin laoshi who give us a great lecture, group members who cooperate to work this project and classmates who study together.

Thank you all for giving me such a great experience!!

Ang Pau Lin's Reflections

It was a great experience working on this project as I get to put into practice what was taught during the course as well as meeting new friends. I am also thankful to have such a great teammates who contribute so much to the success of this project even though we have our CAs and hectic schedules. Nothing comes easy along the way. One of the difficulties that I faced during the project was the pronunciation of the tones, it was quite a challenge for me as I do not have the basics and there were several occasions where I mispronounce the words during the video shooting and I would like to thank my team members for pointing out the mistakes to me. Learning Chinese was tough initially. What I observe, in order to learn another language it requires a lot of practice, determination and not to be discourage by the mistakes make. I would like to take this opportunity to extend my gratitude towards Lin laoshi for being such a great teacher.  

Lim Wen Chean's Reflections

As the semester is drawing closer to an end, LAC2201 is also coming to an end. In fact, we are actually done with the whole textbook! It really feels like an achievement for me. Being a Chinese who is not fluent in Chinese Language, this module definitely provided me insights to this language in a more in depth level compared to Chinese 1 and helped me in different ways. I am definitely more proficient in this language now compared to when I was studying Chinese 1.

I enjoyed this module because it is a much needed break from my core modules despite the heavy workload (countless tutorial exercises, group project, quizzes and tests) that I had to endure. The tutorial exercises were really helpful because they ensured that I revised each chapter every week. They also allowed me to practice writing the Chinese characters correctly which is really important in order for me to remember how to write the characters.

This Chinese project added more fun in learning this module. It was a pleasure to work with my fellow group mates. I am thankful that each and every one of us contributed as much as we can to this project. Everyone was very cooperative and helpful which are essential values in building a good teamwork. Nevertheless, every challenge has its own difficulties such as churning out ideas for the news report and finding out the meanings of the new words. But we managed to combine our heads and pull it through together. I enjoyed shooting the video although we had trouble searching for suitable places for the video recording to take place. I had a great time working with my groupmates.

I am grateful that I have decided to take this module. It is totally a different level compared to Chinese 1. At the beginning, the transition from Chinese 1 to Chinese 2 was hard for me because I took Chinese 1 a year ago. I had to revise the chapters from Chinese 1 to reinforce my memory. Chinese 2 also exposed me to many new and difficult characters. I spent plenty of time practising the characters. But I was also happy that I am able to learn more new words. Soon after that, I got the hang of it again.

In this module, I have made many new friends from different interesting backgrounds. All of them are very friendly and we enjoy conversing in Chinese together eventhough our pronunciations may be wrong or inaccurate.

I would also like to extend my gratitude to 林老师！谢谢您林老师因为您教汉语很好! 林老师 has been very patient with us during our Chinese lessons throughout the semester. She incorporates fun in every lesson which is what most of us hope for during every lesson. 

Thank you! :)

Low Yam Wen's Reflections

I gained a lot of experience from this module and project. I really enjoyed every moments of the project-making with my group members, especially in the video-making part. Although, the video filming process was quite tedious and tiring, we manage to get the video done successfully. All thanks to the members of our group. I realized that group management and cooperation between members are very important in ensuring works and tasks to be done on time and effectively. From this module, LAC2201, I learnt that Chinese is very interesting and learning was really fun under the guidance of our teacher, Ms Lin Chiung Yao (林老师). I wish to take this opportunity to thank her for her teaching and guidance. I learnt many new Chinese vocabularies and learning Chinese characters by understanding their stories behind these characters was really fun. All in all, Chinese is a fun language and I hope to continue Chinese 3. Thank you again to our teacher (林老师),  my group members (Ang Pau Lin,  Heisuke Nakayama, Helena Hor Mei Ling and Lim Wen Chean)  and classmates for accompanying me throughout my Chinese learning JOURNEY….!!!  ^o^ 

Hor Mei Ling, Helena's Reflections 

Learning Chinese has been such a great experience for me so far. I’m actually quite amazed and very happy at how much I’ve learnt and progress since the start of Chinese 1. It feels like an achievement!  Coming from a Chinese family that rarely speaks Chinese, I never failed to surprise foreign friends with my lack of proficiency in a language apparently considered to be my mother tongue. Sometimes, I even secretly envy my Chinese-speaking friends who could speak the language so well. Tired of being lost in translation among my Chinese speaking friends and relatives, I challenged myself to take up Chinese.

During classes, I enjoyed conversational practices the most.  Besides allowing us practice the various sentence structures learnt and correct pronunciation at a less intimidating level, these sessions have also served as a great avenue to interact with other classmates. Occasionally, we even help to correct each other’s pronunciation!  Another aspect that I love about learning Chinese is its well proportionate, beautiful characters. Most of the time, I find writing out the characters to be quite relaxing. I hope to master the art of calligraphy one day.

As for our group project, I’m very blessed to have very cooperative and helpful teammates. I enjoyed every bit of the process; from the brainstorming, the planning, the shooting and the editing. It is wonderful to see a fair exchange of creative ideas coming from everyone on the team. During my research for our blog’s write-up, I also learnt a lot of interesting facts about Shanghai.

Chinese 2 is a whole new level for me. As Chinese 1 provided us with the basic such as the tones and grammar, Chinese 2 is more challenging but fun at the same time. The characters are more complex and we have longer texts to read. Initially, I was hesitant if I could catch up from my last lesson in Chinese 1 that I had two years ago because I seem to have forgotten some characters. However, I managed to pull through by constantly revising those characters, whilst practicing the new ones. Whenever I’m stuck at the meaning of any new characters or phrases, I will always look up on Pleco, my trusted iPad App for learning Chinese. At times, pronouncing unfamiliar new words can be a tongue twister for me.

Personally, I think Chinese is a very beautiful language. I believe I have made a wise choice learning Chinese because I foresee its importance in my daily dealings with people around me. My hope of being able to read, compose and speak proper Chinese will never have been realized if it’s not for Lin Laoshi’s constant dedication, patience and encouragement. 林老师，我非常感谢您的教诲.