<p>I intend to double major, and a potential second major for me is Chinese. I am ethnically Chinese but grew up learning the Cantonese dialect. My spoken Mandarin is poor, and written Chinese is also poor. I intend to take the Heritage Chinese sequences. Should I do some self-study and preparation out of textbooks beforehand? I am a HS junior, so I still have some time left. (I want to get at least a 3.8 in these classes. According to RateMyProfessors.com, the professor for the 1st Year Heritage sequence is excellent, but a bit tough. Therefore I am slightly concerned about my ability to do well in the sequence without some preparation beforehand, especially considering that I will be taking the Honors Chemistry sequence my freshman year as well, which I have heard is difficult.)</p>
<p>Brushing up on Mandarin is never a bad idea. A friend of mine took heritage (grew up learning minimal Mandarin… some phrases like ‘你好吗’ and ‘我要一个 ___’). Since I was thinking about the heritage sequence as well, he told me a bit about it. How well you do really depends on how fast you can pick up on it.</p>
<p>Some people pick up on the language very quickly (it is heritage sequence after all, and you can supposedly practice at home/skype/call parents). However that’s not the only way to practice orally. Since there are TONS of international students, it’s pretty easy to find someone to practice Mandarin with, especially if you branch out to Chinese Student Association, Taiwanese Student Association. To practice listening to the language, you can always watch movies or dramas! :)</p>
<p>So my conclusion for you is to yes, practice/learn basics while you still can as a high school student. When you talk to the advisor about placing into heritage sequence, don’t act completely fluent… they’ll place you in a higher level class and you will probably struggle with that on top of Honors Chem.</p>
<p>Thanks! I actually live at home and will continue to do so during college (I’m in Bellevue, really close to UW) so I can just talk to my parents, who are fluent in Mandarin.</p>
<p>I need to speak with an advisor? How exactly am I supposed to get the add code for the class? According to [Chinese</a> - Asian Languages & Literature at the University of Washington](<a href=“http://depts.washington.edu/asianll/chinese/]Chinese”>Chinese | Asian Languages & Literature | University of Washington) I’ll need to take an online questionaire… could you explain a bit more, please?</p>
<p>Oh perfect! I’m actually a commuter as well (from near Bellevue) and although I’ll take non-Heritage Chinese, I’ll probably talk to my parents at home ;D</p>
<p>During freshman orientation, you can talk to an advisor to ‘place’ you in a class. That’s what my friend did this year - he signed up for his math and english class, then made an appointment with an asian language advisor to get an add code. For upperclassmen, I guess the questionnaire is all you need… Perhaps closer to the end of your senior year, after you’ve enrolled as a student at UW, you should email an advisor about this in case the process change. That way, you’ll have the most up to date information since you’ve still got some time.</p>