Milan A - Lesson notes - 中文：The Middle Language It was the summer that I entered into high-school. I

Milan A - Lesson notes

Lesson notes

Course

Chinese Philosophy (PHIL 434)

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Gonzaga University

Academic year: 2018/2019

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中文：The Middle Language It was the summer that I entered into high-school. I had just barely made it out of middle school, an honest living version of limbo, stress, and hormones personified. I was lounging around the house, probably doing nothing when my mother called me into her room. As a 14 year old I stomped up the stairs and went into her room assuming I had gotten into some type of trouble. But I was quite wrong. As I closed her door and waited to be reprimanded, she told me she had received an email from my high school, explaining that the “Regular” language classes were full to the brim. At that point I had been taking Spanish for about two years, but barely remembering any words or conjugations. She explained that Spanish and French were full to the brim and that I was required to take some type of foreign language course to graduate four years from that point. I thought to myself, “Isn’t Spanish and French all there was to offer in terms of foreign language in a high school setting?” I walked over to the computer and glanced at the email, reading its contents. Then a particular word popped right out at me grabbing and holding my attention. Chinese 1.

It’s hard to explain my thought process at that point. In my ignorance, I had signed up to take and participate in learning one of the world’s hardest languages. The average person does not know the difference by sound of the 5 main Asian languages; Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Indonesian. Because of my extensive study of Chinese, I now know the difference between all of these languages by reading comprehension and listening comprehension. At the time I chose Chinese though, I did not. I in my ignorance thought Chinese was Japanese, the language I actually desired to learn. At the time I was an avid reader of Japanese manga which are the equivalent to comic books in American standards. So initially going into this language class, I had literally all of my cultural references

and everything I originally thought I knew completely mixed up. The first day of high school and the first day of this class was something to remember.

The first day of high school is a top contender among first days when you are growing up.

中文：The Middle Language

It was the summer that I entered into high-school. I had just barely made it out of middle school,

an honest living version of limbo, stress, and hormones personified. I was lounging around the house,

probably doing nothing when my mother called me into her room. As a 14 year old I stomped up the

stairs and went into her room assuming I had gotten into some type of trouble. But I was quite wrong. As

I closed her door and waited to be reprimanded, she told me she had received an email from my high

school, explaining that the “Regular” language classes were full to the brim. At that point I had been

taking Spanish for about two years, but barely remembering any words or conjugations. She explained

that Spanish and French were full to the brim and that I was required to take some type of foreign

language course to graduate four years from that point. I thought to myself, “Isn’t Spanish and French all

there was to offer in terms of foreign language in a high school setting?” I walked over to the computer

and glanced at the email, reading its contents. Then a particular word popped right out at me grabbing

and holding my attention. Chinese 1.

It’s hard to explain my thought process at that point. In my ignorance, I had signed up to take

and participate in learning one of the world’s hardest languages. The average person does not know the

difference by sound of the 5 main Asian languages; Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese,

and Indonesian. Because of my extensive study of Chinese, I now know the difference between all of

these languages by reading comprehension and listening comprehension. At the time I chose Chinese

though, I did not. I in my ignorance thought Chinese was Japanese, the language I actually desired to

learn. At the time I was an avid reader of Japanese manga which are the equivalent to comic books in

American standards. So initially going into this language class, I had literally all of my cultural references

Milan A - Lesson notes

Chinese Philosophy (PHIL 434)

Gonzaga University

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