As the end is nigh, and I only have a handful of classes left, I have been wrapping up my lessons. In my culture course, for instance, I recently had the students discuss what they had learnt from the course and if anything had surprised them. Several things stood out. Firstly, in one class a …
Category: Chinese
And then there were two…
I had a message recently from the liaison teacher at the university where I work. Given that the semester had finished already, it was a little strange (although last year she messaged me when I was at the airport, ready to depart on my winter travels, to ask if I could cover for another teacher …
The mystery of the missing glove
Since joining the gym, I have been going often. The other day, I arrived and went to the changing rooms to change. It has turned quite cold recently, so I was wearing some gloves. The changing room is small, with a stool in the corner and nothing else. I started to get changed and sort …
I finally did it!
I finally did it! Now I have joined the gym. An ex-colleague had asked me about whether I knew of any gyms in the area, and a former student of mine had mentioned one which was about 10 to 15 minutes away from the main entrance of the university. It is also 24 hours and …
I finally took the leap
I finally took the leap. I did it. No, not join the gym, I still have to do that. Rather, I signed up for another Chinese class during the week. This one will be on Tuesday evenings, 17:00-19:00. I will do it online – from my room at university. I work on a Tuesday until …
Can you give me an example?
My Chinese classes have recently become a lot harder. We have been focusing on more nuances of grammar, which I guess is good, because it means I am advancing, but it is also more difficult and confusing. For example, in my last class, we looked at gǎi 改, huàn 换, and biànhuà 变化. They are …
