How to write a Chinese essay

Language Learning Chinese
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Do not write anything specific. (E.g.: “My short-term career goal is to find a job in a major company and accumulate experience while applying my newly gained academic knowledge. My long-term career goal is to keep learning because life-long learning is important.”)

But if pressed, write specifics about totally irrelevant details. (Student: “On the way to work, the bridge I cross is 124 meters long and was built in 1972. It was last painted four years ago. I heard the dog on the corner bark three times that morning. The sun was shining behind a veil of wispy clouds. I sighed, lamenting my lost love.” Me: “So, what major are you applying for again?” Him: “Electrical Engineering.”)

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[quote=“Chris”]Sorry, just a rant!

  1. Pepper your essay with plenty of “not only… but also…” and “although … but…” structures, and continue seasoning it with “in addition”, “besides”, “furthermore”, “moreover” and “also”. When in doubt, always add more.

  2. Remember, the period is used for marking the end of a paragraph. Otherwise, end sentences with a comma.

  3. Throw in a pithy Chinese proverb somewhere. That impresses people.

  4. Stating a fact or idea once is never enough; it is not sufficient to say something one time only. Always restate it, rephrase it and say it again, repeatedly and redundantly.

  5. To extend the word count (because long essays always impress people more than short ones), add words like “situation”, “process” and “phenomenon” when not otherwise necessary.

  6. Finish off with a statement about the betterment of mankind.[/quote]

I once translated an essay, and I relate to the above points, especially number 11. I think 75% of the essay was just repetition.

The academic books/articles that I normally work with don’t really show the above characteristics, though.

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[quote=“tsukinodeynatsu”]

On that note, ALL of my teachers at university here are big attendance freaks. They don’t care if you come to class and sleep, AS LONG AS YOU’RE THERE. Whether you learn or not is beside the point, you earn the label of ‘serious student’ merely by showing up.

:loco:

This is why, if I do grad school, I most definitely won’t be doing it here. Too much emphasis is placed on BS that doesn’t matter, and it puts a lot of unnecessary stress on the students.[/quote]

@ tsukinodeynatsu –

I show up early to class whenever I can to do a bit of review/reading. I did this while a undergrad in the US, too. Well, one morning, about 20 minutes before class, my professor came in, saw me, and said, “最早，最好” , after which he left.

As for your take on the education system here, I’m disappointed, too. For a graduate level class, I had to perform twice – think dancing while wearing funny clothes – once for the midterm and once for the final. These performances were graded! The actual content of the class was simplified to the point where some of the things we were “learning” were wrong. When I brought up certain issues, the professor ignored them. And of course most of the Taiwanese students did not question anything (there were a few outliers). I heard it’s worse in the English-taught programs, but I’m not certain.

On the positive side, between NCCU and Tai-da’s libraries (and the internet), I can find almost everything I need. With books in hand, I can get an education equivalent with my US counterparts. Perhaps better, since I’m doing everything myself instead of depending on professors for info/guidance. (Although, good feedback from time to time would be nice.) And, I get payed to study here, unlike the US where I’m hearing graduate-school tuition at my alma mater is nearing 5,000 a quarter (15,000 a year).

(I’m not surprised by the poor recommendation letters.)

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Spoon-feed the math to the reader.

“The number of such cases is expected to double from 150 to 300, an increase of 150 cases. If 10% of them are brought to trial, that will mean an expected increase in the number of cases by 15, rising from 15 to 30, which translates to a 100% rise.”

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This website is the bane of translators in the overseas study business. Students simply crib off this “template” instead of writing stuff in their own words. It’s supposed to be a model of how to write a study plan. Instead, it should be a model on how NOT to write one.

For example, the long-term career goal section (which is supposed to be about what you plan to DO as WORK) instead says nothing about work, but instead states the cliched “life-long learning” BS. :unamused:

ibook.tht.edu.tw/CourseFile%5C66 … BE%8B1.htm

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Next rule:

Somewhere in the essay (preferably once a paragraph), mention how something is “of great help”.

e.g.: “The expertise I will gain from your curriculum will be of great help in enabling me to achieve my career goals.”

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Chris: I really think you should write a book. It would sell well with both the Taiwanese and foreigners. The former would take it as a “how to” guide and the latter a comedic work.

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Time to resurrect the thread.

Next rule: discuss the preparation of a project or event, and its results, but never the project/event itself.

“When preparing for the contest, I assigned tasks based on club members’ abilities, called regular meetings to ensure everyone was on schedule, fostered team unity through open communication, served as a bridge of communication between students and the supervising professor, and tackled any unexpected situations that cropped up. The event proceeded without a hitch and came to a successful conclusion.”

“To prepare for the exam, I set aside two hours every night of quiet time, allotted a certain number of chapters to read and exercises to try, studied carefully, and made sure I had plenty of rest, and I passed.”