<p>Hi all, I'm wondering whether anyone can offer a few insights into the Mandarin program at Pomona for a student who is completely new to the language? (DS is Class of 2016 and quite interested in Mandarin.) I know many colleges have VERY accelerated language studies that require several hours of work per day to keep up, and often other students have already studied the language for several years, even in the introductory classes. Can anyone share their experiences with us? Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>My brother has taken several Mandarin classes and is intending a minor in Chinese (his major being mathematical economics), and he started without any prior experience in the language. He has said that the courses are some of his hardest but are also very rewarding.</p>
<p>Mandarin (without any prior experience) is probably one of the most difficult languages to learn, so as long as you expect to work hard you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>Thanks, zrath! Any idea how many hours he puts into this each day? I’m assuming there are language labs, etc?</p>
<p>My ballpark guess would be around 2 hours. I don’t know about any language labs, though.</p>
<p>However there is always the Oldenborg Hall dining/living facilities where students are required to speak the particular language they’re studying, so it’s a good immersion environment (and where the Borg of Star Trek come from…“we will assimilate you”).</p>
<p>Thanks for the educated guesstimate!</p>
<p>Yes, the “Borg” seems to be everyone’s destination for sophomore year. :)</p>