At this point, I have only studied Chinese for a year and a half, so I don’t feel as though I’m qualified to give advice. What I can say to students starting with no prior experience is that repetition and patience are crucial. Without these things, you’ll be unable to retain anything. This is especially true when it comes to handwriting characters. It may be troublesome at first, but with practice, you will see results. I frequently use Quizlet in combination with handwriting characters whenever I receive a new set of vocabulary words. This practice became especially important when I took CHN 301 and 302 over the summer in Taiwan. Our teacher had daily vocab quizzes during which we had to handwrite characters after our teacher randomly read a few from our vocab list.

Study methods aside, I firmly believe that a little persistence will go a long way. When encountering difficult or unfamiliar material, don’t stress and slowly work your way through it. This goes not only for your Chinese classes but for your eventual Capstone Application. Preparing my application materials while simultaneously taking seven classes and studying for my capstone exams was tough at times, but a solid work ethic and persistence proved incredibly helpful.

I hope that while I am abroad, I’ll see a significant increase in my Mandarin proficiency. While my post-graduation plans are not set in stone, I do know that I would like to work somewhere where Chinese is widely spoken. To function in that sort of environment, however, I need to put effort into becoming fluent. I hope that this upcoming year provides me with the opportunity to do just that. Aside from the educational reasons behind my applying for Capstone, I am also looking forward to reuniting with old friends and having the opportunity to travel to some of my favorite places in Taiwan.