EAS language courses at UofT

[Free Willy]

My basic question is: how difficult are they??? lol

I'm interested in taking a Chinese language course, but I'm a bit intimidated by the sheer number of characters that need to be covered. Do they have a set of characters they stick to year in and year out? If so, what are they?

In general, how are the language courses structured? How do they grade you? And also, do they teach traditional or simplified Chinese? Are you guaranteed a place in the course after the interview?

I'm so excited, but somewhat scared, haha...

[AirplaneKing]

My basic question is: how difficult are they??? lol

I'm interested in taking a Chinese language course, but I'm a bit intimidated by the sheer number of characters that need to be covered. Do they have a set of characters they stick to year in and year out? If so, what are they?

In general, how are the language courses structured? How do they grade you? And also, do they teach traditional or simplified Chinese? Are you guaranteed a place in the course after the interview?

I'm so excited, but somewhat scared, haha...


Basically in August they will have an interview where you complete a questionnaire that gives the instructors an idea of where your Chinese stands. Questions like, did you live in China, what do you speak at home/to your friends, how many years of chinese school did you do, approx. how many words do you know. Then they will have a brief interview and ask you some other questions.

From your answers, they will slot you into the appropriate class. I'm cantonese myself, but don't know a lick of mandarin or pinyin so they slotted me into EAS101, which is basically beginner mandarin for ppl with a chinese background (cantonese, hakka, etc).

We covered about 700 words, which was more than enough for me, but some of the others just cruised through it. You are expected to read and write simplified characters and to 'recognize' the traditional alternatives. You get marked on homework assignments, periodic essays, tests, and of course, oral and written exams.

Hope that helps.

[Free Willy]

Thanks for your response, it was a definite help. I guess I'm just concerned I won't know how to string a sentence together, much less an essay. I am really looking forward to it though. :)

ETA: Oh, and if you don't mind me asking, did you enjoy the course and was it what you'd hoped it to be? Do you find yourself applying the material you learned at all?

[march9]

I heard EAS language courses at UofT are hard, due to the number of native speakers cheating the interview process. I originally wanted to take EAS120 but it most likely won't fit my schedule this year.

[Homer88]

If you're Cantonese and want to learn Mandarin from scratch (meaning you want to take EAS101). Make sure you act like you can't write or read anything... Otherwise they'd put you in EAS201 and you'd have to learn all the pinyin and simplified writing yourself before the course starts. But I don't think EAS201 is offered this year anyways since it got canceled (no idea why).

[AirplaneKing]

I heard EAS language courses at UofT are hard, due to the number of native speakers cheating the interview process. I originally wanted to take EAS120 but it most likely won't fit my schedule this year.

Yes there are many native speakers who cheat the interview process. But it wouldn't make sense to make the course harder because of them, as regardless of how hard they make it, the native speakers will still have a very easy time. It is the students who are actually trying to learn from scratch (or a very shaky base) that will suffer most.

OP, in regards to your question, I did enjoy the course. It was actually a little more difficult than I imagined, but then again my chinese was extremely bad to begin with. I can apply what I learned in the context of say, watching a movie in mandarin. I understand the jist of what is being said, and if there are simplified subtitles, I can understand most of the words and derive meaning.

However, the major problem occurs when speaking with my native mandarin friends. To me, it seems like they speak very quickly and most often I don't understand the first time around. Even when I finally do understand, it takes me an impractical amount of time to structure a good response. But I imagine anyone will get better with practice and courage to screw up some. Anyways, I highly recommend you take the courses if you have an interest and can spare the extra time/work.

[Free Willy]

I'm really glad to hear that the course helped improve your abilities to a noticeable degree. I can speak limited Mandarin, though my vocabulary probably doesn't even approach that of a 1st grader. My main problem is that I'm completely illiterate, haha, and I've a terrible memory, so I have a feeling I'll find the reading and writing portions of the course difficult.

As for the interviews, do they tell you right away if you've been accepted?

[Homer88]

I'm really glad to hear that the course helped improve your abilities to a noticeable degree. I can speak limited Mandarin, though my vocabulary probably doesn't even approach that of a 1st grader. My main problem is that I'm completely illiterate, haha, and I've a terrible memory, so I have a feeling I'll find the reading and writing portions of the course difficult.

As for the interviews, do they tell you right away if you've been accepted?

Yup. Make sure you go early if you're going for the August interviews, I waited 3 hours in line last year just to be told I got rejected from EAS101 and I have to take EAS201 (I wrote like 5 characters in chinese).

[abc123]

Anyone know about the difficulty level of Japanese?

I am thinking of taking EAS120 (which I'm guessing is for people who don't have prior knowledge of Japanese) because I know my hiragana well (and have a small grasp of katakana and kanji), but my grammar and verb conjugations have suffered greatly as I have never bothered to take it seriously. I would like to begin it, as if I had no prior knowledge, to help with my overall gpa, but also I would like to have a fresh start on learning Japanese.

[Free Willy]

Yup. Make sure you go early if you're going for the August interviews, I waited 3 hours in line last year just to be told I got rejected from EAS101 and I have to take EAS201 (I wrote like 5 characters in chinese).
Holy shii, I'd crap my pants. lol How could they in good conscience place you in a course so far above your limits?

I noticed that they have the course application form on their website. Should I bother filling it out and emailing it to the appropriate person, or should I just bring it to the interview with me? I'm asking here instead of calling the department because the two people I spoke with previously were spectacularly unhelpful and yelled at me for not checking the website (though I'd like to point out that the information up there is outdated). :mad:

[Homer88]

Holy shii, I'd crap my pants. lol How could they in good conscience place you in a course so far above your limits?

I noticed that they have the course application form on their website. Should I bother filling it out and emailing it to the appropriate person, or should I just bring it to the interview with me? I'm asking here instead of calling the department because the two people I spoke with previously were spectacularly unhelpful and yelled at me for not checking the website (though I'd like to point out that the information up there is outdated). :mad:

Paste the link of the form you're talking about, but it's most likely the form you have to bring to the interview to hand in (the one with the tutorial sections and stuff). They will then give you a bigger package to fill out to let them know how much you know. But if you intend on doing EAS101, pretend you know absolutely nothing at all especially in the writing and reading component (if you can write then you can read obviously so it has to be both).

[CSR]

Damn, i might fail the interview.

[Free Willy]

Paste the link of the form you're talking about, but it's most likely the form you have to bring to the interview to hand in (the one with the tutorial sections and stuff). They will then give you a bigger package to fill out to let them know how much you know. But if you intend on doing EAS101, pretend you know absolutely nothing at all especially in the writing and reading component (if you can write then you can read obviously so it has to be both).
This is the one I found on the site: http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/eas/ug-appforms-ripped/ugapp-langcours.doc . I'm assuming that this is what I have to bring to the interview, although on this page (http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/eas/undergrad/ugapp.htm) it says that we can send it in via email.

I'm not sure if I can fake poor oral skills, but there will be no need to pretend on the written stuff. :lol:

[Free Willy]

Damn, i might fail the interview.
Are you considering EAS101 too? You can always take the second year course if you feel your command of the language is above that of a beginner. :)

[IBOPM]

What are the deadlines? I don't get to pick any courses until August 13th.

[Homer88]

Are you considering EAS101 too? You can always take the second year course if you feel your command of the language is above that of a beginner. :)

EAS201 got canceled this year though...

[IBOPM]

EAS201 got canceled this year though...

This is ridiculous! I don't even get to choose yet, and all these things are happening already.

[Free Willy]

This is ridiculous! I don't even get to choose yet, and all these things are happening already.
You can't enrol in EAS language courses through Rosi, so don't worry about others snapping up spots. The EAS101 interviews are being held on August 29th and you just show up for them. I'm not sure about the others, but they're listed in the timetable.

[IBOPM]

You can't enrol in EAS language courses through Rosi, so don't worry about others snapping up spots. The EAS101 interviews are being held on August 29th and you just show up for them. I'm not sure about the others, but they're listed in the timetable.

Any tips for the interviews? I'm scared that I know too much Chinese already.

[kennyc516]

I took EAS102 this past term (20079 -> 20085)
The course is generally ok, because the only marks are consisted of 10% tutorial attendance, 3 midterms and a final

For the midterms, all of the questions are given before the tests, and a random essay questions and terms in that list given will be tested.

The finals are a bit different, only 1 question is given, and another question will not be known until the exam.

The course is pretty easy, but then since it's marked by writing essays, it's pretty hard to get a high mark (I believe the avg is around a 70). You don't really need to attend the lectures to be honest because most of the test questions are based on textbook stuff. It's a "safe" bet to get a mark close to 70, but now higher or lower

[IBOPM]

I took EAS102 this past term (20079 -> 20085)
The course is generally ok, because the only marks are consisted of 10% tutorial attendance, 3 midterms and a final

For the midterms, all of the questions are given before the tests, and a random essay questions and terms in that list given will be tested.

The finals are a bit different, only 1 question is given, and another question will not be known until the exam.

The course is pretty easy, but then since it's marked by writing essays, it's pretty hard to get a high mark (I believe the avg is around a 70). You don't really need to attend the lectures to be honest because most of the test questions are based on textbook stuff. It's a "safe" bet to get a mark close to 70, but now higher or lower

Crap, I need 85+

[Free Willy]

Crap, I need 85+
+1 :(

[jokershun]

I took two EAS language courses (EAS120/220 Japanese). So, I can share some real experience with you guys. I was from Life Sciences, but took Japanese for fun. (I lived in Japan for a good 2 years, when I was young)

1) It is TRUE that many students have STRONG background and happen to be sitting in the beginner class. (Me being one of them, but I didn't have to go to interview, lucky.) But the instructors are extremely nice to NON-ASIAN students. They mark much less harshly if you are white, and turn out that IRONICALLY, many white guys end up getting better marks then many Asian students. This was especially true for the Chinese course.

2) The Japanese beginner course used to offer many sections (didn't check this year, but i think it's the same this year as well). So, you can officially enroll in one section, and then choose to go to the sections that you available. But again, if you have good background, you can elect not to go to a particular section. When I took the course, I didn't go to Wed&Friday classes, cuz it was in conflict with my Life Sci. Courses. Of course I lost some participation and attendance marks, but that didn't hurt me much, as most marks will be based on quizes, and tests/exams.

3) I recommend Japanese over Chinese, especially if you are of Chinese ethinity. Plus, knowing Chinese won't be too hard to learn Japanese. My friend who was from HK with no problem in writing chinese characters, ended up only getting 70s from the Chinese class, well I got 90s. The course instructor FAVORS white guys over Asians. I advised my friend many times to take the Japanese course with me, but he didn't listen....

4) Do expect a LOT of work if you don't have any background, and WORK hard on the course. Ppl with background, they just lay back, don't do any work, and still get perfect scores on quizes and tests. Unfornately, this is a true fact. No matter how much effort they put into the interviewing process to weed out the cheaters, chances are you will be sitting in a room full of fluent speakers (Of course they pretend they don't speak).They teach fast, and students are expected to learn a lot every week. They are time-consuming, if you are new to the language. Best way to help yourself, is make a friend with someone in the class who has some background and help you with homework and stuff (You will know right away who is good after 1wk of class, it's easy to find out). I used to sub-tutor my classmates.

So, if you work hard, and find someone to tutor you, and give you some extra tips, then the course is a guaranteed 90+. That's what i got out of my 2Japanese EAS courses :cheesygri . I am planning to take a 3rd year Jap this year as well.:twisted:

BTW, I am now in UT pharmacy, so ne one with a question, you can PM me as well.