Yan Shen
Department of Chinese
AD
4.3
Overall Rating
Based on 11 Users
Easiness 3.3 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 4.8 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 3.5 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 4.6 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

TOP TAGS

  • Useful Textbooks
GRADE DISTRIBUTIONS
69.2%
57.7%
46.2%
34.6%
23.1%
11.5%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

76.0%
63.3%
50.7%
38.0%
25.3%
12.7%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

75.9%
63.2%
50.6%
37.9%
25.3%
12.6%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

77.3%
64.4%
51.5%
38.6%
25.8%
12.9%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

71.4%
59.5%
47.6%
35.7%
23.8%
11.9%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

66.7%
55.6%
44.4%
33.3%
22.2%
11.1%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

ENROLLMENT DISTRIBUTIONS
Clear marks

Sorry, no enrollment data is available.

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Reviews (4)

1 of 1
1 of 1
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Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A-
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
March 6, 2022

If you took Shen's Chinese 4 Class, you'll already know what to expect. Otherwise, you'll be in for a treat.

If you're too lazy to look up her reviews for Chinese 4, I copy-pasted my previous review:

Shen Laoshi was a very great professor, definitely caring about student learning and having very engaging lectures. She was definitely flexible, and has adapted well to online learning. She also gave personal feedback for homework assignments and essays.
---
The class is significantly different compared to the Chinese 1 to 3 series. While reviews from a decade or so ago indicate this class was an easy A, and most students still gets A's it appears that the Chinese series was overhauled a few years ago and made more difficult. All the homework and powerpoint slides were labeled “Chin 100A,” for example.
---
Regardless, the class was still not difficult, but the class did require quite a bit of work and studying. For example:
---
There were three essays. Two were take-home essays and one was in-class. The in-class essay is an on-demand essay, but with multiple prompts, open everything, and a baseline knowledge of Chinese, it's completely manageable.
---
Next, one quiz is given per chapter, with 7 total and the lowest 2 dropped. Yes, two are dropped, but they can be quite difficult since we're graded on a flat scale. Miss 3 questions and you have yourself a B. These quizzes were quite long, around 45 minutes each, and felt quite a bit like the AP Exam style questions. They were all multiple choice, with listening and reading comprehension sections.
---
There were text recordings, where you read the text dialogue by yourself or with a partner. Fortunately, this was graded based on completion only. I have mixed feelings about this; this was good speaking practice but sometimes felt like busy work.
---
There is the final video project. This was a decent amount of work that should take 3 days to do, or about 12 hours total including subtitles and practice.
---
Exams were all open note, with a midterm and a final. They're a major time-crunch, however, and I found it easy to lose track of time.
---
Other than that, it didn’t feel too much different from the 1-3 series. Homework was based on completion and grade cutoffs were fixed. The written exams were open note (and actually not proctored whatsoever). Finally, two big logistics notes: First, Shen Laoshi gives you everything you need to do the homework assignments. The Workbook is NOT NEEDED. But, the textbook is highly helpful, and you SHOULD buy the textbook, but not the workbook. Second, the lectures are NOT recorded, but the slides are given out. That said, the slides themselves don’t have too much on them, so lectures are basically mandatory. Students are also graded on attendance and effort..

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2024
Grade: N/A
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Sept. 5, 2024

Yan Shen is a godsend! She WANTS you to do well. Chinese language learning is no joke, so obviously this class is difficult and effort must be put in. But, that being said she wants you to succeed and provides all of the respiurces for you to do so. The key is scoring well on all quizes - you have one or two weekly. If that is accomplished you dont NEED that high of a final test score. Overal is hard but i cant imagine a better instructure than YAN Shen.

PS. you cant miss any classes

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2019
Grade: A
Oct. 14, 2019

Shenlaoshi is honestly one of the best professors I've had at UCLA. She's super helpful and overall just a very nice lady. Her lectures were straightforward and clear. The workload consisted of weekly homework assignments and quizzes, oral recordings and occasional group projects. She's a pretty lenient grader so as long as you put some effort into the class, you'll end up with an A.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
April 25, 2008

dang, i have to say that she is one of the best prof here at ucla!! She truely cares about student's learning ( if she sees that u r doing poorly on a test, she'll come and talk to you and help you to improve). She also has a very sincere heart treating her students and like what everyone saids, her class is an esay A as long as you put in some effort.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A-
March 6, 2022

If you took Shen's Chinese 4 Class, you'll already know what to expect. Otherwise, you'll be in for a treat.

If you're too lazy to look up her reviews for Chinese 4, I copy-pasted my previous review:

Shen Laoshi was a very great professor, definitely caring about student learning and having very engaging lectures. She was definitely flexible, and has adapted well to online learning. She also gave personal feedback for homework assignments and essays.
---
The class is significantly different compared to the Chinese 1 to 3 series. While reviews from a decade or so ago indicate this class was an easy A, and most students still gets A's it appears that the Chinese series was overhauled a few years ago and made more difficult. All the homework and powerpoint slides were labeled “Chin 100A,” for example.
---
Regardless, the class was still not difficult, but the class did require quite a bit of work and studying. For example:
---
There were three essays. Two were take-home essays and one was in-class. The in-class essay is an on-demand essay, but with multiple prompts, open everything, and a baseline knowledge of Chinese, it's completely manageable.
---
Next, one quiz is given per chapter, with 7 total and the lowest 2 dropped. Yes, two are dropped, but they can be quite difficult since we're graded on a flat scale. Miss 3 questions and you have yourself a B. These quizzes were quite long, around 45 minutes each, and felt quite a bit like the AP Exam style questions. They were all multiple choice, with listening and reading comprehension sections.
---
There were text recordings, where you read the text dialogue by yourself or with a partner. Fortunately, this was graded based on completion only. I have mixed feelings about this; this was good speaking practice but sometimes felt like busy work.
---
There is the final video project. This was a decent amount of work that should take 3 days to do, or about 12 hours total including subtitles and practice.
---
Exams were all open note, with a midterm and a final. They're a major time-crunch, however, and I found it easy to lose track of time.
---
Other than that, it didn’t feel too much different from the 1-3 series. Homework was based on completion and grade cutoffs were fixed. The written exams were open note (and actually not proctored whatsoever). Finally, two big logistics notes: First, Shen Laoshi gives you everything you need to do the homework assignments. The Workbook is NOT NEEDED. But, the textbook is highly helpful, and you SHOULD buy the textbook, but not the workbook. Second, the lectures are NOT recorded, but the slides are given out. That said, the slides themselves don’t have too much on them, so lectures are basically mandatory. Students are also graded on attendance and effort..

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Winter 2024
Grade: N/A
Sept. 5, 2024

Yan Shen is a godsend! She WANTS you to do well. Chinese language learning is no joke, so obviously this class is difficult and effort must be put in. But, that being said she wants you to succeed and provides all of the respiurces for you to do so. The key is scoring well on all quizes - you have one or two weekly. If that is accomplished you dont NEED that high of a final test score. Overal is hard but i cant imagine a better instructure than YAN Shen.

PS. you cant miss any classes

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2019
Grade: A
Oct. 14, 2019

Shenlaoshi is honestly one of the best professors I've had at UCLA. She's super helpful and overall just a very nice lady. Her lectures were straightforward and clear. The workload consisted of weekly homework assignments and quizzes, oral recordings and occasional group projects. She's a pretty lenient grader so as long as you put some effort into the class, you'll end up with an A.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
April 25, 2008

dang, i have to say that she is one of the best prof here at ucla!! She truely cares about student's learning ( if she sees that u r doing poorly on a test, she'll come and talk to you and help you to improve). She also has a very sincere heart treating her students and like what everyone saids, her class is an esay A as long as you put in some effort.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
1 of 1
4.3
Overall Rating
Based on 11 Users
Easiness 3.3 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 4.8 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 3.5 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 4.6 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

TOP TAGS

  • Useful Textbooks
    (2)
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