Hello world!
My second semester is coming to an end! And yes, it was as good as the first one. Why? Again, my fantastic teacher Xiao Laoshi (蕭老師)gave the most motivating classes that you could think of. This woman is so full of energy, you really don't want to miss just a single class. ShiDa can be really happy and proud to have such a teacher. I could not think of a better teacher, if you come to Shida to study Chinese and if she teaches your level, do try to get into that course!
For the next semester, my third one at Shida, of course I really want to have her as my teacher too. The thing is just that a lot of my classmates will leave Shida to go back to their homecountries and to make sure you get the same teacher, Shida has the rule that you need 8 people to form a class on your own and make sure you get the same teacher. We are only 4 people now, but we really don't want any other teacher, we really want Xiao Laoshi!
So, I will ask Shida's office tomorrow if we can still get her next semester. I mean we pay a lot of money and I do think that should be possible. Actually, I think Shida's office will help us. They have been very cooperative whenever I had some problems! I will keep you updated if they are willing to help us students or not!
Bye, Sebastian
Dienstag, 31. Juli 2007
Mittwoch, 18. Juli 2007
Still learning!
Hi there!
It has been over a month since I last posted. This is just to tell everybody that I am still at Shida studying Chinese and that it is still great!
I just feel I am the busiest person living in Taipei. Now since I got a final deadline for my master thesis in Electrical Engineering, I have to work on that everyday after my Chinese class. That deadline is really a huge motivating factor. Next to Chinese and my master thesis, there is still roomsDB.net - room rental for Singapore, that also keeps me busy. Actually had to upgrade to a dedicated server for that website since traffic was becoming crazy. The Taiwanese version is offline right now since I will implement all the improvements for this version as well (RSS, statistics, tooltips and so on).
So I guess it will take some more time until I will post more regularly again! In the meantime, you can check another video of my trip to Germany. This is again the Castle Neuschwanstein. In the recent "New 7 Wonders" election it made the 8.th place, what a pitty! (Audio sucks....too windy!)
Bye, Sebastian
It has been over a month since I last posted. This is just to tell everybody that I am still at Shida studying Chinese and that it is still great!
I just feel I am the busiest person living in Taipei. Now since I got a final deadline for my master thesis in Electrical Engineering, I have to work on that everyday after my Chinese class. That deadline is really a huge motivating factor. Next to Chinese and my master thesis, there is still roomsDB.net - room rental for Singapore, that also keeps me busy. Actually had to upgrade to a dedicated server for that website since traffic was becoming crazy. The Taiwanese version is offline right now since I will implement all the improvements for this version as well (RSS, statistics, tooltips and so on).
So I guess it will take some more time until I will post more regularly again! In the meantime, you can check another video of my trip to Germany. This is again the Castle Neuschwanstein. In the recent "New 7 Wonders" election it made the 8.th place, what a pitty! (Audio sucks....too windy!)
Bye, Sebastian
Dienstag, 12. Juni 2007
2nd semester
Hello world, I'm back in Taiwan!
After a great Germany trip I am back here in Taipei where my second semester of Chinese study at Shida University already has begun!
I arrived here in Taipei on sunday night at 11pm and was sitting in my classroom monday morning at 8am. I absolutely didn't want to miss another day since I had already missed the whole first week.
It was a great feeling to be back and do the thing I enjoy the most: study Chinese. I felt a bit funny at first because I had not spoken or heard any Chinese the whole 3 weeks I was in Germany but after a while I got the rythm back. ;)
For the 2nd semester I have a new strategy. First semester was already very successful, but in the end of the first semester when it came to the test I found out that I had not really studied at home after class which meant that I was not so well prepared for the test at all. This semester I will change that. Directly after my class at 10am in the morning, I will directly go to the library and sit down for at least one hour to study on my own. Did it these first two days and it was really nice. In the first sem I just went to Taida directly after my Chinese course and did nothing but surf the web and wait for lunch, that time will be spent much better in this semester!
Will keep you updated about my efforts... :)
Here some pictures of my Germany trip...
Went to see the famous castle Neuschwantstein:
Of course that is not the only place we saw. Here are some pictures of the absolutely stunning city called "Rothenburg". A romantic city that takes you back to medieval times...
Oh yeah, and there was lots of beer when we visited the world's beer capital... MUNICH!
After a great Germany trip I am back here in Taipei where my second semester of Chinese study at Shida University already has begun!
I arrived here in Taipei on sunday night at 11pm and was sitting in my classroom monday morning at 8am. I absolutely didn't want to miss another day since I had already missed the whole first week.
It was a great feeling to be back and do the thing I enjoy the most: study Chinese. I felt a bit funny at first because I had not spoken or heard any Chinese the whole 3 weeks I was in Germany but after a while I got the rythm back. ;)
For the 2nd semester I have a new strategy. First semester was already very successful, but in the end of the first semester when it came to the test I found out that I had not really studied at home after class which meant that I was not so well prepared for the test at all. This semester I will change that. Directly after my class at 10am in the morning, I will directly go to the library and sit down for at least one hour to study on my own. Did it these first two days and it was really nice. In the first sem I just went to Taida directly after my Chinese course and did nothing but surf the web and wait for lunch, that time will be spent much better in this semester!
Will keep you updated about my efforts... :)
Here some pictures of my Germany trip...
Went to see the famous castle Neuschwantstein:
 |
| Castle Neuschwans |
Of course that is not the only place we saw. Here are some pictures of the absolutely stunning city called "Rothenburg". A romantic city that takes you back to medieval times...
 |
| Rothenburg |
Oh yeah, and there was lots of beer when we visited the world's beer capital... MUNICH!
 |
| Munich |
Sonntag, 20. Mai 2007
1st semester is over!
Hello world!
The first semester is over, at least for me! I am writing these linese from Dortmund, Germany, where I arrived on Saturday already! I am back for a 3 weeks vacation before my second semester starts.
Last thursday we had our semester achievment test. Some test were the school checks how well you can recall everything that you learned in the past 3 months. And you have to get a score higher than 60% to go to the next level. I passed. Was really interesting to sit for the exam, I liked it. :)
Here some video greetings from my home in Germany:
Bye bye, and cu next semester!
The first semester is over, at least for me! I am writing these linese from Dortmund, Germany, where I arrived on Saturday already! I am back for a 3 weeks vacation before my second semester starts.
Last thursday we had our semester achievment test. Some test were the school checks how well you can recall everything that you learned in the past 3 months. And you have to get a score higher than 60% to go to the next level. I passed. Was really interesting to sit for the exam, I liked it. :)
Here some video greetings from my home in Germany:
Bye bye, and cu next semester!
Samstag, 12. Mai 2007
I dreamed in Chinese...
Yeah, the subject of this blog post says it all: I dreamed in Chinese! I never thought that this was really possible but I guess all the Chinese everyday in class and here on the streets in Taipei did have an impact on my subconsciousness...
In the dream I talked to a blond girl in Chinese. And she also spoke Chinese back. And after a while we both laughed because we realized that we could as well speak in English, but we kept on speaking Chinese. I cannot remember what we were talking about though but it was Chinese and I felt I was quite fluent...in my dreams!
In the dream I talked to a blond girl in Chinese. And she also spoke Chinese back. And after a while we both laughed because we realized that we could as well speak in English, but we kept on speaking Chinese. I cannot remember what we were talking about though but it was Chinese and I felt I was quite fluent...in my dreams!
Mittwoch, 2. Mai 2007
BOCA
There has been a new development in the BOCA issue that I reported about some time ago. I was personally called by the boss of the visa section at BOCA today...
Read more here in the original posting: At your service...
Read more here in the original posting: At your service...
Samstag, 28. April 2007
2 months at Shida...
Oh my goodness...
...has it really been 2 months already? I can't believe it. You know, the time goes by so fast, I already see myself sitting in front of my computer and writing a blog post with the subject "My first 2 years at Shida..." !
This whole thing is soo enjoyable! I don't want it to be over so fast! What to do?? Hm, well, what about just staying here in Taiwan and not going back, taking every single course that Shida has to offer, until they will tell me: "Sorry, Sebastian. It is REALLY time to move on, you have taken every course we offer, there is nothing more to learn!! GO HOME!!! THERE IS A LIFE OUTSIDE OF SHIDA WAITING FOR YOU!!!!!!"
Haha...let's see what life will bring. That's the exciting thing, you really never know. At the moment, I really feel like I want to go on with this life, going to Shida in the morning, and then after Chinese class to go Taida and do research. I lead a good life here now. But well, this can't go on like this forever. And that's also a good thing because I will graduate in the end of the year and will be a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering. Sounds like working life is coming closer and closer. I will keep you updated with my plans for life here. :)
So what about my Chinese? Did those 2 months at Shida really make a difference for my spoken Chinese?
YES YES YES.
And also I might say: yes.
I made a lot of progress in those 2 months. Especially in my spoken Chinese. The motivation throughout these 2 months always stayed high, because of the fun that we all had in class. I mention it in nearly every post here, just because that never gets old for me. It is one of the best things to directly practice the new vocabulary and sentence structures with your new friends that can just communicate with you in Chinese and not in English. Go for a class with Asians if you are a westerner. Find a class that doesn't have people from your homecountry or that has few or no people that are willing to speak your native language with you! This will force you to really speak Chinese, also in the breaks and I love to do that. That's why my spoken Chinese really improved.
My teacher is a motivational factor as well for sure. I had very good luck that I got her as my teacher and we all think like that. For the next semester we will ask the school to keep her and the class at it is now. You can keep your teacher and the same people if you find 8 ppl who share this wish and the teacher also signs this form. We will do it!
So now, you might be interested in how I use Chinese in my everyday life here. A good example that shows that I really dare to use it out in the streets: I found myself arguing with a waitress in an Italian restaurant here. No, didn't use Italian (which I cannot speak) but Chinese! The service really sucked and I had to release my anger and frustration. And I did that in Chinese. Wow that was interesting. Haha! AND? Yeah, didn't have to pay the 10% service charge because of my outburst of fury. It must have been super funny though. An angry Germany guy in an Italian restaurant in Taiwan furiously scolding a waitress in Chinese...haha!
Okay, looking forward for the last month of my first semester at Shida!
Bye, Sebastian
...has it really been 2 months already? I can't believe it. You know, the time goes by so fast, I already see myself sitting in front of my computer and writing a blog post with the subject "My first 2 years at Shida..." !
This whole thing is soo enjoyable! I don't want it to be over so fast! What to do?? Hm, well, what about just staying here in Taiwan and not going back, taking every single course that Shida has to offer, until they will tell me: "Sorry, Sebastian. It is REALLY time to move on, you have taken every course we offer, there is nothing more to learn!! GO HOME!!! THERE IS A LIFE OUTSIDE OF SHIDA WAITING FOR YOU!!!!!!"
Haha...let's see what life will bring. That's the exciting thing, you really never know. At the moment, I really feel like I want to go on with this life, going to Shida in the morning, and then after Chinese class to go Taida and do research. I lead a good life here now. But well, this can't go on like this forever. And that's also a good thing because I will graduate in the end of the year and will be a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering. Sounds like working life is coming closer and closer. I will keep you updated with my plans for life here. :)
So what about my Chinese? Did those 2 months at Shida really make a difference for my spoken Chinese?
YES YES YES.
And also I might say: yes.
I made a lot of progress in those 2 months. Especially in my spoken Chinese. The motivation throughout these 2 months always stayed high, because of the fun that we all had in class. I mention it in nearly every post here, just because that never gets old for me. It is one of the best things to directly practice the new vocabulary and sentence structures with your new friends that can just communicate with you in Chinese and not in English. Go for a class with Asians if you are a westerner. Find a class that doesn't have people from your homecountry or that has few or no people that are willing to speak your native language with you! This will force you to really speak Chinese, also in the breaks and I love to do that. That's why my spoken Chinese really improved.
My teacher is a motivational factor as well for sure. I had very good luck that I got her as my teacher and we all think like that. For the next semester we will ask the school to keep her and the class at it is now. You can keep your teacher and the same people if you find 8 ppl who share this wish and the teacher also signs this form. We will do it!
So now, you might be interested in how I use Chinese in my everyday life here. A good example that shows that I really dare to use it out in the streets: I found myself arguing with a waitress in an Italian restaurant here. No, didn't use Italian (which I cannot speak) but Chinese! The service really sucked and I had to release my anger and frustration. And I did that in Chinese. Wow that was interesting. Haha! AND? Yeah, didn't have to pay the 10% service charge because of my outburst of fury. It must have been super funny though. An angry Germany guy in an Italian restaurant in Taiwan furiously scolding a waitress in Chinese...haha!
Okay, looking forward for the last month of my first semester at Shida!
Bye, Sebastian
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