I. Chinese Class Reflection
Your experience learning Chinese at Logan? Do you think you are learning enough? Is it useful? Why?
My experience was decent. I'd say I learned enough because at the end, I could introduce myself in Chinese and discuss topics such as family and food. Along with that, I could read and write. The things I learned will probably be useful in the future because my family and I occasionally visit China. One memorable moment was when Du Laoshi played Wowkie Zhang's most infamous song. All in all, the class was good.
What parts do you think are the easiest to learn?
Overall, learning Chinese didn't feel too difficult because I had actually attended a Chinese afterschool for a few years, but I never paid attention or did the work. Thus, I had some experience learning Chinese prior to this year, but I only knew basic things. For me, memorizing the Chinese characters is the most difficult part because I tend to just do the Hanzi worksheets and forget about them afterwards. The easiest homework was making the Vocab Lists because all I had do was copy and paste. The most difficult homework assignments were the projects because they were time consuming and I was prone to procrastinating on them. In my opinion, the food lesson was the most interesting because food is good. I usually reviewed for the exams by skimming over my Hanzi worksheets last minute.
If you were to give some advice to your classmates, what would you tell them?
Write the Hanzi words more than 10x because that will help them stick. You can also watch Chinese dramas with subtitles on, so you can listen to the language more. If you can, you should practice speaking Chinese with people around you.
If you were to give the teacher some advice, what would you tell the teacher?
I think Du Laoshi is doing a good job. I appreciate that she gave us a 5 minute break in each 80 minute class as she is the only teacher I had this year that did that. However, I noticed that we often run out of class time in the middle of an activity, so maybe she could manage the time spent in class a bit better.
Will you continue to study Chinese after you graduate? Why or why not?
Maybe, it really depends on how accessible it is for me to continue. I hope that I can continue studying Chinese because it would be nice to be fluent in another language.
My experience was decent. I'd say I learned enough because at the end, I could introduce myself in Chinese and discuss topics such as family and food. Along with that, I could read and write. The things I learned will probably be useful in the future because my family and I occasionally visit China. One memorable moment was when Du Laoshi played Wowkie Zhang's most infamous song. All in all, the class was good.
What parts do you think are the easiest to learn?
Overall, learning Chinese didn't feel too difficult because I had actually attended a Chinese afterschool for a few years, but I never paid attention or did the work. Thus, I had some experience learning Chinese prior to this year, but I only knew basic things. For me, memorizing the Chinese characters is the most difficult part because I tend to just do the Hanzi worksheets and forget about them afterwards. The easiest homework was making the Vocab Lists because all I had do was copy and paste. The most difficult homework assignments were the projects because they were time consuming and I was prone to procrastinating on them. In my opinion, the food lesson was the most interesting because food is good. I usually reviewed for the exams by skimming over my Hanzi worksheets last minute.
If you were to give some advice to your classmates, what would you tell them?
Write the Hanzi words more than 10x because that will help them stick. You can also watch Chinese dramas with subtitles on, so you can listen to the language more. If you can, you should practice speaking Chinese with people around you.
If you were to give the teacher some advice, what would you tell the teacher?
I think Du Laoshi is doing a good job. I appreciate that she gave us a 5 minute break in each 80 minute class as she is the only teacher I had this year that did that. However, I noticed that we often run out of class time in the middle of an activity, so maybe she could manage the time spent in class a bit better.
Will you continue to study Chinese after you graduate? Why or why not?
Maybe, it really depends on how accessible it is for me to continue. I hope that I can continue studying Chinese because it would be nice to be fluent in another language.
II. High School Reflection
Talk about your high school life.
My first year in high school life has been completely virtual and pretty uneventful. I remember being so tired that I would sleep during lunch and ignore my alarms, ending up sleeping through my next class. Band is also memorable because the assignments stressed me out. As for what was interesting or uninteresting, It was harder to pay attention in some classes than others. For instance, my mind would often drift elsewhere in math class. However, Chinese class was one of the more engaging classes.
What do you think of yourself? How have you changed? Do you like these changes?
I'm okay I guess. I don't know if I've changed that much. I think I became a social recluse in quarantine; this is obviously not something I like. But I also think I've been more productive in comparison to the beginning of the year by not procrastinating so much. For example, I've been practicing my instrument on a daily basis, as compared to earlier in the year, when I practiced only a few days a week. My sleep schedule is still messed up, but I at least don't sleep during lunch or miss my classes now. I'm glad I could make these changes.
Are you involved in any clubs, school activities, or sports teams? Is there a harvest? What kind of harvest? Would you advise your classmate to participate in any of these? Why or why not?
I'm in band and so far it's been okay. I think the fun parts of band have been inhibited by the virtual aspect, as I remember enjoying it more in real life. If you like making music and can play an instrument, then you might like it. Although it's stressful with all the assignments, it's fulfilling when you get things done. From what I've seen, the community is also very supportive.
If you could change anything about yourself from the past year of high school, what would you change? Why?
I would want to be more confident because it would improve my mental health and make my life easier in many other aspects. If I had more confidence, I would step out of the comfort zone more often and feel better inclined to taking opportunities.
My first year in high school life has been completely virtual and pretty uneventful. I remember being so tired that I would sleep during lunch and ignore my alarms, ending up sleeping through my next class. Band is also memorable because the assignments stressed me out. As for what was interesting or uninteresting, It was harder to pay attention in some classes than others. For instance, my mind would often drift elsewhere in math class. However, Chinese class was one of the more engaging classes.
What do you think of yourself? How have you changed? Do you like these changes?
I'm okay I guess. I don't know if I've changed that much. I think I became a social recluse in quarantine; this is obviously not something I like. But I also think I've been more productive in comparison to the beginning of the year by not procrastinating so much. For example, I've been practicing my instrument on a daily basis, as compared to earlier in the year, when I practiced only a few days a week. My sleep schedule is still messed up, but I at least don't sleep during lunch or miss my classes now. I'm glad I could make these changes.
Are you involved in any clubs, school activities, or sports teams? Is there a harvest? What kind of harvest? Would you advise your classmate to participate in any of these? Why or why not?
I'm in band and so far it's been okay. I think the fun parts of band have been inhibited by the virtual aspect, as I remember enjoying it more in real life. If you like making music and can play an instrument, then you might like it. Although it's stressful with all the assignments, it's fulfilling when you get things done. From what I've seen, the community is also very supportive.
If you could change anything about yourself from the past year of high school, what would you change? Why?
I would want to be more confident because it would improve my mental health and make my life easier in many other aspects. If I had more confidence, I would step out of the comfort zone more often and feel better inclined to taking opportunities.