So, my first week of summer Chinese class is over. If I were to compare my week to a week during the normal two semesters, I would say that it was more enjoyable, primarily due to the fact that my favorite professor teaches the Chinese summer program, and I’m surrounded by people who want to be in the class. Since it is a short 15 day class, much of the topics covered are surface topics, but they can go into depth if suitable interest is shown and the right questions are asked.
I’ve been taking Chinese summer program and History, which is one of my options for my Asian Studies minor, and after this class, I only have two more to take- I’ll be finished with my minor in the spring of 2011, at the earliest. The itneresting thing about china, and the thing that allows me to connect to it and its history is china’s modern existence as a merging of the West and the Sinosphere, or Chinese Culture Sphere. The Chinese Cultural Sphere is also referred to as the East Asian Culture Sphere, but it is composed of countries with a heavy influenced by China, often through imperialism. China, Korean, Japan, and Vietnam are some of the members of the Sinosphere, and as a result, many similarities are shared throughout these countries. The word for tea, as an example, sounds incredibly similar in the languages of the Sinosphere, as well as the presence of a script based off of Chinese summer camp. We find that earlier on in these nations, Classical Chinese was used as the primary system of writing, eventually diverging in to different scripts, with Japan and China maintaining usage of summer Chinese into the 21st century. Vietnam discontinued use with the rise of French colonialism in the 20th century.
Korea used hanja, which is the closest script to Classical Chinese, up until the 15th century, but it was only fully replaced by the current system, hangul, in the 20th century.
Additionally, it is likely that the languages of these nations also share the same name for China, the Middle Kingdom. In Vietnamese, it is Trung Qu?c, and in Japanese it is 中国, or chuugoku for those who are kanji illiterate. Both mean the “Middle Kingdom” when used literally, but also share the same sound, at least for part of it. The “Trung” part of the name, and the 中 sound the same in Japanese and Vietnamese. I cannot say the same about China itself, or Korea, as I only speak Vietnamese and Japanese, but considering the different paths of language development in these nations, we can definitely see a pattern, but I digress.
Taking Chinese summer program Culture and History kills two birds with one stone, as it takes care of credit requirements in my Chinese major, as well as my Asian Studies minor, two things that I am completely decided on. In addition to my professor, some of the individuals in the class are great people as well, including my former roommate and one of my best friends from Chicago, who happens to be my editor that never edits. I can only hope that my third semester of school is as enjoyable as this.
echienselearning 