<p>I've been officially admitted into the class of 2015 and planning on taking mandarin Chinese(possible minor). I'm looking for some insight on the Chinese program at UCLA.
1) how are the teachers and classes?
2) how many years to get a minor?
3) what do you think of the program as a whole?</p>
<p>Thank you! :)</p>
<p>I was only in Mandarin for a short while, but the teachers and classes were all pretty good for me. Big lectures, but pretty small and friendly discussions. </p>
<p>Assuming you take classes during regular school quarters, the minor will take you a minimum of two years.</p>
<p>I’m a fan of UCLA’s East Asia department, but I do think that like all other language departments, they should push study abroad more. Without time abroad, the language skills never really gel in my opinion.</p>
<p>More info: [UCLA</a> General Catalog 2010-2011](<a href=“http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/catalog/catalog10-11-118.htm#50638856_pgfId-1001453]UCLA”>http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/catalog/catalog10-11-118.htm#50638856_pgfId-1001453)</p>
<p>2yrs doesn’t sound bad at all.
Are classes every day and how do college language classes compare to high school?
Do you have a group that you practice speaking with or is it speaking to the teacher and answering questions only?</p>
<p>GuiGui,</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, classes are 5 days a week, with 2 sessions in lecture with the professor, and 3 sessions with a TA. </p>
<p>Lots of speaking practice with the TA.</p>
<p>I have chinese right now and you practice a lot with your friends and with the TA/professor. The classes for me right now are four days a week mon-thur and there’s a lot of little homework, but if u work like 20 min a day, you’ll for sure pass as long as you’re willing to do the work. For a minor, it gets harder every quarter.</p>
<p>I too was thinking about getting a minor in Chinese, but taking science as a major take priority first so i can just tell that minoring in chinese would be a tad difficult, but totally doable if you are definitely up for it. Due to budget cuts, there is only one TA and the professor teaches all the other discussion sections and it’s small groups for discussion sections so everyone has a chance to speak up.</p>
<p>There are two different types of Chinese classes. There are Chinese 1 and Chinese 1A. The regular without the “A” is for like non-native speakers. However, if you’re like me and know how to speak chinese fluently, you should go into Chinese “A’s” and the professor just speaks in Chinese all the time, but she’ll like reword things in different ways so you can try to a concept/word before she says it in english. My professor really helped me in learning Chinese words and to really read and write in chinese. That was my biggest concern.</p>
<p>Yeah, my main concern was whether i would be able to handle the combination because I am in a chemistry major which I assuming will require several math and physics classes as well. </p>
<p>I’m not a native speaker; I actually speak cantonese and but I do understand a little mandarin from watching movies so i think I’ll go with Chinese 1 then. </p>
<p>THANK YOU!!!</p>
<p>No problem. Im actually from HK and I speak a little canto too! but my family’s taiwanese, so I grew up from 11-18 in America learning mandarin, so it gave me a heads up. </p>
<p>You can either take the placement test for foreign languages, i believe during orientation or during the fall quarter, and see where you should be placed. However if you were like me, a somewhat native speaker, i didnt take the placement test and i put myself in the native speaker’s class to get A’s for all three quarters, so far so good lol.</p>
<p>Btw, as a heads up, Chemistry majors have a harder chem than Life Science (Biology) majors. So if you might want to really reconsider if you want to do chem or life science. Once you start with a series, like the 20 or 14 series, I hear it’s hard to switch around. I wish you good luck and if ya got any questions feel free to ask me anytime thru my aim at noxfinitie. :)</p>
<p>Is the chem program really that hard?
Is it something about the professors or workload or is it just really competitive?
I plan on a career in pharmacy or hospital lab work.
I’m not the best at chem but i generally have a harder time with all the memorization in life sciences. </p>
<p>I was somewhere around 25% in my AP chem class and got a 4 on the AP test. </p>
<p>Should i be worried?</p>
<p>well in ucla, most of the professor’s dont’ teach well, it’s mostly the TA’s that teach or the tutors that you go to or the amount of time/effort you actually put into your homework/studying.</p>
<p>i planned on premed and pharm and hospital lab work too, but there are people out there that are like a gagillion times more competitive and it’s ridiculous. I decided to go to business school to become a health care administrator. </p>
<p>Chemistry classes is mostly about memorization and application mathematically. Some may argue about this and that’s fine, but this is my personal opinion. LS, for me, is more like memorize and regurgitate, a lot easier for me hahaha. </p>
<p>I do know that there are people who barely pass with a 3 and are still taking either the 14 or 20 series but it’s a matter of how hard you’ll be willing to work. Being smart isn’t everything. as a basis of comparison…I took AP Chem and got a 5… and SATII 690??? and I took Chem 14A and B both A’s already and im currently in C, but the 14 series is for life science, it’s easier than the engineering for sure. but if you’re smart, u’ll do fine in the engineering series (20)</p>
<p>Worst comes to worse, you’ll get an okay GPA and switch to a north campus major if you are actually halfway decent in writing and analysis, then u’re set for life. You’ll soon come to realize that majors don’t matter. Im majoring in physiological sciences and im going to become a businessman…Im doing phy sci for love, not for work.</p>
<p>Noxfinitie,</p>
<p>If you think people at UCLA are competitive, you should see what actual med students are like. </p>
<p>Also, actual people in the business world.</p>
<p>LOL I know, med students are crazy competitive.</p>
<p>I feel like in the business world would be less stressful in comparison to med school/being a doctor. It’s just a personal opinion.</p>
<p>Noxfinitie,</p>
<p>That’s probably true, though I have friends in the private sector who work miserable hours and have miserable colleagues.</p>
<p>Sigh, i guess it’s just pros and cons for any field you go into, right?</p>