CHINESE-99
SURVIVAL CHINESE
Offered Fall 2026
Term
Instructor
Overview
Feedback is mostly positive. The strongest signal is that students say they actually learn something useful. Best for students who want substance, not a disposable elective.
DepartmentAMES
Terms offeredFall
Typical enrollment12–13
Semesters of data2
1.8
Hrs / week
24
Responses
25
Enrollment
96%
Response Rate
Evaluation Scores
Overall quality
Teaching, content, and experience combined.
4.5
Intellectually stimulating
Challenges students to think deeply.
4.5
Instructor effectiveness
Explains concepts and facilitates learning.
4.8
Difficulty
Higher means harder.
2.4
Feedback Analysis
Feedback Analysismedium
Analysis based on student evaluations
Based on 80 comments across 2 sections
Feedback is mostly positive. The strongest signal is that students say they actually learn something useful. Best for students who want substance, not a disposable elective.
Student Reports
How hard is the A?
More reachable A
Student comments make the grading bar sound relatively reachable. This reads more like a course where steady work is rewarded than one where students describe the A as unusually hard to land.
Homework Load
Moderate homework load
Homework load looks moderate. The recurring signal is steady weekly work, but not a course that turns every assignment into a grind.
Lecture Load
Regular lecture load
Lectures matter here, but the evidence points to a fairly standard lecture burden rather than a course dominated by long or exceptionally dense lectures.
Strengths
• Students repeatedly say the course teaches something concrete, whether that is content mastery, research skill, or a strong foundation.
Tradeoffs
• There is no single dominant complaint theme, but the feedback is not uniformly glowing either.
Best fit for
Best for students who want substance, not a disposable elective.
Student Responses
Pinyin, Phonetics, Chinese Culture
Fall 2024 · Liu, Yan
I learned vocabulary and conversations for common scenarios. This included speaking in a restaurant, bargaining, or giving/asking directions.
Fall 2024 · Liu, Yan
Chinese vocabulary, Chinese culture, and teamwork.
Fall 2024 · Liu, Yan
We learned to read pinyin, count in Mandarin, tell the time, make an invitation, dine at a friend's restaurant, order at a restaurant, how to shop and bargain, how to ask for directions, and some miscellaneous vocabulary related to holidays, festivals, and marriage.
Fall 2024 · Liu, Yan
I learned about ways to approach learning mandarin, the importance of knowing different tones, and cultural norms.
Fall 2024 · Liu, Yan
Rating History
Rating history
Error bars show \u00B11 std dev
| Term | Instructor | Overall | Difficulty | Hrs/wk | Enrolled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2025 | Guo, Jiali 3.0Rate My ProfessorsQuality3.0Difficulty3.0Would retake67%Based on 3 ratingsClick to view on RMP → | 4.8 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 12 |
| Fall 2024 | Liu, Yan 4.8Rate My ProfessorsQuality4.8Difficulty2.8Would retake100%Based on 12 ratingsClick to view on RMP → | 4.3 | 2.6 | 2.0 | 13 |
Instructor
Guo, JialiAMES
Also teaches
CHINESE-101 FIRST-YEAR CHINESE I4.8CHINESE-102 FIRST-YEAR CHINESE II4.8CHINESE-203 INTERMEDIATE CHINESE4.4CHINESE-232 INTERM CHN: BIL LEARNERS4.4