In Their Words

End of Project Go

In one more week, I will have completed this year's Project Go program. This time around I have definitely learned a lot more of Chinese relating to the business and formal side of things, which compliments what I learned last year very well. (Last year was more of daily life aspects such as foods and hobbies.) Being in this program for two years has helped me create a solid base in the language. As we wrap up the program, there are multiple tests we will have to take. First, we have a final which in a one-on-one conversation with our professor. Next we take an IRL test which is on a scale from 0-5 and is the test used by the military and government to test proficiency in a language. This test is all reading and listening. Lastly, we have the OPIC which I wrote about before - a listening... Read more →

Making a Bucket List

If you haven’t already, I highly recommend making a Bucket List. It can help motivate people to stay focused on what they want to achieve. Whether it’s long-term goals for the rest of your life or short-term goals like during college or over the Summer, I think it’s helpful even just going through the process of making them to figure out what you want. On my bucket list there is a large range of topics. For example, I wrote down the places I want to travel to and cars I might want to own (assuming I’d be rich enough to afford them). You can write down what you hope to achieve career wise, or what kind of family you want. I looked through many example lists online to come up with ideas for mine. Read more →

First Week of Project Go

My first week of Project Go was pretty chaotic. I knew that not going to Taiwan and having online classes would be different, but the program is a lot different than I thought it would be. I essentially have to be retaught Chinese because instead of learning the Traditional Taiwanese dialect we were taught last year in the program, we’re now being taught Simplified Beijing dialect. I was in one class, but then had to be switched into another class since I didn’t know the simplified way of doing things. There are seven other students in the class from different colleges and backgrounds in the language/\. The class is taught in only Chinese which sometimes is intimidating, but it focuses me to get more used to the language. Also, my weakness is definitely the listening portion of the language, so it’s good to force me into practicing more and becoming... Read more →