Newspaper reading class!

[edelweis]

So I have an opportunity to attend a newspaper reading class, once a week in the evening after work, transportation is reasonably convenient with my current situation (direct and about 30') and the price is in the normal range for a leisure activity around here.

 

But the class requires:

- good reading skills (they say 2000 to 3000 characters, and I'm probably still at the lower end),

- good listening skills as the teacher will speak only Chinese during class (although I passed HSK4 some time ago and worked on HSK5 vocabulary, I still can't make heads or tails of Chinese news broadcasts beyond a few words here and there  - 乌克兰 being the most easily recognisable word at the moment...)

 

[skip to the last paragraph for actual questions]

 

Basically I'm hesitating because, well, the level will probably be quite difficult for me, it will require some (a lot of?) preparation between sessions in order to be able to read the news articles aloud and prepare vocabulary lists (even though the teacher will explain the sentences and the cultural aspects, my understanding is that we are expected to be able to at least recognise the characters and/or words, so the teacher will give the texts in advance). 

And I might not even understand the teacher's explanations...

And when I tried groups classes in the past, I found it difficult to make it when work got stressful and during those bleak winter months...

Also I might move and/or change jobs and become unable to attend in the middle of the year. But then that's what I tell myself every year about any kind of course I'm tempted to register for.

 

On the other hand, if I do move or change jobs someday, I might never have this opportunity again. (that's also what I tell myself every year...)

And those group classes I tried last time were a bit slow and not much of a challenge, perhaps the difficulty would keep me engaged better (??)

 

 

 

Someone please tell me I'd be stupid not to register for this class.

Also who else is attending/has ever attended a newspaper reading class?

What was your level (uni semester/# of characters/HSK level/...) before taking the class?

Did you use a textbook (which one?) and/or did the teacher select current news articles?

Thoughts about how to decide whether you're ready for such a class, how to study for such a class?

[xuexiansheng]

Yes, you would be stupid not to register for this class.   What do you have to lose? Any exposure to Chinese is good for you and I've found taking classes with a higher level subject than where I'm at have been one of the best ways to push my language barriers and make real improvements. Go for it! 加油！

[Shelley]

Why not, I have just started an edex course in grammar that I think is a bit too high a level for me but I am going to give it a go.

 

I have to admit if i stop i lose nothing because it is free, i don't have to go anywhere and no one but myself will know if i give up or fail, but I am sure i will learn something.

 

But i enjoy a challenge and there is a topic on this forum with a few other students taking the course so if i get really stuck there is someone to ask.

[daofeishi]

To get better at anything, you have to go beyond your comfort zone. I think it sounds like a great class that will give you a lot of great exposure to Chinese. Worst case, if you find you're not getting anything out of it, you can always drop it, right? 

[Hofmann]

If this is a reading course and not a speaking/listening course, the advantage of a classroom setting is diminished. In your situation I'd just get a book.

 

I took a newspaper reading class. The class used Learning about China from Newspapers: Elementary Newspaper Reading (Book 1), ISBN 978-7561914533. It was a 4th year university course, so ACTFL Advanced. I studied by just doing the assignments; it was probably designed so.

 

This book is a collection of articles, a gloss of uncommon words (for the level), sentence patterns that may appear in news-article-ese, background information (like cultural notes), and exercises.

 

The instructor didn't use most of the book though. The course was a mixtures of articles from the book and articles taken from 人民網 or something. We also had to write some pseudo-articles on local events.

[edelweis]

@xuexiansheng, Shelley, daofeishi: many thanks for the answers and the encouragements. I'm leaning towards taking the class because, as you said, it's exposure and I don't have much to lose...

 

@Hofman: thanks a lot for the details about the course you took. Looking at the description on Elina's website, I see the book has English explanations, and the exercises are reading and writing exercises, and it's supposed to be for student who "have mastered" about 2500 words already (so between new HSK5 and new HSK6).

Even though the class I'm considering isn't a listening class, the teacher will still speak Chinese with an opportunity for asking questions, so I won't dismiss the aural component entirely, as I get very little interaction in Chinese in my usual self-study...

It is interesting that the textbook you used has exercises, and that the teacher made you write articles. Perhaps if I take the class and the teacher doesn't set written homework I should try and use the vocabulary and structures in Lang-8, and/or get this textbook too...

[imron]

To get better at anything, you have to go beyond your comfort zone. I think it sounds like a great class that will give you a lot of great exposure to Chinese. Worst case, if you find you're not getting anything out of it, you can always drop it, right?

I was going to write almost exactly this.

 

If you do sign up you'll always be able to drop it if it's too hard.  If you don't sign up you'll never know and you'll always wonder.  In life we tend to regret the things we didn't do more than the things we did.

 

Also, is it 2,500 words or 2,500 characters - there's a big difference.  Either way though, it will be a good opportunity for you learn new things.  Same with the listening - you might not understand the teacher very well in the first class, but I bet by the last class you'll be able to understand them a whole lot better - the reason being because you'll have spent many hours listening and trying to understand, and with that will come learning and progress.

 

So yes, you would be stupid for not registering.

[edelweis]

@Imron: thank you for the advice.

The 2500词语 are for the textbook that Hofmann used.

The course I could/will take is described as requiring 2000 to 3000 characters.

Anyway I'll try not to be stupid

[etm001]

 

 

If this is a reading course and not a speaking/listening course, the advantage of a classroom setting is diminished. In your situation I'd just get a book.

I couldn't agree more. I've taken two classes that focused on newspaper/magazine articles, with wildly different experiences:

• The first class was a "traditional" newspaper class. The textbook contained copies of articles with the past ~10 years, along with a vocabulary list and perhaps a handful of grammar items. In class students would take turn reading portions of the article out loud, then the teacher would review the vocabulary/grammar, and students could ask questions as necessary. In this particular class, there wasn't a large amount of discussion/debate about the article's contents.

Honestly, I would have been better off buying the book and studying the material at home. That said, if you don't have experience reading newspapers, then it might not hurt to take at least one newspaper class - the terms and writing style found in newspapers can be quite different that what you are used to reading in textbooks.

 

• The second class focused on current events. In the first hour of class, each student was responsible for describing a current event to the rest of the class. The teacher would write new/unusual vocabulary words on a white board as the student spoke, ask questions (and other students were free to ask questions too), and generally foster an atmosphere of discussion and debate. In the second hour of class, students would take turns reading portions of a long-form newspaper/magazine article selected by the teacher. The teacher would explain new words/grammar, ask questions, etc.

This class was awesome. Due to the structure of the class, it stressed both extemporaneous speaking/listening (first hour), as well as reading comprehension and speaking/pronunciation (second hour). It certainly helped that  the teacher was amazing as well. 

 

In the end, I agree with others. First, you need to push yourself outside your comfort zone. In the second class that I mentioned above, I had to work hard to keep up with the in-class discussion (the teacher spoke super fast) as well as the assigned reading material. There were plenty of times in that class where I didn't understand exactly what was being said. Even so, in the end I was a tremendously helpful class, and I'd take it again in a heartbeat.

 

The other points you made are valid (i.e., not being able to attend the entire class, having enough time to prepare, etc.) It can be quite frustrating to be in a class that is too advanced for your level, or simply requires more preparation than you have time for. Can you talk to the teacher in advance and get a better sense of the class level, as well as review some articles used in class? If you sign up for this class, is there a "drop period" during which  you can drop the class and still receive a refund? If so, then I say take the class - you have nothing to loose and everything to gain. 

[li3wei1]

Try to record the classes, so if you don't understand, you can listen again afterwards (several times if necessary). You'll soon adjust to the teacher's accent and speed, and the commonly used vocab.

 

Make friends with the other people in the class: people who live near you, who are studying Chinese. Another excellent resource.

 

Good luck!

[edelweis]

@etm001: thanks a lot for the details of the classes you attended. I am not sure whether the class I'm considering is more like your 1st or 2nd example, I heard it's probably something in between because the teacher uses current articles, but perhaps the students are not expected to talk all that much...  I need to ask for more details and/or attend at least one class to know more.

 

@li3wei1: thanks for the suggestions, that sounds helpful.

[Demonic_Duck]

I'm currently attending a newspaper class once a week (the school alternately describes it as either 新闻课 or 媒体课). Tianjin42 attends the same class. When I started, my level was around HSK5, although there can sometimes be quite a range of levels within the class. No textbook is used, it's all based on articles about current events. The structure is similar to the second class that etm001 describes, except that the introduction of 背景词汇 and 生词, and detailed reading of the article, mostly happen in the first hour, and the analysis, discussion and debate mostly in the second hour.

 

When I first started attending, I would try to read the article beforehand each time, as it was helpfully posted online by the teacher. Over time, I've been noticing I don't really need to do this any more, except for maybe a quick glance, either because my level has improved or because the articles have got easier (I think and hope it's mostly because of the former). I'd suggest you do the same if this option is available to you, especially if you think you'll be near the lower end of the class.

 

That said, go for it. Hopefully the school/teacher will offer you a free trial lesson if you're not sure if it'll be suitable, as well.

[edelweis]

@Demonic_Duck: Many thanks for these details, it sounds like that class improved your ability to read newspapers and you started it at a level not too far ahead of mine  

 

I've just sent an email to register for the course, so except if there are big changes at work, I will attend at least the first class   

[edelweis]

Well, here's some follow-up on this topic:
 
The course format is basically a lecture, there isn't a lot of student participation - some students ask a few questions sometimes, and the teacher does ask us about our knowledge of current events, but basically the teacher speaks most of the time.
However it is an interesting lecture. (In my secondary education I had mostly uninspiring but dedicated teachers, and I also had a few teachers who could enthral a classroom of teenagers with their interpretation of the official teaching program... that was rather a long time ago, but this course kind of reminds me of that period of my life.)

The teacher uses articles on current events, and in addition to explaining the article's sentences and difficult words at a reasonably low speed, he also explains a lot of historical/political/social details at a faster speed, and he gives us links to videos and articles of interest to watch and read at home.

Due to the disparity of Chinese levels in the class, there are sometimes two types of handouts, some have the sentence structures and important expressions highlighted, others don't. (Of course I get the more detailed ones.)

It definitely makes me read articles I never would read on my own

 

So far I don't find the number of characters or the teacher's speaking speed to be great obstacles, rather it's my limited vocabulary and lack of knowledge of Chinese history which impede comprehension, but I am working on it... the fact that most of the articles revolve around the same topic helps, but of course when the course switches to another topic I will be lost again.

 

I do record the classes, and listening several times to the recording of the first class was a great help in getting started with all that vocabulary and background information. The Occupy Central 佔領中環 thread here on CF helped too (never would have read that thread either if not for the course heh).

 

If you missed it, you can listen to me butchering one of the articles in the pronunciation thread and read 陳德聰's great feedback.

 

So thanks for all your advice and encouragements to sign up for this class, I definitely don't regret signing up for it, actually I feel quite lucky and grateful not to have missed this opportunity.

[Shelley]

Glad to hear you are enjoying it and that it is going well.

 

Thanks for the update.

Look forward to more

[imron]

I definitely don't regret signing up for it, actually I feel quite lucky and grateful not to have missed this opportunity.

Like I said earlier, people tend to regret the things they don't do more than than the things they have done.  Happy to hear this is working out.

[Chris Two Times]

Another thumbs up for the book that Hofmann recommended. That was one of the first books I picked up when I returned to China in 2012. I really like it and it has proven to be quite useful.

 

Warm regards,

Chris Two Times

[edelweis]

thanks Shelley & Imron.

 

@Chris: I'm definitely putting this book on my "to buy" list (although I'm quite busy with the course contents so I probably won't buy and use it right away). Thanks.

[Chris Two Times]

edelweis,

 

It's a book that I keep on my shelf and occasionally glance at before I go to bed. I find the vocabulary in it can be really useful (pertinent to economics, politics) and I do like it that it is in both Chinese and English, although I try not to look at the English...at first. 

 

Happy studying!

 

Warm regards,

Chris Two Times