Daily Life

Many of our conversations revolve around daily events and routines. Between the more exciting aspects of the study abroad experience are the everyday conversations where study abroad students discuss topics such as life in the dorms, shopping, and leisure activities. 

Exercises

Task 1 Sharing Personal Experiences Task (College Curriculum)

Objectives:

Students will be able to familiarize themselves with the vocabulary and topics related to issues concerning college curriculum. Students will also be able to understand different ways of applying for majors. This task could be used as a warm-up task at the beginning of this module. Suggested time for this task: 10-15 minutes.

Directions: 

1.1 Listen/Read the dialogue between Mae and 如风 (Daily Life 1 dialogue). In groups of 3-4, discuss what they talked about in the dialogue. 

Discussion questions: What are Mae and 如风 talking about? What does “通识课程” mean? What are the main features of the two college curricula? What are some differences between the college curricula they had? Use the following chart to navigate your discussion. 

Directions in Chinese: 

她们讨论了什么问题？“通识课程”是什么意思？她们的大学课程设置分别是什么样的？她们在的两所大学的课程设置上有什么不同？讨论并填写下表。

Download Worksheet Here: Daily Life_Worksheet 1

1.2 Discuss your own college curriculum. Describe the curriculum over the four years of college and compare with your group. Does your curriculum similar with Mae’s? Do you choose your major before entering college or after first year? Which one do Mae and 如风 think is a better option? Why? 

Directions in Chinese: 

讨论一下你自己的大学课程设置。介绍你所在学校的大学课程设置并与你的组员进行比较。你的大学课程设置和Mae的一样吗？你是在进入大学之前还是大学一年级以后选专业？根据对话，Mae和如风认为哪一种选专业的方式更好？为什么？

Task 2 Sharing Personal Experience Task & Comparing Task (Military Training) 

Objectives: Students will be able to familiarize themselves with the vocabulary and topics related to issues concerning Chinese military training for college students. This task could be used as a warm-up task at the beginning of this module. Suggested time for this task: 10-15 minutes.

Directions: 

2.1 Listen/Read the dialogues between Ted and 韩 (Daily Life 2 dialogue). In groups of 3-4, summarize the key terms of their discussion. Discuss what you’ve learned, heard of, or read about Chinese military training for college students. 

Discussion questions: What are Ted and 韩 talking about in this dialogue? Have you heard of Chinese military training for college freshmen? What do you know about it? Based on the dialogue, why do China have military training for college freshmen? Share your thoughts with your group. 

2.2 Watch the video about college military training

(北京大学入学军训 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRKz2tHmqNs)

Discuss the following questions: What is “军训”? What kinds of military training are included for军训? Share your thoughts with your group. 

Directions in Chinese: 

2.1 听/读Ted和韩 (Daily Life 2 dialogue)的对话，分小组讨论对话的具体内容。根据你学过/听过/读过的关于中国大学生军训的相关知识进行讨论。

讨论问题：在对话中，Ted和韩在讨论什么问题？你听说过中国大学新生军训吗？根据对话内容，为什么中国要对大学新生进行军训？和你的组员讨论分享。

2.2 观看YouTube视频：北京大学入学军训。讨论以下问题：什么是“军训”？军训中包括哪些训练？和你的组员讨论分享。

Task 3 Project & Creative Task (College Life)

Objectives: Students will be able to evaluate and analyze specific issues related to college life. Students will be able to talk about their daily life in college. Students will also be able to cooperate with group members and practice reading, writing and speaking skills upon completing this task. This task could be divided into two class hours, for instance, first using it as a main activity of a regular class to practice listening skills, and then as a homework assignment to prepare for a group presentation (including writing, reading, and speaking). Suggested time for this task: 45 min for the reading for the first class + 100 min for group debates or assigned as homework + 20 min for group presentation in the following class. 

3.1 Listening comprehension and discussions (45 min)

Directions: 

Watch the video (vlog) below for the listening comprehension and discussions:

One Day of a Student in Tsinghua University https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJmA8iXit70

In groups of 3-4, summarize the main point of this video using the discussion guide below. 

Directions in Chinese: 观看视频，“清华大学学生的一天” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJmA8iXit70。三到四人一组，完成下面讨论内容。

Discussion Questions:

1. Discuss the following words with your group and use Chinese to describe what these words mean in context. 

         自习，食堂，快递，学院，教学楼，自行车，图书馆，学生活动中心，宿舍

2. What activities did the woman in the video do? Describe the main activities she took part in. Use the following chart to help guide your discussion.

Download Worksheet Here Daily Life_Worksheet 2

3. What are some differences that you see between college life in China and the U.S.? (e.g. dorm life, libraries, dining halls, life style, etc.). Please list at least three and provide examples. 

3.2 Presentation task (100 min in class or assigned as homework)

Directions: Now that you’ve learned more about college life in China, choose one of the following topics below to discuss and present your discussion as a group.

Topic 1: Curriculum in China and the U.S. Colleges  

In Daily Life 1 dialogue, M and R talked about college curriculum for four years and different ways of choosing majors. Based on the dialogue, video, and your own experience, comment on the similarities and differences you observe between college curriculum in China and the U.S. in general. Give at least three examples to illustrate the curriculum similarities or differences between China and the U.S. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each educational system and summarize your presentations. Finally, discuss how you would improve the U.S. college curriculum and provide some suggestions. 

Topic 2: Pre-College Training 

In Daily Life 2 dialogue, Ted and Han discussed about military training for college freshmen in China, which usually occurs before college officially begins. Based on the dialogue, video, and your own experience, first comment on the necessity of having compulsory military training for college students. Compare college preparation in the U.S. and China. Give at least two examples to illustrate the differences between them. Finally, summarize your presentation and discuss the structural reasons for having college military training in China. 

Directions in Chinese: 这一课我们了解了大学生日常生活等方面的问题。3-4人一组，从两个话题中选择一个准备一个8-10分钟的报告，包含以下内容。

Topic 1: 中国和美国大学的课程设置

在第一个对话中，R和M讨论到中国大学四年的课程设置和不同的选专业模式。参考对话，视频，或者亲身经历，探讨中国和美国大学课程设置上的相同和不同点。至少用三个例子来介绍这些相同和不同之处并总结。最后，根据你最熟悉的美国大学课程设置情况，讨论如何改善大学的课程设置并且提出建议。

Topic 2: 大学入学前教育

在第二个对话中，Ted和Han讨论了中国大学新生军训。参考对话，视频，或者亲身经历，探讨为大学新生进行强制军训的必要性。和美国大学新生做的训练相比，讨论中国和美国为大学新生的训练有什么不同。给出至少两个例子来介绍这些不同。最后，总结报告的主要内容并讨论中国进行大学新生军训的潜在原因。

Task 4 Additional reading and comprehension question

Directions: Read the following article “中国大学’通识教育’实验失败了吗？” and answer the questions below. 

Directions in Chinese:

阅读文章 “中国大学’通识教育’实验失败了吗？” 并回答以下问题。

Original Resource: http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001065314?full=y

Excerpts (Revised from the original article):

1     中国高等教育最大的缺失，不是一个数学系的学生的课表中没有诗歌鉴赏，或一个中文系的学生不知热力学定律为何，而是缺乏阅读、写作和逻辑训练。

2     在中国教育体系中，阅读和写作的训练竟然主要安排在中学阶段。中学英语课程仅限于初级语言教学。

3     随着近年海外教育热潮兴起，以美国部分精英大学和文理学院为代表的通识教育理念逐渐为中国人了解。近年来国内一批知名高校也纷纷推出了自己的通识教育计划，如北京大学的元培学院、复旦大学的住宿书院、浙江大学的竺可桢学院等。那么什么是通识教育？

4     “通识教育”也常作“博雅教育”，对应的英文表述都是“Liberal Arts Education” , 在中文里却常被误解为文科教育。实际上“Liberal Arts”源自拉丁文“artes liberales”，意为“自由人的技艺”，目的是培养足以参与城邦公共生活的自由人。

5     与通识教育相对的，是强调学以致用的专业教育或职业教育。

6     我本科就读于北京大学元培学院，当时还叫“元培实验班”。招生简章将元培的特色表述为：低年级通识教育，高年级宽口径的专业教育，学生原则上自由选择专业。然而理想和现实之间到底有多大落差呢？

7     “通识”字面上都强调知识广博。中国大学在开展通识教育时，一个常见做法是要求学生选修本专业之外的课程。北大开设了五大类通选课程，涵盖了数学与自然科学，社会科学，哲学与心理学，历史学，语言学、文学与艺术，学生必须在每类中至少完成一门课程方能毕业。

8     这种做法部分参考了美国精英大学的课程表，其中最知名的当属芝加哥大学为低年级学生的“核心课程”。相比之下，一个北大学生毕业需要完成140学分，而通选课程仅占16学分，其余的是专业必修课、专业选修课、英语课、政治课。低年级时学生的大部分精力耗费在专业课程上，到了高年级则忙于实习、找工作、申请海外研究生院和毕业论文，大学的有效教学时间实际上只有三年。

9     一般来说，美国顶尖大学的学生每学期需要完成三到四门课程，但每门课程会附带可观的作业和阅读，而中国大学生的普遍一学期要学习八到十门课程。中国大学生并不比美国同龄人更努力，课程数目加倍，只能牺牲完成质量，每学期的一两门通识课完全有可能沦为形式主义。

Questions:

1. 作者认为中国的高等教育最大的缺失是什么？

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2.  请用中文描述文章中说的什么是“通识教育”？ 

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3. 除了通识教育以外，还有什么教育？

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4. 为什么作者觉得中国的通识教育和美国的通识教育不一样？有哪些不一样？

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5. 中国的通识教育存在哪些问题？

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