A/N: Think about it as my church T3T btw the above says "thank you!! :D"
~<3~
Chinese class sucks. I should know. I have to go to Chinese class every. Single. SUNDAY.
You wouldn't know unless you had to suffer through the same thing, like my friend Cathy and I.
I have plenty of friends in Chinese class, but then COVID came (f u COVID :P), so now I don't remember anyone's name in English except for Cathy's name.
To be fair I don't remember what her Chinese name is...
So now I have to suffer through Chinese class ALONE. Like, no friends or anything, and Cathy and I don't get to run out of the classroom and spend the rest of the day together, just chilling.
Those days were better.
But now we have ONLINE classes, so the only thing we get to experience is the worst part, which is the class itself.
Before I dive into the class, let's talk about my history with Chinese class, which I promise is NOT boring like my mom is XD
Okay that was a good joke ok?
Before Chinese class, I barely knew how to speak a single sentence of Chinese. My parents said I actually started off speaking Chinese, but then after going to an English tutor for a while with a couple other Chinese American kids, I started speaking pretty dang fluent English.
American accented of course ;)
I was always a talkative kid, because BOY did I have a lot to say.
Like right now. I'm venting. With my fingers.
Then one day, my mom was like, "Okay, you're Chinese, you need to learn Chinese."
She had to find the best Chinese teacher she could, in terms of seriousness, not humor apparently.
On the first day of Chinese "school", I was stuck in the summer between first and second grade. I remember coming from summer camp, with a pencil case and a bunch of materials that we needed for class.
The homework packets are really thick ;-;
We arrived to the classroom, and it was really stuffy and hot inside. There was a fan, but the cool breeze was being taken by the kids in front of the classroom.
Speaking of the kids, there were a TON of kids in here. Almost 50 to be exact! I'm talkative around a small group of people, or just one person or in front of the mirror, but 50 people is a little much. So of course I was really shy.
A/N: I'm just a weird introvert ok?? It's like I'm a introvert/extrovert hybrid.
You can't really be bisexual for everything though...
AnYwAy
I knew enough Chinese to understand what the teacher was saying, because my mom speaks to me in Chinese most of the time. She encourages me to practice, which I guess is supposed to help, but I still sound like a toddler when speaking Chinese. It's a start though.
For context, if I wanted to say "I want to eat food" in Chinese, I'd say it exactly like that when I could've said, "Hey, I'm hungry. Do you have anything to eat?"
It's especially embarassing when I have to go to China with my parents to greet our relatives and I sound so babyish even when I'm past ten :/
Back to that first lesson. I was really nervous to finally be in an actual Chinese lesson, and I didn't understand how the class worked at all.
And the teacher. Let's call her Teacher, because we call her that in Chinese (lao shi).
The title means "wise/old teacher", which probably describes her best. In Chinese standards, she's really nice, funny, and fun to be around, when in reality, she's the complete OPPOSITE of that.
She's an amazing teacher, and I've learned so much from her, but mostly out of fear. All of us are respectfully terrified of her.
Late by five minutes? You get lectured. Chinese people's lectures REALLY sting ;-;
Forget one problem on your homework? Another lecture.
Fail the unit test after studying all night? She'll most likely ask you to leave, but I haven't failed a test yet, because I study while my mom grills me.
The test has a total point system of 120 points, and to fail you have to get lower than 100 points, which is sort of rare unless you're a terrible student, which I'm happy to say, I'm not :D
I'm not the best, but I'm pretty good. Mostly because I'm TERRIFIED in Chinese school and "real" school that my mom will be mad if I do bad. It's probably not really a good system to pressure your students to do good by fear and intimidation, but I'll take any good education I can. It could come in handy if I'm stuck in China someday.
So I appreciate what Chinese school has taught me, but I still feel stressed by what's required for the classes, homework, and most importantly the holy UNIT TESTS.
tHE ABSOLUTE FEAR and STRESS INDUCING factor in Chinese classes.
If you're reading this right now Teacher, then thanks for teaching me Chinese!
(quietly)I am terrified of that lady T3T
If I get a chance to quit Chinese, I just couldn't, because I don't want to think about what Teacher or my mom will say or think if I do. Like
"what if mom disowns me?"
"What if Teacher tells stories about the pathetic girl who quit her Chinese class because she peed herself whenever she had to turn in her homework (that's not true lol)?"
"what if"
"what if"
Of course these stress questions will not help, and I'm not sure what to make of Chinese in general. It usually helps to just do your homework, pay attention in class, and just survive the tests to keep going in Chinese class. You won't really get a seat of honor, but it's better than living with the guilt :-)
~<3~
You thought Spanish or French classes were bad huh? Well what about MANDARIN classes?!!
Learning any language is obviously hard, but seriously Chinese class is a weekly source of anxiety for me ;-;
I'm not really done with my homework speaking of which-
NOPE I'm doing this your you guys >:)
Do any of you have a class or teacher that makes you feel stressed or scared out of your mind? Let me know!
Thanks for reading, and VOTE OR I'LL STEAL YOUR KNEECAPS >:(
....Just kidding I'm too nice for that 😅
BUT I WILL steal your milk tea. With chewy-and-just-enough-hardness boba. Slightly warm. With ice. Extra sugar and milk. Black sugar flavor. Extra large. >:)
<3
