This post got to be the second post in the Student Life tag so far. Last time I shared about my experience finding off-campus housing as an international student in Singapore, and now I cannot be more excited to share about my journey taking a Chinese course at NUS. Seems like this tag is reserved for some interesting experiences I would love to share and represents some of my personal/unpopular decisions I made along the way in this chapter of life moving to Singapore.

Why Bother Learning Chinese

Before I start sharing about the aspect of the course, I want to first talk about my motivations. In fact, it is largely inspired by a Thai Netflix series that was famous this year (2025), which is “Mad Unicorn”. The story revolves around the main character (inspired by a true story) who starts the first unicorn startup in Thailand, “Flash Express”, with a distinguished motivation of both wanting to make delivery in Thailand more affordable, wanting to be rich, and wanting to get revenge. I would not say much about the details, so I don’t need to put a spoiler alert here.

The thing is that in this series, the only thing that the main character has was the Chinese language (not sure which dialect). He lives in the northern part of Thailand, and his mother teaches him the language since he was young. The language itself is really what drives him to success, since he would not have had the idea of this business in the first place if he didn’t go to China and see the efficiency and effectiveness of the delivery system there. The ability to speak Chinese brought him to meet many business stakeholders, which eventually brought him there.

Another aspect is also because the actor who plays the main character doesn’t know how to speak Chinese at all but eventually learned to memorise everything within two months before filming (without understanding the meanings), and he ended up doing quite well in acting, supporting a smooth conversation with his co-star who can already speak Chinese natively.

Having been living here in Singapore for a while, I always think, what if I could speak Chinese. Many people here think I am Chinese (technically I am, but my family cannot speak either), so they start speaking Chinese to me, and it becomes awkward from time to time. I have also started loving Chinese cooked food at Terrace Canteen, and I think the ability to talk to them more fluently is useful. Deciding to learn a new language when you are not too young may not be a popular decision. However, I decided to take it anyway, thinking that I have a passion for it and that it would be useful.

How I Learn It

Although this blog post does not mean to be a module review, I must say that I am learning Chinese from the course LAC1201: Chinese 1 at NUS, which is meant to be a part of the Chinese courses for non-native speakers who have no prior experience. Chinese 1 and 2 are rated as beginner level, 3 and 4 are rated as intermediate level, and 5 and 6 are rated as advanced level. So far, I am learning Chinese 1 and plan to continue taking it until I graduate! In fact, the day I am writing this post is the same date as when the course’s final tests took place.

I am not sure about the experience for other language courses at NUS, but for me, this is my favourite course this semester besides some of the Computer Science courses I am also taking! My teacher 林老师 is really passionate about teaching, and she definitely puts a lot of effort into teaching us. Although the pacing of the course becomes much faster after lessons 3 and 4 (we have 8 lessons in total), consistent practice via flashcards (like the given Quizlet) is the key that helps me stay on track throughout the semester. In Chinese 1, I can confirm that we have learned roughly 120+ words that are examinable. Out of that, we only need to know how to write these characters from scratch:

一、八、也、女、五、大、六、不、吗、呢、妈、哥、人、十、中、生、她、他、们、你、那、哪、都、老、师、国、医、是、七、小、认、识 、语、汉、您、朋、友、贵、姓、叫、的、二、儿、见、四、我、在、坐、请、问、这、进、再、学、好、姐、用、九、工、三、气、去、有、天、太、什、么、时、现、明、间、说、忙、谢、下、来、介、习、很、高、兴、看、名、谁、绍、字、爸、美、几、个、少、家、和、弟、还、共、妹、没、男、做、作、多、外。

The rest are only those we are required to learn as read or write (not from scratch), as well as listen or speak in the related exam format. This course follows the lessons in the New Practical Chinese Reader Vol. 1 2nd Edition. I found the order of learning to be quite well-designed, and it made me fascinated by the radicals in the Chinese characters as well. Most of the words introduced in each lesson are really similar in terms of how to write, and they can be used together in one conversational dialogue since they are also closely related in context. I personally found Chinese characters to be quite interesting, and I may consider exploring them more by myself when I have enough time.

Final Thoughts and Acknowledgment

This section may be the most important for this entire post. In fact, my initial thought of writing this would be to share the thoughts or takeaways (aside from the language itself) that I got from this course. I have summarised it as follows.

1. Trying New Things: I think people should try taking courses outside their majors more (of course subject to interest). If you are learning it well, it is of course not a waste of time. You will find inspiration outside the field that you may be able to use in your courses. For example, I am also planning to build some projects related to learning Chinese (stay tuned for that!), which may not have been raised initially if I did not understand how language works. I am also taking CS2104: Programming-Language Concepts this semester, which kinda helps me see the connections between syntax and semantics in natural and programming languages, since grasping a new language also helps me learn more aspects about linguistics as well.

2. Meet New People: This is also an important aspect. I think meeting diverse people actually helps you see more diverse ideas that you can filter to see if they are beneficial for your life. It lets you see the part of the world you never knew before. Most people taking the course with me are from nursing. Before this, I knew zero people there and I didn’t even know how hospital systems work in Singapore. Of course, it is true that you can take non-language courses to meet new people as well, but I feel that it doesn’t apply to GE modules where people probably go there just to S/U or pass their graduation requirements. Language courses are one of those many courses where people take them based on true interest, and you may meet someone inspiring!

3. Doing Something for Myself: Eventually, I think the joy of doing this is because I am doing it for myself. The goal of learning is to live everyday life more happily, not grinding for careers, successes, etc. When removing those extrinsic factors out, I think everything becomes much more enjoyable. If anyone has been putting so much effort into yourself (in terms of growth and mastery) and has left behind the passion or joy, don’t forget to take a break and try them; you may take away something valuable anyway.

As a final note, I would say:

我喜欢学习汉语。中文真有意思！我们的老师教得很好。

Thanks for reading till the end! Hope you take away some key points or get some motivation to start doing something for yourself today :)