I really enjoyed this class. I took it for fun since I needed and elective. I'm not sure if it's the language or the class but I learned an insane amount in just 10 weeks. I did not expect to be able to speak as much Mandarin as I can from this short class.
Despite that, this class is def an intense class and not a laid back few hours a week of work class. However, if you could P/NP you could be able to learn Mandarin at an easier pace if you wanted.
Breakdown of the class:
2 lectures a week, SO much grammar and vocab gone over in each class. You have to participate, you will get called on randomly a ton and there will be pair work. However, its not the same as getting called on in a math class or something. Since its a language class its quite clear that the prof is just trying to provide a practice opportunity and not trying to on the spot test you or anything.
2 discussion sections a week. Most of the days we would have a quiz which are actually pretty hard but the lowest ones are dropped. I would cram study the characters and make my boyfriend do practice runs with me (the format of the quiz requires someone to speak out loud) and averaged an A for the quizzes. The lessons move really fast so make sure you arent slacking on studying since you will need to know past stuff for future assignments since its a language course.
There were lots of workbook homework (a character and question based workbook assignment for each chapter). These would take me a few hours total per chapter. I chose to do traditional characters (most did simplified) and my hand would be hurting so bad, so I would spread out the work of these more if you have time. For the character workbook you would scan with ur phone and upload, but the question workbook you would have to print a lot of pages out and upload (I think you could use an ipad instead but you need to handwrite).
The midterm and final was super fair, study and you will do fine.
There was also a skit project you do with your discussion peers, which required a lot of prep time outside of class/disc. Its not worth too much of the grade and isn't graded too hard, but you kinda have to practice a lot or you will publicly embarrass yourself and disappoint your group lol since its a live performance.
Some other notes:
-The format is a little confusing since it isn't synced with bruinlearn (grades are on myucla), but we would still use bruinlearn pretty much the same amount of any course. So as someone really used to Canvas/bruinlearn it was kinda weird to have the grades and due dates not syned onto it. There's a really convenient assignment syllabus on a calendar format so that made things a lot easier.
-This class takes a bit of a physical toll on you. The textbooks and workbooks are heavy and you have to bring them to class. Kinda sucked as someone who walks from westwood everyday. You could use an ipad instead to avoid this but not prob not a laptop since you need to handwrite. Also, the amount of writing is a LOT, but that just comes with Chinese bc of the characters/writing system.
-You'll prob have to print a lot if you dont have an ipad (quizzes and HW need to be handwritten), so keep that in mind.

This class was one of the best I've taken at UCLA. I took CHIN 1A-3A with Chief and he made the material very accessible to learn for students of all levels and all backgrounds. Definitely recommend this class if you are interested in learning Chinese, he's funny and great and teaching..also is not hard to approach at all if you have questions!

I have all the materials you need for this class (workbook, textbook, character workbook) in BOTH traditional and simplified versions -- please email me ************* or text me at ********** if you're interested!

Chief definitely cares about your learning. Did pretty bad on the first midterm in Chin1, went to his office hours, and did well for the rest of the quarter. Chinese classes or any classes in general definitely take a lot of time, but in the end, you usually end up with that A that you want as long as you study.

If anyone of you needs chinese 1, 2, 3 textbooks, let me know! email: ************* !!! Trying to get rid of them since I will never need them again!

If you're thinking of taking Chinese 1/2/3 with Chief because you want to have a good foundation in learning Chinese, turn away, because you're not going to get it. If you're taking Chinese just for your language requirement, it's one of the easier classes you'll take, but you'll still need to put in a good amount of effort. I took Chinese 1-3 with Chief and got an A each quarter. However, the pace is pretty fast, especially when there are 2 quizzes each week (Chinese 2-3).

Your grade is based on attending section, quizzes, a skit, a Midterm, and a Final. On attending section, that's pretty self-explanatory. He likes picking on some people more than others to answer questions, so you might find yourself getting called on 3-4 times in one Discussion. In the quizzes, Chief dictates 5 Chinese words or phrases for which you have to write the Chinese characters, pinyin, and English meaning, as well as one Chinese sentence that may include one or more of the vocabulary learned in the chapter. The Midterm and Final are generally 40 multiple choice questions that test grammar and vocabulary, and several free-response questions in which you have to translate Chinese into English and vice-versa. Pretty much everybody gets an A on the skit as long as they incorporate the corrections Chief has on the script you send him (written in Chinese or pinyin) and have an intelligible conversation.

As for the actual learning, Chief takes a generally hands-off approach to teaching Chinese. He only goes over grammar in his lectures, so he expects you to study Chinese for 2 hours each day on your own, and that you will dutifully learn the correct strokes and pronunciations (which he doesn't really go over in class) by yourself. The most guidance he will give you in class about how to pronounce the vocabulary words is to repeat each word three times. Because of this, even in Chinese 3, more than half the class couldn't pronounce tones very well, since they relied on pinyin.

Overall, he's a decent professor, but I feel he should be more involved in getting his students to become more fluent in Chinese instead of just throwing vocabulary words at them.

Professor Liancheng Chief is a kind teacher who really cares about his students' learning. He's always available during office hours, and he's more than willing to accommodate students who can't make it to his office hours and need to schedule an appointment. Chi Laoshi's powerpoint lecture is always funny and easy to follow. He likes to use celebrities' photos and news as relevant examples of how to use certain nouns, verbs, or sentence structures. He encourages everyone to practice speaking Chinese and participate during lecture and discussion. I took his class for Chinese 1-3, and it was the best learning experience of my UCLA career.

I have never rated any professor in UCLA but i have to say, Chi laoshi made me change that. He is not only funny and a caring professor but his grading is more than fair. You could literally get an A in the class even if you failed all three major tests (midterm 1, 2 and final). The class is very interactive and the professor gets everybody involved even though its a big class. There are quizzes and they test you on the vocabulary you have learned from the chapter that you have just gone over in the previous class. There are also pop quizes here and there but they are usually very straight forward and really easy since the professor would have mentioned the answer before. Honestly, this is the funnest class i have taken in ucla. You will not regret anything in this class, 100% guaranteed satisfaction unless you slack off completely. hope this helps!

Chi laoshi is awesome... always loved watching the video clips he showed in class.

Definitely doable to get As in his classes, but you'll need some effort. Lot of memorizing pinyin and character strokes, and some grammar points can be difficult to understand. Quizzes every week, but not bad as long as you memorize the vocab. Tests were very straightforward, but you'll need to do translations between English/Chinese/pinyin for the writing portion.

I thought Chi laoshi really tried to get students to be fluent in speaking Chinese during lecture; he always corrects you if you make a mistake in pronunciation. Lots of conversation exercises in lecture/discussion (and I've made lots of friends through this class because through these exercises haha).

Only annoying part of this class is the group skit you have to do every quarter, so there is some outside work involved since you have to write the skit/practice on your own time. However, I will say that some skits were quite funny, so skit writing can be enjoyable. Pick your group members wisely and hope that they really memorize their skit lines well.

If you've have any interest in learning Chinese/just want to complete your language requirement, I definitely recommend taking Chinese 1-3 with Chi laoshi!

Professor Chief is an excellent teacher. Here is a little outline on the course for Chinese 1:

Textbook: You NEED to buy the textbooks and the workbooks. There is a Textbook, Workbook, and Character Workbook.

Lecture: The lectures are really interesting, and Professor Chief's powerpoints included pictures of celebrities which was a crack up. Have a coffee before class though, because you have GOT to be mentally present during lecture because he moves pretty quickly. He posts the slides online.

Homework: For each chapter, there is a workbook homework assignment and a character workbook assignment. The answers to the workbook assignment are posted online.

Quizzes and Tests: Expect a weekly quiz, testing your knowledge of anywhere between 10-30 new Chinese characters and their pinying. You are only quizzed on 5 of the 10-30, but you've got to know them all.
Oral tests, Midterm, and Final are very straight forward. My TA sent us the outline of the test format, which was super helpful so nothing came as a surprise.

Participation: Everyday Professor Chief (or a TA) would ask us questions in Chinese, so you really have to study the language everyday.

Coming from a background of a little bit of Chinese from high school, this class was a breeze. The professor gives about one homework assignment a week, and it is very easy, the hardest part is remembering to do it. The midterm and final are not hard, if you review the vocabulary a day in advance then you should get an A. The professor is funny and he gives extra credit, too. You must go to discussion as there are quizzes and homework is turned in during discussion. The quizzes and tests are purely vocabulary-based so if you know the definitions of the 10-15 characters a week, you will be fine. Easy A, learn Chinese!

Good professor. He goes kinda fast in lecture to actually learn the words and characters but I think his emphasis is more on practicing speaking and listening to Chinese than writing. I ended up doing lots of flashcards and that got me through the class. The final is challenging and everyone has to participate in a skit at the end of the class.
He can get really pissed if he catches someone on their phone or laptop and really wants people to attend lecture. Sometimes he'll do a participation quiz just to take attendance and he'll do role by calling your name to participate in class. There are weekly quizzes in discussion so if you slack on your character memorization your grade will take a hit, but it's really easy most of the time if you've done that. Homework isn't too bad and I mostly did it the night before and it only took 2/3 hours for workbook and characters.