Assignments – November 13 - 20

For next week, please do the following, which is a departure from the original syllabus. Jiang Peng and Esther, I have a different assignment for you two in a separate email note.

* If you were in the speech contest, you don’t need to prepare anything for Tuesday. Otherwise, everybody should begin to study lyrics from songs.

Group A: Make a list of words from “Houlai.” As you discussed last Tuesday in class (Nov 6), you may divide this up. But try to get one person to prepare a master list, and everybody should try to learn the song. You don’t have to understand every line, since there are a few lines that are a bit more difficult. But get familiar enough with the song so you can read a few stanzas, and follow the words as you listen to the song. For Tuesday November 13, be prepared to read two stanzas (of your choice) in class. If you can sing it you get extra credit. For Thursday, see if you can provide a group translation for Houlai, so, you’ll need one person to be in charge of this list.

For the following Tuesday (Nov 20), prepare “Wa ziji de jing.” You can find this in the “listening tab.” I have added the Chinese characters and pinyin although the Pinyin may have the usual computer generated mistakes. You either have to speak this in class on November 20, or make a recording and submit that to me.

Everybody else (except Esther and Jiang Peng).

You need to prepare two songs to present in class. You also need to make a recording of “Santa Claus,” either didi or jiejie.  Do your best to make the recording before Thanksgiving.

For the songs, you may find a song on your own to prepare (send me the exact title and artist so I can find it in Baidu, or send me the lyrics). I will assign everybody one song as follows:

Becnel,Melva - Kuangben
Chen,Joseph M - Huxi bun neng shuohuang
Chevez, Griselda Magdalena - Kuangben
Ear,Huy Kok – Ku nanren or Congtouzailai
Howell II,Joseph Wayne - Liuyanghe
Kwan,Irene - Tongnian
Pinto,Sarah Sabrina – Huxi bun neng shuohuang
Solomon Jr,Allan Lee – Women doushi zhongguoren
Wing,Jonathan Ross – Chou nanren

For the song I’ve assigned you, figure out as best you can the general meaning. Each of these songs tells some kind of story, or gives a description of a person’s emotional state. For both of the songs, translate the songs line by line. Then for the song I assigned, write a short description (in characters) of what the song means. Basically, write a narrative description of the song, and this doesn’t have to include every line, just the main idea. Finish by trying to add a few of your own comments about the song. Be familiar with the lyrics of both songs by Tuesday November 13. Try to turn in the description of the song Nov 15. If that’s not enough time, let me know through email.