Chinese taking Chinese?

[Centridot]

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Hi, I was thinking of taking Chinese, but I'm Chinese. I actually want to learn the language and I can already speak it due to my descent, but I'm completely illiterate. The other problem is that the course is huge in terms of credits. Would this make me look like a grade grubber?

 

[chronicidal]

no

 

[thlaxer]

Hi, I was thinking of taking Chinese, but I'm Chinese. I actually want to learn the language and I can already speak it due to my descent, but I'm completely illiterate. The other problem is that the course is huge in terms of credits. Would this make me look like a grade grubber?

I was in a similar situation and took a few years of Chinese in college. My ability/inability to speak or write Chinese was not brought up in any of my interviews. So I don't think it mattered too much. And even if it was brought up, how else are you going to learn how to write?

I know some of my classmates didn't appreciate taking beginner/intermediate/advanced Chinese with a class half full of ABC and CBC students though.. but there's not much you can do about your race. Hope this helps remove some of your worries.

 

[Catalystik]

Hi, I was thinking of taking Chinese, but I'm Chinese. I actually want to learn the language and I can already speak it due to my descent, but I'm completely illiterate. The other problem is that the course is huge in terms of credits. Would this make me look like a grade grubber?

How is this different from Americans taking English classes? Of course it's fine to take it.

You've already won the hardest part of the battle since you know the intonations. I took Chinese in college and became semi-literate (probably on the level of a seven-year-old), but never gained fluency.

 

[At0mic]

How would this make you look like a "grade grubber?" Seems like your reasons for taking it are sound, and it's not like language courses are a pushover. I have some Chinese friends who are taking it for similar reasons.

 

[chronicidal]

Well, in high school, all the ABCs and CBCs took the Chinese SAT subject test, bringing the median to like a 790.

 

[balambfishie]

No, I think that's a perfectly acceptable reason to take it. I know a couple of people doing the same thing and I'm actually taking Viet for the same reason. 😀

 

[nikesandmeds]

I was thinking about this situation also. I am hispanic, I know how to speak spanish, but I wasn't sure if I should take it to brush up on my writing and reading. I don't want future adcoms to think I took the easy way out by taking a language I already know or I dont want them to think he is hispanic and didn't even know his own language. But maybe i'll just take it anyways. It's either take the class or rosetta stone.

 

[anegron519]

.

 

[JasonicBoom]

Wow you are totally me from a year ago. I am in my senior year and I am taking Mandarin 101, I'm taking it pass/fail and I'm Chinese. I can speak it, like you, but I was completely illiterate, I went in not knowing how to write my own name for example. Me being in 100 level Mandarin has never come up in an interview and I don't think me taking it affected my application at all, buuuuuut......don't do it, Chinese is so hard, oh. my. god. I am actually only on SDN right now because I am procrastinating from learning the pages and pages of chinese characters I'm assigned, it's literally like learning incomprehensible symbols. There's nothing phonetic about it and I'm losing my mind (if you couldn't already tell). How did 1.5 billion people or whatever learn this language? HOW? I can't believe it. Okay, going back to my vocab charts. I need to pass so I can matriculate next year omgomg. Mandarin 101 is going to ruin my entire medical career ahhhhhhhh!!!! #exams #hotmess

 

[deleted261193]

no... i did it

 

[kpcrew]

it's only annoying when someone with complete mastery takes it for the easy a

 

[LizzyM]

Hi, I was thinking of taking Chinese, but I'm Chinese. I actually want to learn the language and I can already speak it due to my descent, but I'm completely illiterate. The other problem is that the course is huge in terms of credits. Would this make me look like a grade grubber?

If you are sure you can get an A, then it looks like you took it for an easy A. If you do poorly, the fact that it is huge in terms of credits is going to hurt your gpa all the more.

Why do you feel the need to be literate in Chinese. Do you see yourself working among non-English speaking Chinese? Do you want to read Chinese as a hobby? Not saying that there has to be a reason for every course but as a useful language for American physicians, I'd put Chinese very low on the list.

 

[Sephiroth]

If you are sure you can get an A, then it looks like you took it for an easy A. If you do poorly, the fact that it is huge in terms of credits is going to hurt your gpa all the more.

Why do you feel the need to be literate in Chinese. Do you see yourself working among non-English speaking Chinese? Do you want to read Chinese as a hobby? Not saying that there has to be a reason for every course but as a useful language for American physicians, I'd put Chinese very low on the list.

Even for one looking to do a lot of research? Because there are a lot of Chinese immigrants populating US research labs, and not all of them are perfectly fluent in English. For that reason I'd suspect that knowing Chinese might make research collaboration easier.

 

[LizzyM]

Even for one looking to do a lot of research? Because there are a lot of Chinese immigrants populating US research labs, and not all of them are perfectly fluent in English. For that reason I'd suspect that knowing Chinese might make research collaboration easier.

I work with many Chinese immigrants in a basic science department. Many of them don't speak English well (heavy accents) but all are literate in English and can write in English. I could see no reason for someone who did not learn Chinese as a first languate to attempt to acquire it in college in order to communicate with immigrants in the research community.

 

[capn jazz]

Do you want to improve your Chinese?
Take the course.

Do you not want to improve your Chinese?
Don't take it.

I speak Japanese and that's about as useful as speaking Esperanto in medicine but that's not why I studied it. 😛

 

[Centridot]

Wow you are totally me from a year ago. I am in my senior year and I am taking Mandarin 101, I'm taking it pass/fail and I'm Chinese. I can speak it, like you, but I was completely illiterate, I went in not knowing how to write my own name for example. Me being in 100 level Mandarin has never come up in an interview and I don't think me taking it affected my application at all, buuuuuut......don't do it, Chinese is so hard, oh. my. god. I am actually only on SDN right now because I am procrastinating from learning the pages and pages of chinese characters I'm assigned, it's literally like learning incomprehensible symbols. There's nothing phonetic about it and I'm losing my mind (if you couldn't already tell). How did 1.5 billion people or whatever learn this language? HOW? I can't believe it. Okay, going back to my vocab charts. I need to pass so I can matriculate next year omgomg. Mandarin 101 is going to ruin my entire medical career ahhhhhhhh!!!! #exams #hotmess

My parents tried to make me learn it back in the day thats exactly how I felt, kinda regret not learning it now though....

If you are sure you can get an A, then it looks like you took it for an easy A. If you do poorly, the fact that it is huge in terms of credits is going to hurt your gpa all the more.

Why do you feel the need to be literate in Chinese. Do you see yourself working among non-English speaking Chinese? Do you want to read Chinese as a hobby? Not saying that there has to be a reason for every course but as a useful language for American physicians, I'd put Chinese very low on the list.

It bugs me to know half of a language so I guess it would be a hobby/personal reason. It just seems like a shame to lose a language I was born with.


Thanks for all the replies! If I do end up taking it, I'll probably continue it for the rest of college. But I do feel bad for taking the class if it is curved. I bet a large portion of the grade will come from the conversational side which would put me at a huge advantage and I guess this is where my issue with the grade grubbing comes into play as well.

 

[Etiquette]

Wow you are totally me from a year ago. I am in my senior year and I am taking Mandarin 101, I'm taking it pass/fail and I'm Chinese. I can speak it, like you, but I was completely illiterate, I went in not knowing how to write my own name for example. Me being in 100 level Mandarin has never come up in an interview and I don't think me taking it affected my application at all, buuuuuut......don't do it, Chinese is so hard, oh. my. god. I am actually only on SDN right now because I am procrastinating from learning the pages and pages of chinese characters I'm assigned, it's literally like learning incomprehensible symbols. There's nothing phonetic about it and I'm losing my mind (if you couldn't already tell). How did 1.5 billion people or whatever learn this language? HOW? I can't believe it. Okay, going back to my vocab charts. I need to pass so I can matriculate next year omgomg. Mandarin 101 is going to ruin my entire medical career ahhhhhhhh!!!! #exams #hotmess

This is how I kind of feel, even if I am in high school. When I took my first Chinese class during freshman year, I couldn't even write my own name in Chinese, let alone speak another dialect (mandarin, not Cantonese). But after about two years, I can now understand about 75% of a conversation and read/write about 2,000 characters. I even considered minoring in Chinese, but I'm afraid that the class would take up too much time and might sabotage my college GPA.

What are your thoughts? Is it worth it? Are classes usually filled with people already fluent students taking the course as a GPA booster (this seems to be the case at my high school)?

 

[Catalystik]

It bugs me to know half of a language so I guess it would be a hobby/personal reason. It just seems like a shame to lose a language I was born with.

It could also be looked on as mastering an art form.

Do you know any medical Chinese terms or could you pick them up from your parents? Our experience with the local native Chinese-speaking population is that they are semi-fluent in English, but rarely can communicate medical issues without a cumbersome translating device or slow-to-come-by translator. Depending on the location where you'd want to get a job some day, fluency in medical Chinese could be a selling point on your resume. Literacy: not so much, as (oddly) lab reports carried over from China that I see contain both Chinese and English.

 

[Centridot]

It could also be looked on as mastering an art form.

Do you know any medical Chinese terms or could you pick them up from your parents? Our experience with the local native Chinese-speaking population is that they are semi-fluent in English, but rarely can communicate medical issues without a cumbersome translating device or slow-to-come-by translator. Depending on the location where you'd want to get a job some day, fluency in medical Chinese could be a selling point on your resume. Literacy: not so much, as (oddly) lab reports carried over from China that I see contain both Chinese and English.

Unfortunately, I don't know any medical Chinese terms and I'm not home often enough to pick up some terms from my parents.

 

[JasonicBoom]

This is how I kind of feel, even if I am in high school. When I took my first Chinese class during freshman year, I couldn't even write my own name in Chinese, let alone speak another dialect (mandarin, not Cantonese). But after about two years, I can now understand about 75% of a conversation and read/write about 2,000 characters. I even considered minoring in Chinese, but I'm afraid that the class would take up too much time and might sabotage my college GPA.

What are your thoughts? Is it worth it? Are classes usually filled with people already fluent students taking the course as a GPA booster (this seems to be the case at my high school)?

So I am taking this course pass/fail so as long as I get over 60% I get the credit and my GPA won't be affected regardless of my mark in the course (even if it's a failing grade, but I do need the get the credit to graduate). The course I'm taking is for heritage students, which means it's for Chinese students who sucks at Chinese but parents speak it at home, so we move a faster than the course for true beginners because we learn more vocab and spend less time talking about things like what people's intentions are if they use a particular expression for example. Anyway, there are definitely some kids in the class that are stronger than others but generally, it is not full of fluent students taking the course as a GPA boost. That being said, the course average is actually going to be quite low and I'm thankful I'm taking it pass/fail. From my experience and from talking to my friend who is minoring in East Asian Studies and is in upper level Mandarin (she is a non-heritage student btw), you need to put in an hour or two every single day to do well in the courses, at my school at least. This would definitely not have been possible for me with all my other commitments...thankfully, I only need to get a 60. Let's all pray that I can pull a 60...

 

[JasonicBoom]

Unfortunately, I don't know any medical Chinese terms and I'm not home often enough to pick up some terms from my parents.

When I volunteered in a major hospital Toronto (large Chinese community), I was often an on-call Mandarin translator during my shifts and I didn't really know any medical terms in Chinese before hand. Just sit down with Google Translate for a few hours and go through all the medical terms you know and memorize them and you should be fine in the hospital. Some of the other guys said this app was really useful: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/medicine-life-sciences-dictionary/id344419533?mt=8, but you have to be literate to be able to use it, which I was not.

 

[MDforMee]

Just do it. Learn Chinese.