Chinese 431-Advanced Conversation

Assignment 1: Introducing Someone

For the first assignment, you will give a detailed, 5-minutes introduction of someone. Try to present a clear and as complete as possible picture of what that person is like.

There will be 3 stages to this process:

First, you will interview each other to find out as much as possible about each other. It may be good to ask and answer questions in turn. Please take notes. Be accurate in your spelling of names and words.

Then, you will organize the information you have gotten and present it to the class. Try not to read from a script. A list of key words is OK as reminders. After the presentation, you may be asked clarification questions. You can also confirm with your interviewee, while presenting, about the accuracy of your information, to make the presentation more interactive. You will get feedback from your peers and the teacher. You should pay close attention to the feedback you get and take notes about it. Are you making yourself understood? Are you leaving out some interesting facts about the person? Check your pronunciation, sentence structure, choice of words and organization.

Finally, based on the feedback, you should then record the revised presentation on tape at home and hand it in to me by 1/31/06 (Tuesday).

Grading will be based on the amount of information and the quality of the presentation (pronunciation, word usage, grammar, organization), as well as the successful incorporation of feedback.

Suggestions on what to include (not limited to these):

Personal information:

Name, Chinese and English; Ethnicity and nationality; Zodiac sign (in lieu of age?)

Hometown/home country, past travel experience

Current residence

Language background and current ability

Family:

Parents, Siblings

Spouse

Relatives

Marital status and kids (OK questions in Chinese, but optional if you don’t feel good to ask or answer)

Likes and dislikes:

Hobbies, things to do/places to go; preferences in people, things and places

School:

Major, rank; classes and how they are

Prior education, prior Chinese and other language classes

Other:

Work and interesting life experiences, personality etc.

Career goals and aspirations