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My mid-term exams are finally over and I already got my results.
听力: 98.5
综合（语法,etc..）: 98
阅读: 94

My results are okay but I’m not really satisfied with them. I was aiming for 95+ marks in all my papers, especially since it’s my first term here.
Note to myself: Spend less time online, less time on MSN messenger, less time watching chinese drama series, etc…. Spend about an hour doing given homework and personal work everyday, i.e study more.

The阅读考试 was a bit difficult compared to the others. I don’t know what came over the teacher but the paper was full of words we haven’t learned yet. The other students and I had a lot of ‘guessing’ to do. I had to be extra careful when writing the answers but I still made two silly mistakes.
Same for my 综合 exam. I lost the 2 marks in the easiest part of the paper; pinyin and made no mistakes in the essay or grammar parts. My 语法 teacher knows that I hate writing pinyin.

I usually have no problems when it comes to reading pinyin but the writing part is another matter.
I write the pinyin right but sometimes I make mistakes when it comes to writing the tones. I have a problem with the 4th tone and neutral tone, the 2nd tone and 3rd tone. There are some chinese characters which are 4th tone characters but when there’s another chinese character in front of it (hence a compound word) , it becomes a neutral tone. Compound words with 3rd tone characters are read as 2nd tone in certain cases but the tone is still written as 3rd.

I didn’t expect having to write pinyin at university.
In Mauritius, the last time my Mandarin teacher made me write pinyin in an exam was back in primary school. In secondary school, the emphasis was more on the chinese characters. I guess that’s why I neglected my pinyin. My other Mauritian friend who’s in my uni also has the same problem.

When it comes to writing chinese characters, I forget how to write the characters sometimes. I never forget how to write the words I use quite often so I’m going to do more personal work and make sentences with the new words I learn. This way I’m more likely going to remember how to write them. I already talked to my 语法 teacher about it and she said that she’ll be glad to have a look at my sentences & essays and correct my mistakes.
Yes, it’s high time for me to do some personal work.

Unfortunately we don’t have Oral Chinese language exam for mid-term so I’m going to have to wait until the final term exam to know how an Oral chinese language exam is like.

I remember my first class at Tongji University.
Our first class was Oral Chinese language and we all had to stand up in turn and say our names, where we are from, our hobbies, number of people in family,etc.
The teacher asked us what we found most difficult when it comes to learning Mandarin. I said writing and remembering how to write the chinese characters.
My classmates said the speaking part (saying the tones right) or the grammar part. ah well.. It’s different for everyone.

I have finally bought a computer! I bought it a few days ago at Xujiahui during the one-week October holiday 国庆节. My new Shanghainese friends came with me and helped me. I just told them （in English :wink:) what I wanted in a computer and even if it took a while for them to understand me perfectly, I finally have my computer. I don’t know chinese words for computer stuffs except 电脑(computer) but I picked up a few words. Please correct me if I’m wrong and it would be lovely to learn more words.
内存 RAM ,主板 motherboard, 鼠标 mouse, 光驱 CD ROM Drive , 音箱 speakers, 硬盘Hardisk.

I applied for ADSL at the 中国人民电信 found inside Tongji on Friday afternoon and someone came to set it up today. It feels great to be able to go online when I want. No more having to go in the computer rooms on campus.No more having to wear blue plastic bags on my feet.
Expect more blog updates from now on!

To do:
1. Transfer pics from my digital camera to my computer.
2. Download programs for my computer. My computer feels too bare right now.
3. Resize and upload some photos.
4. Homework. I still have homework to do for tomorrow.

录取通知书 ：

我们高兴地通知您，经审核您的申请材料,我校决定录取您作为本科生到我校 国际文化交流 学院学习汉语言专
业，自2004年09月01日 起至2008年07月15日止。授课语言为汉语。
根据国家留学 基金管理委员会的通知， 您在中国学习期间的经费方法为金额奖学金(学费，住宿费,医疗费,教材费,生活费）…….

Yesterday, I got my final documents for university. I’ll be attending Tongji University in Shanghai.
I wasn’t too happy when i read my letter of acceptance. I was hoping that I’d get Beijing Language and Culture University because I’d rather attend a small university where there are loads of foreigners and where I’m likely to adapt quickly. TongJi University is a much bigger university where they offer many other courses. I hope that I’ll like it there. I need to ask the other scholarship students where they’ll be going. They will be studying other subjects, Medicine,Fine Arts etc and all i know is that they have been admitted to other universities.
In case you don’t understand the chinese characters above, I’ll explain. I’ve been admitted to Tongji University in Shanghai as an undergraduate and I’ll be studying there for a period of 4 years (from September 2004 up to July 2008) . My chosen course of study is the Chinese language and my classes will be in Mandarin.(In some universities, they teach in both English and Mandarin. )
I got a full scholarship (study expenses,accommodation,medical expenses,teaching materials,living expenses) for the duration of my study there.
Read the rest of this entry »

Why is it that certain guys ‘need’ a girlfriend? I don’t understand.
I’ve heard “‘I don’t have a girlfriend right now. Already broke up. I will look for one now… ” one time too many and it really irks me.
Is it that difficult to stay single? I don’t like it when people go out with others just for the sake of having a boyfriend or girlfriend. Where is love in all that?
I recently had a fight with a good friend of mine. Even if he’s a good friend, I can’t pretend to be blind and deaf when he does certain things.
我最讨厌你们男人。男人太容易变心。 一会儿爱这个，一会儿爱那个。 真气死我。在这世界上，还有人是真心的吗？

Maybe some girls are like that too. I don’t know. I’m only talking about certain guys i know. Not all guys are like that. I know, I know.
Don’t jump down my throat. I’m already very annoyed.

If you don’t understand the chinese words, I’m sorry. Sometimes when I want to say certain things, I just can’t find the words in English,French or Creole.