Chinese Program in Willamette University

Current Students

Besides intensive classroom learning activities, the students are also using their Chinese in various opportunities, such as, calligraphy workshops, field trips to Chinese garden, video-recording, and teaching children through the SEFL (Saturday Exploration on Foreign Languages Program).

Two aspects are particularly emphasized in this program: efficiency and pleasure. By efficiency, we mean that we want to be at the top level in term of proficiency in comparison with all the other programs; by pleasure, we mean that your learning experience will and should be pleasant (if not now, then afterwards.)

Here is a glimpse at who they are and what they say and do

in class...

 

Photographed by Frank Miller, 2003

 

 

and after class...

Who doesn't write? But, how well
can you write with a brush-pen that has many thousands of years of history?

 

A trip to the Suzhou style
Classic Chinese Garden in Portland.

 

 

Jacen, Jeff, and Nick teaching children
about Chinese language and culture
in the SEFL class.

Brian and Michelle reenacting a dialogue.

Studying Chinese has been a turbulent experience that has been overwhelming, intimidating, irritating, and even depressing at times, but I would not trade this experience and I am really happy that I did not decide to drop the class.

-- Brian L. Haley '05

 

 

 

 

When I hear my friends complain about their other language classes because they have hours and hours of mindless worksheets and lists of verb conjugations to memorize, I'm certainly glad I took Chinese.
...

Winnies is selling shoes to Jessica ...

Jacen recording ... Jessica and Lael.

...
Although it's a challenge because it's so different from English, the class style is focused on learning to use the language so we end up
being able to speak, write and read comparatively faster than other classes that emphasize memorization of sentence structures like they are some kind of mathematical formula. After only three months, our professor was able to conduct class entirely in Chinese!
Now six months have passed since we started and can converse in a variety of contexts and have the means of being able to express just about anything ... all in a first year class! This is what language learning should be and this is the only department where you'll experience it like this.
-- Jessica John '06

My plan is to minor in Chinese studies and create a career for myself in international criminal law.
--Anhtu Nguyen '05

 

 

 

Anhtu in a dialogue with Winnie.

Kevin working on a dialogue ....
                                                     and ... action!

If you are hesitating take Chinese... don't! It is a difficult language and requires a lot of work, but it is extremely rewarding and you will progress rapidly. Plus, there's over a billion other people who speak it, so it can't be that bad!

I am taking Chinese because I hope to do an exchange there (someday). Also, I took a class on East Asian history last year and we read a lot Chinese literature and I want to read it in its original language, plus I think the culture is fascinating. Finally, and most important, Chinese is fun to speak!

I've progressed way beyond where I'd ever thought I'd be. Not only that, but I regularly have conversations in Chinese outside of class with classmates because it is a lot of fun to practice. It's tough to tell you're learning a language, because you end up wanting to practice it.

Having eclared Chinese Studies Minor, I think that this will make me a distinct candidate for law schools, and if I go into international law, it will give me an edge in Asia.
-- Kevin Boots '05

I decided to take Chinese because of my long time interest in the culture. At some point I plan to live and work in China, after which, I hope to keep a network of people and friends I meet while there. Also, with the social and economic changes taking place in China, I see a need for more Chinese speakers in business and the sciences. If one wishes to do something challenging and thinks about it to long and to hard, they are likely to talk themselves out of ever starting.

I would like to further my education after Willamette to possibly become a translator. They are big dreams, but don't all great things start as dreams?
 ...

 

 

  Lael teaching ... (you cannot always be students!)

 

...
How can one truly know great joy with out also knowing great frustration? Learning Chinese has been one of the greatest challenges in my life. It has also been one of the most rewarding.
-- Lael Grant '06

Winnie working on a dialogue with Sam...
with fun,

 Challenge yourself! You would be surprised at what you can do. I saw some people struggle a lot at the beginning, but now they are plugging along just like the rest of the class. Anyone can do it, if they have the will and determination. It's worth it in the end. The hardest language to learn is English, so how hard could a little Chinese be?
 ...

 ...
I love it. It has been a rocky ride, but the teacher is so enthusiastic that it's hard to feel discouraged. The curriculum is designed to keep me so involved and use it (conferences, take-home quizzes, Chinese dinner table, etc.). I won't say it's easy, but it makes feel as if I've accomplished something when I've finished a lesson. The class period is full of laughter as we all stumble along and yet help each other and learn together. Zhang laoshi makes it so much fun.
-- Winnie Yong '06

 ... and taking order from our Wang Peng and Li You.  

    .

Jacen ... and finally got a self portrait.

 

Chinese is without a doubt the most difficult subject I have ever studied, but for that very reason I find it engaging and fascinating.

By learning Chinese I have opened up my perceptions and understanding of the world.

I plan to spend a year in China to enhance my speaking abilities, and eventually I may get a job with an international business or organization that deals with China.

I decided to study Chinese, though, because Chinese would make me stand out in the competitive realms of international business, politics or law.

-- Jacen Greene-Powell '05 (The first Chinese Studies Major in Willamette University)

 

Wo...
men...
dou...
shuo...
Zhong...
wen!

Jeff and Nick.

 

and during a field trip (Spring Festival 2003)...