My Response to My New Penpal...

你好， Mark!

别担心:) 你说什么都行！ 我喜欢各种各样的音乐， 比如说流行音乐，节奏布鲁斯,  饒舌音乐和Kpop 。另外， 因为我从小的时候弹吉他，弹钢琴， 所以我喜欢吉他音乐和古典音乐。

Also, this is random but the weather is really great today! Before, it was always either snowing or raining here, but now it is finally warm! I usually love cold weather but it was time for a change. At my school, students LOVE to do something we call  “lawning” in the spring. It is not a proper english word; the students just made up the word. “Lawning” is when you relax in the sun and sunbath.

这是有些“lawning”的学生：

(Photo Inserted)

顺便问一下，你今天过得怎么样？你有什么问题要问我吗？

Best,

Tori

祝：无忧无虑😄😄😄

Pen Pal's Response!

你好，很高兴认识你,Tori。很荣幸做了你的笔友，我叫做杨煜麟，上高一，来自中国上海,我的英文名是Mark.我现在与我父母生活在一起。我的高中叫做大同中学，平时我们的课程比较多，语文，数学，英语，化学，物理，地理，历史，信息，政治等。在周末，我也和你一样，比较喜欢打电子游戏或者出去做志愿者，生活还是很充实的。至于音乐，我平时比较喜欢纯音乐或者演奏的音乐。希望以后能来你们这里游玩。

Hello,Tori.I'll talk to you in English now.I started learning English since I was twelve,but i still cant translate Chinese into English very fluently.Also im a little nervous.

Then i'll tell you something about my family.I dont have any brother or sister, but i have two cousins.One is already married,and the other is the same age as me.My father is an engineer of a car company and my mother is a teacher.

Thank you for writing to me.Wating for your reply.

                                                                        best

                                                                       Mark

祝你学习天天向上( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)✧

A New Pen Pal This Term...

I have a new pen pal this term. This is what I wrote them:

你好，我听说你是我的笔友了！

我的英文名字叫Tori, 可是我的中文名字是陆文凯。 我现在上安多弗高中， 上十一年级，今年十七岁。 因为我是寄宿生, 所以我现在住在我的学校， 可是我的家人住在康涅狄格州。我的学校离我的家差不多两个小时。这个学期我在上五门课：数学课，英语课，中文课，历史课和物理课。 在学校，我很喜欢学中文，已经学了两年中文。 周末我喜欢跟朋友玩儿，玩儿电子游戏，织衣服， 看书， 什么的。 你家有几口人？ 周末你喜欢做什么？你喜欢什么样的的音乐？

(Apparently I’m supposed to write to you both in Chinese and English, so I’ll write in English now!)

I guess I’ll tell you little bit more about myself! I have two siblings. My older sister is named Michaela, and she is currently a sophomore in college. My older brother, Ti, is just about to graduate from college. My mother is a biologist, and my father is a researcher and a doctor.  Because I go to a boarding school, I haven’t seen my family in a while, but I’m excited to see them in the summer! By the way, what are your parents occupations?

I think that’s a pretty good introduction for now. Can’t wait to here back from you!

Best,

Tori (文凯）

祝：天天开心 :)

My Response to Six

你好，子渊！

我在网上检索《三体》，看起来很有意思！ 我也很喜欢科幻小说！ 我会去我的学校的图书馆，从图书馆借书。寒假的时候我想读两本书，叫The Fake Prince和Foundation. 我的朋友说这本书都很有意思！在学校我很喜欢上中文课和物理课。 现在我觉得大学毕业以后，我想当一个天体物理学家因为我对天文学感兴趣。除了中文和物理以外，今年我也很喜欢历史课。 这个学期我有一个新的美国历史老师。 我想我的以前的老师可是我的新的老师好像好玩儿。

But I’m really excited for the winter break! My family and I were debating whether or not to go to the Caribbean during the break, since part of my family lives there and since it’s WAY warmer there than here, but we decided to stay at home. I actually wanted to stay at home, since I’ve always celebrated Christmas at home and so I’m so used to it. What’s your favorite holiday? Mine would have to be either Christmas or American Thanksgiving, since there’s tons of awesome food and your surrounded by all of your friends and family. 

Hope to here back from you soon！ 祝：天天开心！！！

Tori （文凯）:-) 

Received Another Email!

Hi Tori!

Sorry for the delay, I have being busy with our mid term examination, which is pretty crucial in our high school life. I don't know if I an supposed to write both in Chinese and in English, my teacher who is charge of this project didn't mention much about how I should communicate. So, I guess I will also send both Chinese and English mail. I feel happy for your mother to have such a pen pal, it’s just so hard to find a friend like that, let alone pen pal. Thanks about asking how was I doing, I am doing ok with my study. The weather is as the same here in Beijing, today is the first snow day in 2016! And we went to a traditional Chinese clinic called 弘医堂, we learned a lot about herbal medicines, today’s social activity (as it is called by our teacher) is so much better than just sitting in our classroom learning stuffs. I love Agatha Christie “Tommy & Tuppence” series and a Chinese Science fiction called “Three Body”(《三体》), have you ever heard of that? Science fiction is always my favorite! 

其实，不瞒你说，我们这边的理科也是越来越难，（说起来和废话一样...不过我特别喜欢聊天）我们这边高二的时候分科了，分为文科和理科，文科从高二开始副科主修历史、政治和地理，理科从高二开始副科主修物理、化学和生物。选择学哪一个由我们自己来决定，我学理科。我们数学考试永远都是会死人的，我们从来不敢说自己准备好了，因为是事实准备了也没用，总会几家欢喜几家愁，但是说实话我很喜欢研究理科的问题。我也很喜欢你的名字的来历～你在学校最喜欢学哪几个科目啊？

Looking forward to your reply!

Six Z

祝：无忧无虑，天天开心～～

发自我的 iPhone

Fall Term Pen Pal Reflections

1) How much time have you spent on writing correspondences with your Chinese partners?

I have spent a good and considerable amount time writing correspondences with my pen pal (around thirty minutes for each email), since I try hard to have proper grammar and look over each email multiple times before sending it. 

2) Have you responded right away? Have they?

My first pen pal responded right away, while my second pen pal did not. In her email, my second pen pal explained that studying was taking up a considerable amount of her time, most likely do to upcoming midterms. While I responded quickly to my first pen pal, I did not respond as fast to my second pen pal, since I did not want her to feel stressed and obligated to write back to me immediately. 

3) What are some of the things that you learned about your partner? 

For my first partner, I learned that his name is 刘宝祥, however his English name is Bolt. He is currently eleven years old and in seventh grade. He loves sports, including soccer, basketball, badminton, table tennis, and cross country. He also enjoys playing instruments, such as the piano and the Erhu, and listening to pop music. 

For my second partner, I learned that her Chinese name is 曾子渊 and that her English name is Six. She is currently sixteen and in eleventh grade. Her hobbies include golfing, fencing, reading, and (like me) knitting/crocheting. 

4) Have you learned any new words? List them here.

New words I learned included 咱们 and 交流. 

Final Message to Pen Pal for this Term....

你好， 子渊！

其实，我最近发现我的妈妈也有一个笔友了！ 她的笔友住在澳大利亚。 她们好想互通写信了差不多四十年了！

你怎么样？这个星期这儿的天气越来越冷, 天气预报说后天要下雨了。 我刚才考完一个数学考试。 我和我的同学以为了我们准备好了， 可是考试太难了！😭下课以后，有的同学看上去死了！ 

我的爸爸爱打高尔夫球。 我也很喜欢打高尔夫球，可是更喜欢练习瑜伽。你写了你喜欢读书。 你喜欢什么书？ 

(Apparently I’m supposed to write to you both in Chinese and English, so I’ll write in English now!) 

You also asked in your last email how I got my Chinese name. It was randomly picked! My Chinese teacher just randomly gave me my name. The interesting thing, though, is that my Chinese name and my English name, which is really Victoria (my nickname is Tori), both have the same meaning of Victory. 

Also, my teacher told me to upload a picture of myself! 

这是我： 

(Photo for some reason not uploading on Blogger!) 

你可以把你的照片发给我吗？ 

Hope all is well！祝：天天开心！ 

Tori (文凯）😄