im stressin

i hear this all the time..

dont be too overzealous.. you'll pay for it.

 

as a freshman drop the class. You are just starting out college, and you dont want to screw yourself over. Take it nice and easy, the time to stress will come later on, but dont start doing it your first semester. Good luck.

 

agree with all the previous posters, but you need to get used to not having a native english speaker for a TA. it sucks when you can't tell what your TA is saying, but it's pretty much the norm at a big university. but no need to worry about it this semester! you have lots of time-- enjoy yourself!!

 

its kind of rediculous how people immediately discount their non-native ta's etc... especially the chinese ta's that we often get - they are the cream of the crop, usually extremely knowledgeable, and are speaking a new language, and with that in mind, they are speaking quite well. it does take a little while to get used to, but people just stop trying and have found the perfect scapegoat for their own inadequacies.

i remember when i just starting ta'ing gen chem 2 years ago, a couple kids groaned when they saw me assuming that i would not be able to speak clearly, and stopped paying attention. they were surprised to hear me, with a small british clip to boot - but had i not sounded completely accent free, i'm quite sure they would have hardly made an effort - but its their learning/grades.

i'm not trying to sound too harsh, and sometimes it is quite hard to understand some ta's - but since this world does not = america, i would consider understanding others, especially those that have made such an effort to learn your language.

-jot

 

I agree with jot. It's not like if you quit now that the next time you take the class you are gauranteed a native English speaker. Many times at big Universities the majority of TAs could be someone who is trying to learn English, but has a complete understanding of the subject. Maybe you just need to spend a little more time on the material and with the TA.

I think the major issue here is how many hours do you really want to take. You don't want to burn out in your first semester. If you want to take 18 hours, but don't want the stress of all the sciences right off the bat then drop some science for some of your generals.

 

amen to that, jot.

 

hey jot-- i apologize if i came off as sounding like i was writing off non-native english speaking ta's. i wasn't trying to do that-- i just wanted to tell the op that he/she should get used to having ta's with a strong accent because it is very common at a large university and it just means that the student has to pay a little more attention. i completely agree with you-- having a ta with a strong accent does not justify getting bad grades. the student just needs to accept it, and move on. most of my ta's (american or otherwise) knew their stuff inside and out and were more than happy to help me, or to try and explain things a different way. some of my ta's were raging idiots, but that's a personal, not a cultural thing.

but once again, my apologies if i came off sounding like i was knocking non-native ta's.

 

I?m sorry, but I dislike having to deal with poor English speaking TA?s. At my university almost all the science TA?s are not native English speakers. I understand the reasons for this, and I don?t have a problem with it. However, Chemistry and Physics are difficult enough without having to deal with mispronunciations, ambiguous sounding words, incorrect inflections, and all around unintelligible speech. Some foreign TA?s are fine, and I have no problems with listening to them, but some are really bad. I have to pay a lot of money to go to school, and I expect to be taught by someone who speaks the same language in an intelligible way. If I can?t understand an instructor, it basically doubles my workload. Not only do I have to sit through their lecture, I have to go home and teach it to myself!

Interestingly enough, I had a Chinese Physics professor and although he had a thick accent, he was one of the best professors I had in college. I think it depends on whether or not they can pronounce the technical words correctly. He also used simple words to explain concepts, which eased the fact that he was not a native speaker.

 

this seems to be a very immature subject, some replies have been downright naive especially the person that started this thread.FIRST off, thats how the world is, since you are a freshman, GROW UP, this is college and you have to adjust. YOU will see later on that you are in college to learn and make your self a well-rounded peron. What would you do if you become a doctor and you had to communicate with your patient who is non-native English speaker? thats what you are there for so, FESS up and deal with it and find a way to communicate and get the best of your class. and by the way non native speakers tend to be THE Best TA's