COURSE DETAILS

At the end of Intermediate Burmese (100A, 100B), non-native students will be able to speak Burmese using basic sentence structures, conjunctions, and modifiers to discuss a history, literature, music, and current events. They will also be able to read and write simple literary-style paragraphs describing daily activities, food, travel, family life, home life, and pop culture.

Academic Year 2022-2023

Intermediate Burmese 100A/B (15 units)
ZOOM
Wednesdays 4-6PM
Thursdays 4-6PM
Fridays 4-5PM 

Fulfills one year of language requirement.

Burmese 100A Fall 2020 (7.5 units): September 22, 2022 to December 2, 2022
Burmese 100B Winter/Spring 2021 (7.5 units): January 18, 2023 to May 5, 2023

Note: This is a distance learning class administered through UC Berkeley and conducted through Zoom. Students are required to attend the class and participate in live discussions during the designated times.

ELIGIBILITY

• Currently enrolled graduate or undergraduate student
• Minimum GPA required: 2.0 for undergraduate students, 3.0 graduate students
• Must be already enrolled in minimum 12 units at UCLA
• Note: To enroll, student need to have successfully completed BURMESE 1A and 1B (Introductory Burmese), or possess basic Burmese speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills.

STUDY MATERIALS INCLUDE

• excerpts from Lu Du Daw Amar’s (လူထုဒေါ်အမာ) biographical essay “Back to Pyin Oo Lwin once more” (ပြင်ဦးလွင်သို့တစ်ခေါက်ရောက်ခဲ့ပြန်တော့);

• a news clip about admission fee increases for foreigners at the Shwe Dagon pagoda;

• lyrics from the song “The Thadingyut When We Shall Meet Again” (“ပြန်ဆုံမဲ့သီတင်းကျွတ်”).

LESSONS & EXERCISES INCLUDE

• converting spoken Burmese into literary Burmese;

• writing a report about a Burmese book in a university or public library;

• using the (verb clause +အချိန်/ချိန်) structure to describe timeframes attached to specific actions;

• converting verbs into nouns with the prefix အ and suffix ခြင်း;

• using Burmese onomatopoeia (sound-imitating phrases) to describe actions and events;

• writing the opening to a ghost story using onomatopoeias. 

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Kenneth Wong is the author of A Prayer for Burma (Santa Monica Press, 2003), a travelogue and memoir about growing up under military rule; Survival Burmese: Phrasebook and Dictionary (Tuttle Publishing, 2017); Easy Burmese: a Complete Language Course and Pocket Dictionary (Tuttle Publishing, 2019). His short stories, articles, poetry translations, and essays have appeared in Myanmar Times, Irrawaddy, San Francisco Chronicle, AGNI, among others. 

ENROLLMENT INSTRUCTIONS

Because it takes a few weeks for the enrollment to be processed, students are asked to start the enrollment process at least four weeks before classes begin.

1. If interested, contact the instructor Kenneth Wong at kennethwong@berkeley.edu for an initial language assessment.
2. To officially enroll, contact Sandy Valdivieso at sandy@international.ucla.edu to schedule a meeting. 
3. The students should have the following forms ready when making the appointment:

Undergraduate students: Simultaneous Enrollment Form

Graduate students: Intercampus Exchange Program Application
(The form must be approved by the department chair.)