Who wants to learn about Chinese language, culture and medicine for free?
I am (very nearly) done with finals for Fall term 2007! Hurrah! I am currently working on a couple of articles to publish over the next few days concerning what kind of gifts to get your favorite Chinese medicine student. In doing research for that I ran across a half-written article that I should have just published ages ago.
It occurs to me that many of you may not know about the phenomenal resource that is MIT OpenCourseWare. For those of you students about to start break, here’s an opportunity TO NEVER STOP THE ENDLESS FLOW OF INFORMATION INTO YOUR BRAIN. Ha! Seriously, though, this is an excellent effort on the part of a major educational institution to reduce the number of restrictions on people to get a quality education. MIT, a prestigious institution by any measure, has made the majority of their courses available ONLINE for free. You just have to go download the packages onto your computer and follow the instructions included in the “read me” file. If you have any technical problems, there are plenty of resources there to help you through any issues. It doesn’t substitute for real-time learning, of course, but it’s a wonderful thing nonetheless. The courses include notes, slide shows, audio, video, extensive bibliography (some of them annotated) links galore and even test materials. I have worked through a course before and can attest to its usefulness. For those of you skeptical that this kind of learning would work for you, just try it!
For my readers there are several courses of relevance, including:
- A four course language series followed by a two course series in Chinese culture - these include audio and video resources, an online book, assignments and loads of other resources. I have heard great things about this course. I’m going to begin it this break along with beginning the Rosetta Stone program (Chinese I). Along with interacting with my professors and spending time with other Chinese language speakers, it’s as close to immersion as I’m going to get without paying some serious money. :) There is also a streamlined Chinese language series for people who speak some Chinese but need help with reading and writing.
- Traditional Chinese Literature: Poetry, Fiction and Drama for those of us interested in delving deeper into Chinese cultural traditions.
- Government and Politics of China. I think understanding where the government of China is today and where it’s come from can help us to more fully understand the landscape of our medicine. For instance, are we going to be able to get herbs imported in the next decade? What might influence our ability to do that?
- A class about the experiences of Chinese people as they lived through the big changes of the 19th and 20th centuries.
- A course about the “human side” of medicine which I believe refers to the more philosophical issues inherent in medicine. What is a doctor? What is a patient? What does it mean to be in one of these roles? It looks like it focuses on Western medicine, but valuable nonetheless.
- An anthropology course called Myth, Ritual and Symbolism that would be of interest to anyone seeking to open their minds to the more symbolic ways of looking at reality. Great for people just starting in Chinese medicine.
- A fantastic looking course on Medical Anthropology which should be of interest to people in any medical discipline.
- A history course about East Asia and its impact in and influence on the world.
- Here’s a link to the whole Division of Health Sciences and Technology section of OpenCourseWare, any of those classes could be of interest, particularly if you are interested in integrative medicine.
No classes on Chinese medicine, as such, but such great information that can really enhance your overall complex of knowledge relevant to your studies. If you take a course, let us know how it goes! If you would like to read more articles like this one, be sure to subscribe to this blog via RSS feed or via email.
Eric
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Tags: chinese-language, cultural-differences, education, internet, Learning, study
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8 Responses to “Who wants to learn about Chinese language, culture and medicine for free?”
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Eric,
I have been enjoying the fruits of UC Berkeley and MIT all year, but your sleuthing is truly awesome. I’m looking forward to refreshing my Chinese again too. I hear Rosetta stone is great. Two semesters of clasical Chinese at UC Berkeley launched me on my acupuncture career in the first place.
Oh suh-wee-tuh! Thanks E.
And double recommendation on Rosetta Stone. Best approach i’ve ever come across.
I the interest of full-disclosure I must admit that Michael was the one who told me Rosetta Stone is great.
As China increasingly is seen as a growing business power, interest in learning the Chinese language had rocketed, and dominance of Chinese over English will be a long time coming. More and more people begin to learn Chinese, because here is clear career potential for the future. Chinese language education market will be prosperous. If you are interested in it, visit the website http://www.learnchinese.bj.cn/
a couple websites for chinese that are a great help too.
http://www.chinesepod.com
and
http://www.askbenny.cn
thanks for the tips,
lisa
I really like to learn Chinese and it was really great links. Anyway I feel that Chinese form of medicine is something that we should look forward for considering that most of there herbs are indeed helpful and effective. One by one I will studies and read them all so I can grasp more of Chinese culture and tradition.
thanks, what a great resource!
Great blog with loads of information. Looks like you are putting more effort into your blog than your studies lol Keep the good work up :-)