<p>SO, I'm thinking about taking Chinese to fulfill my modern language requirement at elliot. I'm not a native speaker (I'm a big-time cracker). </p>
<p>Is the program difficult for non-natives? Would it be impossible for me to earn an 'A' in the class (even with a TON of work)? </p>
<p>Thanks in advance :-)</p>
<p>the first class is not difficult; i think everyone had a B+ or A- in the class. the second one is hard as s**t; i worked my ass off and still had a B. </p>
<p>gw does not practice grade inflation at all in most departments (unlike many other colleges), so it can be hard to get straight As... but generally if you work hard and attend class, it shouldn't be too difficult to get A minuses / B pluses.</p>
<p>thanks for the input! have you enjoyed learning the language though?</p>
<p>oh, definitely. i wasn't happy about the grade, but i loved the class.</p>
<p>What about Arabic im of north indian dissent so I sort of look arab :P but im interested in pursuing a career in the intelligence sector focusing on middle-eastern studies, do you know anyone taking any mid-east languages. Thanks a ton :) what about indic languages.. (hindi etc)</p>
<p>Hey - just out of curiosity, what departments do practice grade inflation?</p>
<p>My friends are in Chinese now and put A LOT of time into studying. I guess it depends on who your professor is and how demanding they are.</p>
<p>Don't really know which departments practice grade inflation. I'm not really aware of it, but that may be just me.</p>
<p>arabic is a lot harder, from what i heard. i've only taken chinese and spanish. my friends taking arabic and hindi had to study all the time just for b's and such. </p>
<p>as for easy (not necessarily grade-inflating; the students could just all find the classes easy or something) departments -- i think they're the same at most schools. don't want to offend anyone, but it's very, very hard to fail multiple choice psychology tests as long as you go to class (exception: cognitive psychology was kinda hard) ... i'm a psych minor. the professors are amazing and knowledgeable; the classes are fun. they help my gpa. take professor vajda's class if you can -- i nearly changed my major to psych after her class; she is THE best/funniest/most wonderful professor!</p>
<p>Anyone have any knowledge about basic italian? I've always wanted to take it, but I know it won't be that helpful for my interests...</p>
<p>Also, I need some guidance here... I was thinking about taking General Psych at a CC this summer, but since they are the kind of class an A is def. attainable in, should I wait and take it at GW so it counts in my GPA?</p>
<p>no idea about italian. actually, intro to psych at gw isn't that easy for some reason... it's weird cuz i had a B+ in the intro class but then i had straight As (not A minuses) in all my other psych classes after that one!</p>
<p>hmm... good to know. Entirely off topic, but do you know anyone who has taken SMPA 50? Is it a big class, hard, anything?</p>
<p>thanks for all of the info, serendipity! how large are the chinese/language classes generally?</p>
<p>no problem! the classes were medium-ish... we had 20-25 students (i think) during the first week but some of them dropped out after a couple of weeks. the language classes are extremely popular at gw, but it shouldn't be a problem getting into them. if the classes are filled online, just go anyway and after someone drops out the teacher will most likely sign you in. at least, that has always worked for me -- i've never been turned away from a class at gw (even one that is supposedly closed)!</p>