中高級班(當代中文課程第3冊)—李昕橒老師、林天馨老師，每週一、二3/12-5/29 High –Intermediate (A Course in Contemporary Chinese book 3) Ms. Lee & Ms. Lin，Monday and Tuesday. Room 512.
On March 13, 2018, my study buddy wrote me that he was starting the free Mandarin class for immigrants that day. I hadn’t been sent the new schedule because I dropped out of the winter class. This class should be perfect for me; high intermediate and meeting on my free evenings, Monday and Tuesday, 6:30-9:00 pm. I started the next Monday and missed one class only.
I had not studied any Mandarin since we got back from visiting my daughters in Pittsburgh in February. I was just getting back into the habit of 90 minutes of study per day and was not looking forward to returning to the free Mandarin class other than for a place to review and bike riding exercise. If I didn't like the teachers, I was out of there.
Rachelle Lee was the teacher I met at the springtime Mandarin class. She said Ms. Lin taught on Tuesdays. Rachelle put her Facebook page on the board and created a group for the class to join. I felt very comfortable in the upper intermediate level class. I didn’t want any pressure from teachers or classmates; I could do an advanced level under the right conditions. In the new class were Sharif, from Egypt, and the Vietnamese and Filipino women I liked from the summer '17 class. I met a nice Thai guy and a middle-aged dude named Vito. We went over vocabulary and a dialog about Thailand, and then we were put into groups of six to write summaries. My group chose me to complete our summary, with suggestions from all, and then urged me to go solo up front to read it to the class. My Chinese character paragraph was handed in as our presentation for correction.
From my reclusive 5th floor balcony, I sat, had a yam for dinner, and cooled off after my twenty minute bike ride from Beitun. I was happy I decided to go to class. I liked how the new vocabulary Teacher Lee introduced and continuity of the same Unit 9 book 2 handout she distributed the week before. I like being able to understand 80% of what is written and 20% of words I don't remember so I could know them in context. This was week 3 but I missed the first two Tuesday classes I finally met Teacher Lin.
On April 1, my study buddy came over to dinner. I was surprised he had dropped his spring advanced class. At dinner he talked about
why he left; he had bad teachers.
He considered joining another class but the days weren't right. Before he left, he walked me through setting up Quizlet lists to study
and test myself in Mandarin.
At home, I moved the table in our tea room to the patio window to easily grab
Mandarin study material outside. I used the Quizlet list of 78 terms from Bk. 4
Unit 1 I entered after my buddy showed me how and spent my waiting time reviewing and testing myself. The springtime Mandarin teachers used Book 2
of National Taiwan Teachers College textbook series. I considered
buying it when I saw it in Caves but it seemed too easy for me; I will continue to
take the copies handed out. It's a good thing I did because later in the class, the teachers jumped to Unit 9 of Book 3!The class is okay for a place to go and practice but
is not a substitute for home study or a private tutor.
About that Mandarin class; Teacher Lee digressed form the textbook into idiomatic expressions that had little to do
with the lesson we were asked to review two weeks ago by Teacher Lee. Most of the
class had no idea what she was talking about; she spent a good half hour before realizing she'd better stick with the lesson. That being said, I
will possibly remember the idioms simply because they were so out of left
field. She even taught an idiom in Taiwanese. Most of the teachers in the free
Immigrant Mandarin classes are well-intentioned and Teachers Lin and Lee
don't have chips on their shoulders.
Meanwhile, at home I spent the daily ninety minutes I allot myself for Mandarin
reading "The Fox and the Lion" idiom parable from Chinese Moral
Tales. I enjoy reading that more than the mundane textbook topics of shopping
and holidays. I add the new vocabulary to Quizlet to study when I get the
chance. I have a few homework sheets from the springtime Mandarin
teachers that I do, too. That entails writing which is more daunting but good for me.
The teacher posted photos of me, Sharif, and Vito doing our
cell phone store dialogue. It was a good collaboration and fun to do. We were
the only group ready after a week notice;the Frenchman and the blond
dude tried, too. The French guy met me on the elevator going homer and remarked
that we had the same dialogue in a cell phone store. I would have been more
inventive but Vito and Sharif like cell phones and the sample dialogue was
about cell phone purchases. 
By the end of May, I had gained a lot. Ms. Lee, returned my homework papers corrected. The final presentation class was coming near. We practiced our show song.
One thing I didn't like was a guessing game; we each sat in the light of the projector showing the new vocabulary behind our backs and our classmates had to try to get us to say the words. It was long, awful, and stressful to piece together my classmates Mandarin explanation with vocabulary I hadn't fully memorized. While it may have been a true test of recognition, a one word synonym or antonym would have sufficed. Instead, we all struggled. At least I was one of the best giving clues to others, but I was helpless myself; I couldn’t even remember the first character of words I had been prompted to say when the second character was attacked.
The last part of
class was more to my liking; the teacher showed photos and a video demonstrating ten idiomatic expressions; she tried to explain their origins and what they meant. I wished we had studied the stories for the bulk
of class; I have four such books at home that I use for home study.
The free immigrant-geared classes are for survival
skills. Some of my classmates, such as the young Vietnamese woman I went down
the elevator with, needed Mandarin proficiency to stay in Taiwan and keep her job. I am there for my pleasure. I ride my bike there, sit on my ‘private’ fifth floor
balcony, eat my sweet potato and look at the Taichung skyline. For my graduation certificate, I copied down my ARC
card and passport number. I thank Teachers Lin and Lee for their dedication, the City of Taichung for providing these free classes, and my classmates for making it all enjoyable.
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