Book Review: River Town by Peter Hessler

Throughout January I got a chance to do quite a bit of pleasure reading. One of these texts was River Town by Peter Hessler. After graduating with English degrees from Princeton and Oxford, Hessler traveled to Fúlíng (涪陵, "river cemetery") in central-western PRC as a Peace Corps volunteer. He soon finds himself teaching English at the local university - this book is a memoir recalling the relationships he developed from 1996-1998 and his experiences in Mainland China. Although his experiences took place nearly fifteen years ago, I did not find them dated whatsoever. If anything, it makes one think about the incredible pace at which China is modernizing, and the potential disparities between rich and poor, educated and uneducated that such rapid pragmatism often leads to. Hessler spends a great deal of time ruminating on such issues.

Hessler knew only a few Chinese phrases when he was sent to Fúlíng, and the book details the rigorous process by which he picked up the language. Additionally, he spends a lot of time discussing the local dialect's attributes in comparison with standard Mandarin. As a Chinese student, I found the book both entertaining and enlightening. Hessler is a masterful writer and journalist, probably best known for his articles as Beijing - where he has lived since 1999 - foreign correspondent for the The New York Times.

I would highly recommend River Town and Hessler's other work to fellow Chinese students and anyone interested in China. Although not short (about 400 pages) it is a compelling read; certainly one of the best "travelogues" I've read in a while.

A new semester; E-Portfolio

Spring 2010

Today was the first day of Chinese 112. This will be my second semester of Mandarin and I am eager to work toward improvement. In my reflection upon last semester (the post below this one), I discuss Chinese study opening doors for me. In fact, this is already true. My uncle works for a large apparel company, and upon telling him that I was studying Chinese, he told me to keep at it and I just may have a job opportunity when I graduate.

The company does a lot of business in China, especially Northwest PRC, namely Xīnjiāng. Xīnjiāng - the characters - 新疆 - literally mean "new frontier", and like many other places across the Mainland, foreign investors are cutting more and more deals with factories around the region. Working primarily in the PRC would be a very interesting experience, even more so because Xīnjiāng seems very different from, for example, Běijīng or Shēnzhèn. I had originally learned about this part of China because there have been longstanding tensions between the Uyghur (In pinyin, Wéiwú'ěr; simplified: 维吾尔) people and the Han Chinese. The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic minority in the region, and they live alongside the Han Chinese and many other ethnic groups. This pastiche of cultures makes me very curious to see Xīnjiāng.

E-Portfolio: Thoughts

The idea of an E-Portfolio is very appealing, both because it can help one to track his or her progress over the course of time, and also - as Wu lǎoshī said today in class - it is a very good way to show one's language proficiency to potential employers. I chose to continue with this blog as my E-Portfolio, because I am comfortable with Blogger, it is easy to use yet versatile, and I already have several posts with some interesting content.

Ideally, I think a portfolio should first and foremost demonstrate one's proficiency in a specific area. The difference between a traditional portfolio and an E-Portfolio is the ability to add multimedia content and link the contents of one's portfolio with other friends or students. Rather than reading about one's progress or seeing simple written work, the E-Portfolio allows a prospective employer to actually see one's progress in a given field, and puts a face to a name. This is an excellent way to differentiate oneself from a sea of prospective job applicants, a key strategy in an increasingly tight job market.

Another advantage of the E-Portfolio is the ability to pool information, or "teach each other". Last semester I learned a good deal about Chinese culture simply by reading the blogs of my fellow students. I also teach myself in my own writings; in every post, I look up some new Chinese words in pinyin and characters. Although small, learning a few new words and characters every day will help my tone and contribute to my Chinese vocabulary. Every little bit will help to shape "the big picture". In the same way, these short blog posts will form a BIG portfolio. When I look back on my E-Portfolio upon graduation, it will be amazing to see how much I have learned and how far I have come. To the reader / potential employer, viewing this evolution demonstrates a steadfastness and openness to learn.

Etc.

Insofar as my personal approach to language learning, I am reminded of the Chinese colloquialism that I learned last semester:

"不管三七二十一"

Bu guan san qi ershyi - don't care if 3*7 is 21. Coming from knowing nothing about Mandarin Chinese and having to work from nothing is really humbling. I think it's key to maintain this humility and willingness to learn both in my journey to improve my skills and life in general. Staying determined is key to success. I may not always be the best, but that will never stop me from chasing my dreams.

I will update the blog whenever I get a chance. Rather than have a "theme" as I previously did, I will simply post about interesting things pertaining to China - culture, people, local dialects, books. This should really help me to develop my skills outside of class, as aforementioned.

再见!