<p>I'm a second semester freshmen coming into Cornell with 43 transfer/AP credits. I met with my adviser today and she told me that I had filled all the humanities requirements for my major. She also told me that it's best for someone in my position to take between 12 and 15 credits this semester, which seems like so little...</p>
<p>Point is, I REALLY want to take Mandarin 102 (I forget the silly 4-digit code that Cornell gives it. In any case, 2nd semester Mandarin...). I took intro Mandarin at my first institution, but since it was only 4 credits (as opposed to the 6 CREDIT language courses here) and not really at Cornell's level (I guess), I'm afraid that not only will Mandarin take up a HUGE part of my schedule, but I will be somewhat unprepared for it. I've been studying Mandarin over break, but I'm just not sure whether I'll make the cut if I do decide to take it this semester. </p>
<p>Every faculty member I've talked to so far about this says that languages at Cornell are really intense and difficult. I'm always up for a challenge, but what do you guys think? If I take Mandarin, I will literally only be able to take like 2-3 more classes, and Mandarin isn't even required for my major anymore because I've FILLED all my humanities. But I LOVE Mandarin and it'll be really depressing not taking it this semester. Besides, the rest of my courses are reallyyy dry so far, and I think I'll need something (if not Mandarin) to fill the void of Stats, Econ, and bleh. Help me!!</p>
<p>I took CHIN 1101 this past semester and am enrolled in 1102 for the spring.</p>
<p>The class is certainly challenging, but it’s also a lot of fun. There are a couple of lectures every week (2 in the spring, 3 in the fall) where Prof. Divo will go over grammar, culture, etc. in English. It can be a tad boring, but she randomly calls students to answer questions/do translations so you need to be alert. You’ll also have a section class every day with about 10-12 students and a TA, which is strictly speaking/listening practice - no English allowed. In the fall there were usually dialogues or presentations we had to memorize, and then the TA would go from there with visual aides. </p>
<p>It might sound a little daunting (it did to me at first), but it’s honestly a really great class. The material is often humorous (one presentation was about a fat guy who lost weight doing tai chi), and it’s a lot of fun when you’ve made friends with your fellow section students. The TAs and Prof. Divo hold helpful office hours and truly want you to succeed, so there’s a great faculty support system as well. </p>
<p>For me, the most difficult part was memorizing characters and pinyin tones, but that depends on your own work ethic. Last semester we learned 20 characters/week (two character sheets) and had a quiz every friday (which actually really helped on exams, because we didn’t have to rush to learn all of them at once). There’s also voice recording homework and worksheets over the weekend, so it’s a pretty substantial load. But you seem to really love the language, so it shouldn’t be too big of a deal.</p>
<p>Let me know if you have any other questions about the class!</p>
<p>i think mandarin meets everyday, which is why it’s a 6 credit course. it’s pretty tough, but the language itself is pretty tough for anyone who’s learning it at this age. why not try sitting in on a couple of classes first and see what/how hard the workload is - that is what add/drop is for anyway.</p>
<p>Sorry for going on a tangent, but for language placements, can you get the credits without taking subsequent course? Like if you’re supposed to be placed in the 200 level course, can you get the 3 credits without placing in the 200 level course?</p>
<p>I think so. I think the only way you can forfeit those credits is by retaking the course you’ve placed out of (ie. getting credit for an AP exam but taking the intro course anyway), but somebody correct me if I’m wrong.</p>
<p>Like if you’re supposed to be placed in the 200 level course, can you get the 3 credits without placing in the 200 level course? </p>
<p>you can place out of taking a language if that’s what you’re asking - and you can get credit for placing out of that language if you have APs. but if the case is something like… you need to take language classes up to the 3rd level of difficulty for your college’s requirement, and the CASE exam lets you go straight to the 3rd level, then you don’t get credits for the first two classes - but you don’t need to take them and after you take your 3rd level language class, you’re done with the requirement.</p>
<p>Just to clarify, if my college requires a 200 level course, and I take the CASE (let’s just say for Chinese) and it says I could place out of both 100 and 200 level courses and go straight to 300. So do I have to take the 300 in order to get the credits for 100 and 200, or can I get the credits for 100 and 200 without taking 300?</p>