Existing as a heritage speaker at IUP

I haven't been that great about keeping up with my blog, but I figure I'll have one post per week, slightly skewed?  Sorry!

Being at IUP at Tsinghua has been an interesting experience that definitely feels a lot different from being at IUC in Japan.

Class placement was slightly messy because of the recent self-quarantine procedures due to H1N1--because I arrived relatively late on June 14, I ended up taking a placement exam online, but it was in simplified characters, not traditional as I had requested (I'm guessing they didn't have time or forgot to prepare another version).  I was placed in two classes using 思想与社会, one of their core textbooks (one one-on-one class, one with two other students); a 广播1 radio broadcast class for more advanced students (with two other students); and a 小单班, a one-on-one class in which it's possible to address your specific language problems or work on a topic of your choice.

IUP is my first experience actually being with a big mix of students studying Chinese as a foreign language.  I have to admit that it has required an adjustment period--I consider myself something close to a native speaker, and I'm not used to studying Chinese as a foreign language.  At first I felt slightly irritated by constantly hearing incorrect grammar, tones, etc.  Even though it wasn't difficult for me to keep to the Chinese-only language pledge and also speak in Chinese outside of IUP when other people wanted to practice, I got tired of doing it.  Also, for the first couple days of the program, I was really frustrated with the classes that I'd been placed in because it seemed that my classmates couldn't express themselves in Chinese as well as I could.  Additionally, I knew 1/2~2/3 of the new vocabulary in my 思想与社会 textbook.  I more or less blamed the placement exam that was in the wrong writing system, as well as the phone interview, since I'm pretty certain that I do poorly with interviews regardless of language.  Another major source of stress was that on the first day, all four of my teachers asked whether or not I wanted to change my Taiwanese--or Southern--accent.  Even when I tried to make "sh" or "ng" sounds, it wasn't strong enough for them, and I was reduced to half my normal speaking speed.  Even though I wanted to try learning these differences & to show it in my speaking, I couldn't help being resentful of the entire Beijing/northern-oriented approach to learning "correct pronunciation" which seems to ignore the fact that probably over half of the Chinese-speaking population in the world does not speak in the same way.  I felt that my identity was being challenged, and that it was ridiculous for teachers to correct me when I already sounded like a native speaker, since many foreigners still have huge problems getting tones & basic grammar correct.

By now I've taken into consideration the fact that even some people who don't speak Chinese as quickly/fluently may have vocabulary that I don't have, or many have amazing experiences actually living & traveling in China.  I've realized that I have enough homework to work on, whether or not it's easier for me than for some other students with the same textbook.  The lessons in both textbooks seem to be getting somewhat more challenging, too.  As for my accent, it's become easier for me to speak at a more normal speed while curling my tongue, although I still speak more slowly than I would with a more Taiwanese accent.  Although I still have reservations, I'm willing for now to at least learn to differentiate better between different sounds in a sort of compromise, even if my pronunciation still doesn't have enough "r" in it to really sound "correct" to many teachers.  However, I have to say that I've given myself more pressure than IUP has--they really do give heritage speakers the choice and realize that it's not easy to change the way you've always spoken.

After the initial annoyance with the wrong test, being one of the only two students at the program (out of over 60) working with traditional characters hasn't been that bad either.  The textbooks have the text and instructions in traditional, but both traditional & simplified for new vocabulary.  I focus more on traditional characters when I'm reading, and I write my homework in traditional, but I get practice reading simplified as well in the textbook and in class, since the teachers usually only write simplified on the board.  Sometimes the teachers won't know how to write some words in traditional, but it's not like it's difficult for me to go home and learn how to do it myself after first writing down the simplified characters.

Will be writing more this weekend about the workload, impressions of Beijing, etc. so far.  :)