Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Help me with the pictures!
I am trying to remember everyone's name so I need everyone's help! If you could leave a comment for your class picture and tell me the names of everyone in pinyin in order from front row to back and from left and right that would be very helpful to me! I hope you like the pictures!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
College Life
Because right now all of you are in college I wanted to tell you a little bit about the differences between college in the United States and college in China. I might add more to my list later about this.
1. Strict schedule vs. free time
After talking to students here it seems that there is not a lot of free time for college students. This is quite the opposite for western students. We still have to spend a lot of time studying but when we do this studying is really up to us. The only times we have to be anywhere really is when we have class. We decide the rest of our schedule. A lot of the differences between college in China and college in western countries stems from how we spend our time.
2. Choosing classes
I chose all of my classes. Every semester I decided what classes I would take and I could choose from the classes available. At my university, and at many universities, there are two types of classes: Monday/Wednesday/Friday classes and Tuesday/Thursday classes. This means that I would take a class at 8:00-8:50AM on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I had a couple of semesters where I went to school just three days a week. One semester I had classes only on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
3. Education Methods
It seems to me that college has a different aim in the west. In China it seems that you have strict schedules and that you focus on exams. While it is true that exams are important in classes in the west, we also write a lot of papers. Instead of focusing on memorizing, we focus on learning concepts and analyzing information. Every major is different. In my major, I did not take a single exam for the last two years of my college. I did, however, write many papers. One semester I wrote 164 pages. So even though I had more free time than you, I spent a lot of that free time researching and writing.
4. The College Experience
In addition to the “education” side of college, there is another side of college in western cultures. I call it “The College Experience”. Many students get involved in clubs. At more traditional schools there are fraternities and sororities. At my school there were political clubs, environmental clubs, ethnic clubs, religious clubs, and many others. There are always activities going on at campus such as focus weeks and fun activities. Also, college sports is a huge part of the college experience.
1. Strict schedule vs. free time
After talking to students here it seems that there is not a lot of free time for college students. This is quite the opposite for western students. We still have to spend a lot of time studying but when we do this studying is really up to us. The only times we have to be anywhere really is when we have class. We decide the rest of our schedule. A lot of the differences between college in China and college in western countries stems from how we spend our time.
2. Choosing classes
I chose all of my classes. Every semester I decided what classes I would take and I could choose from the classes available. At my university, and at many universities, there are two types of classes: Monday/Wednesday/Friday classes and Tuesday/Thursday classes. This means that I would take a class at 8:00-8:50AM on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I had a couple of semesters where I went to school just three days a week. One semester I had classes only on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
3. Education Methods
It seems to me that college has a different aim in the west. In China it seems that you have strict schedules and that you focus on exams. While it is true that exams are important in classes in the west, we also write a lot of papers. Instead of focusing on memorizing, we focus on learning concepts and analyzing information. Every major is different. In my major, I did not take a single exam for the last two years of my college. I did, however, write many papers. One semester I wrote 164 pages. So even though I had more free time than you, I spent a lot of that free time researching and writing.
4. The College Experience
In addition to the “education” side of college, there is another side of college in western cultures. I call it “The College Experience”. Many students get involved in clubs. At more traditional schools there are fraternities and sororities. At my school there were political clubs, environmental clubs, ethnic clubs, religious clubs, and many others. There are always activities going on at campus such as focus weeks and fun activities. Also, college sports is a huge part of the college experience.
My Experience vs. Other Westerners
As I have been teaching classes and wondering about how to answer some of your questions, I have often found that it is difficult for me to answer because my experience might be very different from another westerner's experience. Understand that the United States is a very multi-cultural country and its many regions vary significantly. Life in Los Angeles is very different from life in Utah which is very different from life in the South which is very different from life on the East Coast. Yes, there are similarities. But know that culture and ethnicity vary in the United States.
Questions (and Answers)
Students, as I have mentioned before, this is my first semester teaching this class. Although the book is full of information about western countries and culture, I feel that the best way for you to learn about western culture is to ask me questions! If you have questions about western culture please ask me in class or you can write me an email and ask me to explain something in class. I have found that many of you have the same questions and if not I know that what you ask will be interesting to someone else. I will make a list for you to look at, and when you have more questions I will add those to the list. Thank you for your help!
Unit 15 Outline & Vocab
I. Intro to Canada
A. Population of 34 million, 90% of which live near Canada-USA border
B. Canada is 2nd in total area behind Russia
C. Similar to America in many ways including the way they speak
D. Official languages are English and French
E. Canadian identity can be hard to define and is changing; like many other western countries Canada is multicultural
F. Canada traces much of its institutions and identity to Great Britain
G. Become a political entity in 1867 and achieved independence in 1931
H. Longest undefended border in the world
II. The North—the Yukon and the Northwest Territories
A. Canada stretches to the arctic circle and to the north pole; this area is scarcely populated and is called “the land of the midnight sun”
B. Economy is based on oil and gas deposits
III. The West
A. Western-most province is British Columbia (BC) which is known for its mountainous landscape
B. Hydroelectric power is prominent here and logging is a huge industry
IV. The Prairies
A. This region is the breadbasket of Canada and is mostly flat prairie land
B. Wheat is grown here and many livestock are raised
V. Central Canada
A. This is the part of Canada that was first settled and includes Ontario and Quebec
B. The biggest cities in Canada (Toronto and Montreal) are in this region as well as Canada’s capital Ottawa
C. More than half of the population live in these two provinces
VI. Atlantic Region
A. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland constitute the Atlantic Region
B. Fishing is a significant part of the economy in these areas as is tourism as the scenery is spectacular
VII. Geography, History, Name
A. Geography determined the kinds of immigrants to the various parts of Canada (Irish to the Atlantic region, Scandinavian and Ukranian to the prairies, French in the South Central, and Chinese in BC)
B. Vikings arrived but did not stay about 1000 AD
C. French colonized Nova Scotia and Quebec in the early 1600s
D. The British started to venture into Canada in the 1670s
E. 1700s experienced a mix of British and French
F. Book gives several possible origins of the name Canada; sources I found all said Canada comes from Iroquois word meanings “village”
Vocab
Yukon
Northwest Territories
British Columbia
Alberta
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Ontario
Quebec
New Foundland
Nova Scotia
Prince Edward Island
Arctic Circle
North Pole
Land of the midnight sun
Tundra
Breadbasket
Toronto
Montreal
Inuit
Vikings
Igloo
Trapper
Beaver pelt
A. Population of 34 million, 90% of which live near Canada-USA border
B. Canada is 2nd in total area behind Russia
C. Similar to America in many ways including the way they speak
D. Official languages are English and French
E. Canadian identity can be hard to define and is changing; like many other western countries Canada is multicultural
F. Canada traces much of its institutions and identity to Great Britain
G. Become a political entity in 1867 and achieved independence in 1931
H. Longest undefended border in the world
II. The North—the Yukon and the Northwest Territories
A. Canada stretches to the arctic circle and to the north pole; this area is scarcely populated and is called “the land of the midnight sun”
B. Economy is based on oil and gas deposits
III. The West
A. Western-most province is British Columbia (BC) which is known for its mountainous landscape
B. Hydroelectric power is prominent here and logging is a huge industry
IV. The Prairies
A. This region is the breadbasket of Canada and is mostly flat prairie land
B. Wheat is grown here and many livestock are raised
V. Central Canada
A. This is the part of Canada that was first settled and includes Ontario and Quebec
B. The biggest cities in Canada (Toronto and Montreal) are in this region as well as Canada’s capital Ottawa
C. More than half of the population live in these two provinces
VI. Atlantic Region
A. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland constitute the Atlantic Region
B. Fishing is a significant part of the economy in these areas as is tourism as the scenery is spectacular
VII. Geography, History, Name
A. Geography determined the kinds of immigrants to the various parts of Canada (Irish to the Atlantic region, Scandinavian and Ukranian to the prairies, French in the South Central, and Chinese in BC)
B. Vikings arrived but did not stay about 1000 AD
C. French colonized Nova Scotia and Quebec in the early 1600s
D. The British started to venture into Canada in the 1670s
E. 1700s experienced a mix of British and French
F. Book gives several possible origins of the name Canada; sources I found all said Canada comes from Iroquois word meanings “village”
Vocab
Yukon
Northwest Territories
British Columbia
Alberta
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Ontario
Quebec
New Foundland
Nova Scotia
Prince Edward Island
Arctic Circle
North Pole
Land of the midnight sun
Tundra
Breadbasket
Toronto
Montreal
Inuit
Vikings
Igloo
Trapper
Beaver pelt
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