Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog! My name is Cuiyao Zeng, you call me Zoe. I am a first-year student at UCI, currently majoring in Education Sciences. My hobbies are reading novels and traveling. I am a trilingual speaker who can speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and English.
The last English course that I took before 39A, was English 4 in high school. In English 4, we were focusing on critically thinking about social progress and technological advancement. We read Brave New World written by Aldous Huxley, discussed the ethics related to gene selection, and privacy issues caused by the surveillance cameras. The first thing I learned in that class was, we should be aware of all the changes happening around us. The world is developing at such a fast pace that new issues are rising every second and we have to stay informed. Secondly, we should look at things through different lenses, look deeper into the issues so that we won’t let technology cross the moral line, or become too dangerous.
As a writer and communicator, my weakness is in grammar and sentence structure. My English 4 teacher once commented on my essay, said that I was wiring in the way I spoke Chinese. To revise that essay, I have to read through it over and over again, to correct every mistake that I found every time I read it. Of course, I received assistance from my classmates, because sometimes I did not even know that I made a grammar mistake. However, I do have strength in writing, especially for argumentative essays. I am good at critically analyzing things from different perspectives, but I need to learn to put my thoughts in the correct grammar and sentence structures.
The score of my practice on the Language and Grammar Diagnostic at Connect is on average, but it is my level of understanding of grammar! By looking back at the results, I found that I was bad at using semicolons. I was surprised that semicolons can be used in a lot of circumstances.
I have gained a basic understanding of the core elements of the course during week one. By reading the syllabus, I knew that this course is about the contribution that Disney films make to social values, especially about the definitions of gender roles. And we will talk about the evolving changes in social construction. To have a good understanding of this topic, we will use Connect to practice, and use Wix to make a website to show what we have learned. Among the many course objectives, practicing engaged reading and improve the accuracy in a variety of texts is important to me. I need to learn to practice communication skills through different media as well: such as writing analytical essays and annotating in readings. The grading contract tells me that if I do all the required works and I will have a minimum of 84 in this class. To have a grade higher than B, we need to present our final portfolio with thoughtful writing and organized graphic designs.
Hi Zoe!
It's really cool that you can speak Cantonese! Because Cantonese is a gorgeous language. Also, I think your English is excellent since I can only take basic English classes during my first college year.
Hey Zoe,
I admire the fact that you can speak three languages! I only know Vietnamese and English and they consume a lot of my time already. I have always wanted to learn Korean but I can’t seem to find the time for it. Knowing more languages is indeed very beneficial though!