Student blogger Brandy Darling (HNC Certificate '20 + SAIS MA '21) shares her experience and offers advice on attending the HNC virtually.
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| HNC ladies go to Brunch in Nanjing before Winter Break. |
Ever since the Hopkins-Nanjing Center began online classes in February, I have been finding new ways to adjust to being home while taking classes in Mandarin. Our classes are in Beijing time, so my first challenge consisted of making sure I went to class on the right day at the right time. My next biggest challenge was having a school-life balance. Especially during self-quarantine, it’s easy to fill your day with doing schoolwork, however, I become more efficient if I set aside time for schoolwork as well as personal time. Johns-Hopkins University offers a free subscription service for the Calm app which has positively impacted my mental health. The meditation sessions, sleep stories and calming music come in handy throughout today as I engage in yoga and even sit to think about my to-do list.
The most nerve-wracking thing about taking Mandarin lessons in an English-speaking environment is the lack of Chinese-language around you. Language immersion in China allowed for smoother transitions to classrooms because daily interactions also involved Mandarin. However, in America, most areas are English dominated and it can be hard to go to class and immediately transfer your mind into using Mandarin. To help with this, I began to teach Mandarin to all levels.
Teaching Mandarin has reminded me about the foundational knowledge of Mandarin and areas I can improve on to sharpen my Mandarin language skills. This can be especially useful for writing papers at the HNC. I can be reminded about phrases that I might have left in the past and practice using them with my students. I currently teach an American football coach beginner-level Mandarin that he can use with his teams in China. I also teach an American fourth grade teacher who is learning for fun at a beginner-high level. Interestingly, I also teach an English teacher in China who has made her way to an almost intermediate-low level by watching Chinese television shows and movies. With students at three different levels of Mandarin speaking, I am able to practice my Chinese every day which helps my current language study at home. So far, I have taught greetings, introductions, and family members and I cannot wait to explore words for the house and family to help make my student’s quarantine time fun and memorable. It also feels good to be able to fill up my days a bit more so that quarantine time does not drift slowly.
I do find myself missing the HNC and my professors, so to alleviate that, I use Zoom to my advantage. Professors either linger around after class or have office hours so I use those times to catch up with my professors and keep up with my Mandarin language skills. The HNC student body also meets every Friday night to catch up with one another in a virtual student lounge. The HNC administration also offers many interesting lectures and workshops through Zoom and other virtual platforms. These extra steps to make our time at home fulfilling make my time at the HNC virtually very hands-on and fun. No matter how far apart we are, it seems that the HNC community knows how to connect with each other no matter what.
Written by Brandy Darling, HNC Certificate '20 + SAIS MA '21.
