DaShan TV

Dashan TV, my new favorite channel! What do I need Lost or 24 for? I have 大山的相声！

My present class resembles a series of Survivor - I expect to show up some week and be the only one there and hence declared the winner!

This is only a night-class once a week with no grading so the motivation level of individuals is low. The teacher is failing to engage the class and seems at a loss as to why the class has dwindled down to just a handful.

My teacher last year was much more energetic and had a healthy disregard for copyright so was constantly giving us CDs and other materials. In style, he was very encouraging and any effort was well praised to the extent that we often wondering what it would be like to have a real tough teacher. We thought that was what we were getting this year but sadly the contrast only highlights how good we had had it.

trevelyan:

After my private tutor went on an extended vacation to China (6 months), I enrolled in a Mandarin 2 course at the local College. My teacher was from Singapore and I was THE ONLY Caucasian student in the class. Most of my classmates were from Taiwan or Northern China and taking the class for an easy grade.

The teacher didn't really teach us how to write, just that the homework had to be done in Characters. He was always writing in Unsimplified but the textbook was in Simplified which made it all the more confusing.

The teacher actually seemed annoyed that I was in the class as he expected ALL the students to be Chinese and he probably felt I was slowing down the class...or just maybe cramping his style.

I got a C in the class because I didn't write all the answers in Hanzi, I had to write some of it in Pinyin, (at that time I'd only been studying for about a year and a half), so I got a pretty miserable grade (a C minus).

The first half of the semester we didn't learn any Chinese at all, he just gave lectures in English about the history of the Chinese Characters and how they had changed over time.

Later on, we did some conversation practice but not much. I felt I kept up really well, but I guess the teacher felt differently,

Within the first 2 weeks half the class had dropped out and the other half were old hands at the language, completely fluent in speaking, reading and writing.

I did learn a few things, but not much and after the class was over I wondered how anyone could really master Chinese learning in an environment like that.

I wonder if your class was someone similar to mine?

Her name was Professor Wang and this was at the University of Toronto. We had classes 5 days a week (2 hours a class) and studied from a textbook she had written herself ("红衣服很好看",etc.). The course was great at teaching reading and writing, but poor at spoken Chinese. I have no idea how anyone can really learn the spoken language in a traditional classroom setting like that without heavy supplements like ChinesePod, so really admire Dashan for that. In retrospect I wish I was much more aggressive about seeking out office hours and outside help. I know that my accent was awful for a long time.

It makes me wonder how good Dashan was when he actually showed up in China. I'd also be curious to know what the constitution of the class was when Dashan went through it. When I attended the students were about 90% Asian heritage - some would turn on their cellphones after class and start chatting away in Cantonese. I remember feeling vaguely that this was somehow unfair at the time, which was silly because most of them were probably there out of parental pressure and being caucasian was an advantage on balance: the teachers seemed to pity our Sisyphean task and were more accomodating to our mistakes out of an sense of obligation to encourage us.

I do remember it being a very hard class. 50% of the students dropped the course the first semester, and another 50% of the survivors dropped before the start of the second year. I don't know if these drop-out rates are comparable for other programs, or if they are the same today. But they seemed fairly consistent through all of my years at UofT.

Yeah, don't ya just hate it when Chinese tell you: " 这么高！(zhème gāo!) ... but not quite as tall as John Pasden!"

lustchina:

I'm not so sure John was just "poking fun at the establishment". I know alot of foreigners learning Chinese in China have gotten the same "哦,你的中文说得很好,你知道大山吗, 你的中文说得比大山好!" treatment...(lord knows I have too) but most just take it in the way it was intended, as a compliment.

Maybe there is some rivalry there. But in the case of John's Mandarin level, I think before long, when giving a ride to a 会说中文的老外 the local Chinese cabdrivers are going to adopt a new catchphrase, "哇...你的中文怎么说得这么好呢? 你知道 John Paston 吗? 你的中文说得比 John Paston 好!"

trevelyan:

My former private tutor was also a Professor of Chinese at a local University. He and I met completely by accident when I was just learning my first few words of Mandarin when I asked one of the waitresses at a Chinese restaurant how to pronounce a few words in Chinese. Shortly after that I began studying with him and he has told me repeatedly that I've gone much further in the language than any of his students from the University, and (save one student) I am the only one of his students who's gone past level one!

I guess it's just the commitment of the Student and not so much the Teacher.

But that's cool that you had the same teacher as the illustrious 大山, so do you have any stories? Did you feel this particular teacher was a cut above the rest? What what the method he/she used in teaching the curriculum?

"because John really despises 大山!"

I'll save John from denying it, but I know this isn't true at all.

My own tenuous connection to Da Shan is having been taught in first year Chinese by the same teacher who apparently had him. This was a number of years after he'd come over to China and started appearing on television. She kept telling us about him, probably because he was one of the only students who went through the department at that time who actually became fluent.

bbjt,

Well it's natural order to poke fun at the establishment on the way up but now John is no longer the rookie, he may be the one sending the e-mails some day soon to protect his squeaky-clean public image!

Lustchina,

You should read the following page:

http://www.sinosplice.com/life/archives/2004/05/09/derisive-dashan-rip

I can't imagine John despising anyone - a little friendly rivalry perhaps.

jamestheron:

In that lesson he was only mentioned in passing in the dialogue because the main character "Peter" is also from Canada so the second speaker brought him up saying 大山 was Peter's 老乡. And besides in China most of the time when the Chinese People meet a 会说中文的老外 they almost always bring up 大山.

Actually I feel like Chinesepod should give 大山 his own Podcast, even if 大山 doesn't want to participate in it, I think he would be the subject of a very interesting lesson! We could get in to his rise to fame, his series on learning Chinese, his current works, etc.

As much as I would love it I know it will never ever...EVER happen on John's watch because John really despises 大山!

The subject shows up in this lesson: http://chinesepod.com/lessons/arriving-in-china-on-business/discussion

he would probably insist on having his face replace the CPod logo! But seriously he is quite a remarkable individual and his Chinese ability is something to envy but also to aspire to. Is it in his genes - how could anyone attain this level in an era before Cpod.

Fudawei:

What an honor it would be to have at least one lesson on Chinesepod that features the great 大山.

Well see. Maybe I will be a convert like Mike.

I think they should take him for a tea ceremony! We all know that Ken is the real Da Shan:-)

I think CPOD ought to interview him for an Advanced (or Upper-Intermediate) Lesson. Something like: "5 Questions for Da Shan". See if John or Jenny can wrangle him into the studio next time he's in town -- or phone him in Beijing. Take pre-selected questions from users, etc.

This is the first time that I have really listened to him. I was prepared not to like him, but I may be a convert now.

RJBerki

How can you not like 大山? I think he's a great rep for the west, his mastry of everything Chinese is unbelievable. He was doing this before it became cool, long before China was seen by western eyes as a country worth anything.

My friend who is a japanese translator and now owner of a prestigious Manga importing and production company 5 years ago tried to disourage me from "Wasting" my time learning the language of a "dirt poor communist country". If I had listened to him and stuck with Japanese I wouldn't have discovered how wonderful country and language are. (besides every time I try to go back an re-learn my Japanese I just plain lose interest...I guess Chinese just suits me).

My point is that I admire 大山 very much because he looked all the skeptics and naysayers in the face and said, "I want to learn this language, and I want to learn about this county, culture and people even if they are a poor, communist country", and from his desire and drive he has become limitlessly famous and wealthy.

I wouldn't be jealous of him, just learn from him.

Not 花人 but 《花心》 的人 that's a pretty good concept here !

Here is the first part 1/2 :

Dashan Interview in chinese with subtitles

thanks for the link, fudawei. I think the 'sports chinese' series on cctv is neat.

I love watching the Chinese cross talking skits even when I dont understand them entirely but DaShan, well I dont know exactly why but I just dont like the guy. Hes a mountain of something all right. Maybe Im just jealous? I dont see what the Chinese people see in this guy. Couldnt we have found a better rep for the west?

Through "Playlist: Dashan Elsewhere on YouTube" there are also 6 links to some other videos.

I guess the second video of this list could help to bring more Poddies to Cpod.

; )