For Next Year's HBA Students

My Daily Schedule (usually)

6:00 AM - Wake-up, shower, review characters for morning dictation

8:00 AM - Large Class: Overview of current lesson's grammar points (12 students, 1 teacher)

9:25 AM - Reading Class: Read over lesson text with teacher (4 students, 1 teacher)

10:10 AM - Small Class: In-depth review of grammar, students respond to questions using new grammar patterns (4 students, 1 teacher)

11:20 AM - Discussion Class: second-semester only, students discuss the day's lesson and engage in debate regarding issues brought up by the text (2 or 3 students, 1 teacher)

12:00 PM - Lunch break

1:30/2:25 - One-on-one with teacher, relatively relaxed conversation and speaking practice

3:30 PM - Freedom

11:00 PM - Sleepy-time

Notes:

There is a ten-minute break between the Large and Reading classes and a twenty-minute break between Small Class and Discussion Class. As I mentioned above, Discussion Class only took place second-semester, so first-semester we had two sessions of Small Class (10:10-11:00 and 11:10-12:00). In terms of the seven-and-a-half hour period I call "Freedom", I never had a completely set in stone plan. Usually I'd spend the afternoon/night reviewing the next day's lesson, working out, relaxing, and eating dinner.

Suggestions:

1) I found that it was a much better use of my time to use my 10 and 20-minute break periods working on homework as opposed to chatting in the hallway. Call me anti-social but it really made my afternoons a lot more enjoyable/open.

2) Bring note-cards for learning vocabulary. My primary method for learning new words, starting from back at Yale, was writing them over and over on my blackboard. But this past week all my dry-erase markers dried out, so I was forced to start making little note-cards from a small note-pad I brought along. So far I think this has turned out to be a better method.

3) Find something to keep your mind off all the work, e.g. working out, talking to friends back home, watching TV/YouTube, blogging, etc.

4) If you don't have a good friend here in Beijing, make one. It's really hard to get through the first few weeks on your own, so it's a good idea to find someone you enjoy hanging out with, this really helps take the edge off homesickness and the anxiety that HBA's workload sometimes causes (more on the whole workload aspect in a sec).

5) Go on as many HBA sponsored trips as possible. HBA sets up weekly field trips to the coolest, prettiest, and oldest places in the Beijing area, and anyone who has seen my Facebook photo albums knows how much I enjoyed these excursions.

6) Have fun. Beijing has an awesome bar/club scene that is definitely worth checking out. Even if your not into that stuff, there is no shortage of interesting places in this city. Don't be overly anxious about studying, especially on the weekends.

Now for the part that everyone has been waiting for...

The HBA Workload (my estimation)

- 65 new words per night (on average, some lessons it's closer to 75 and others more like 50)

- 8 pages of homework per week (4 lessons a week, 2 pages per lesson)

- 1 essay per week (used for Oral Exams)

- 1 test per week (Written and Oral)

This may sound like a lot to kids who haven't even finished L2 at Yale, especially in light of L1/L2's new vocabulary requirements. To be honest, it is not bad at all. I am completely confident that anyone talented enough to get into Yale has what it takes to get through HBA. There have been some nights that required more effort than others, and certain tests are rougher than others, but all in all it's nowhere near impossible.

I don't want to give anyone the wrong impression - HBA is rigorous, it lives up to it's reputation, and it will test your ability to learn Chinese at a very fast pace. I can remember some nights feeling like I'd never get through all the new words. And there were certainly weeks (towards the beginning) where I wished I was back home hanging out at the beach getting a tan. It is tough, and performing well here requires dedication and a willingness to bust your ass. That being said, the reward is certainly worth the hard work.

Before coming to Beijing, my Mandarin speaking and listening proficiency was mediocre at best. I can remember eating at the mandatory Chinese table sessions back at Yale and struggling to communicate effectively with teachers and higher level students. At this point, I feel comfortable engaging in full-blown conversations with real Chinese people. I've had the opportunity to chat with kung-fu students about their lifestyles and potential future careers. This past week, I wrote a 300-character composition on my attitude toward people who cheat on their significant others. I've already told my parents and teachers that my Chinese now, after one year, is better than my Spanish ever was (I took Spanish for five years in junior high and high school). HBA is the real deal, and anyone who is really interested in learning this language would be do themselves a huge favor by coming here.

Overall Message:

HBA is certainly deserving of the description "intensive language-study summer program". But for anyone who has a serious interest in Mandarin, and learning as much as possible in two months, studying here is a phenomenal idea. Contrary to what you may have heard, it's very possible to get good grades (even by Yale standards) while enjoying yourself here at HBA. I'd be hard pressed to find a fellow student who did now have a blast this past summer.

HBA>Duke>PIB,

Jamey