Learning Chinese

Learning Chinese, like most things in life, is easier said than done.  But 17.5 hours of classes every week and the opportunity to use the language with native speakers on a daily basis should certainly help.  Or so I am telling myself.  I'm starting to wonder, though, if that's actually true.  More classes seem to be cancelled than meet, and my speaking with native speakers tends to revolve around food at restaurants and directions to taxi drivers.  But my biggest dilemma regarding my Chinese studies at the moment is that I can't seem to find a class that suits my current ability in the language.

 

Classes are divided from A to F, with A being the most advanced students and F being those who have never studied Chinese before.  When I took the placement test, the teacher told me that she would put me in the C class, but that it might be too difficult for me (in which case I could move down to D).  I attended the C class for the first 6 days (which was the first two weeks... like I said, as many classes are cancelled as meet).  But I felt like I was constantly behind.  The books were challenging and the other students in the class were definitely more advanced than me.  With four different types of classes all requiring you to preview lessons before going to class, plus having to study the materials after class, I was spending way too much time outside of class studying and still hardly keeping up in class.  So I decided to try the D class.

 

Turns out I'm the most advanced student in D.  While I hardly spoke in the C class, I speak quite a bit in D.  And the books are quite easy.  I attended class without having ever looked at the materials beforehand (since I bought the books 10 minutes before class), and had no problem keeping up.  In today's reading, there were only 3 or 4 terms I had to look up. 

 

So I can't really decide.  Is it better to try pushing myself with the harder class - despite not following it much at all while I'm there -and just hope I'll start to catch up in a month or two, or is it better to actually understand what's going on in class and really learn that material well?  Is it better to use materials where I have to look up 30+ words per page or where I know all but 3 or 4 words?  Is it better to sit quietly, hoping the teacher will forget to pick me to speak that day since I don't really understand what the class is talking about, or is it better to be one of the first people to chime in, without even being asked?  Is it better to expose myself to a wide range of more difficult vocabulary or learn and be able to use a smaller set of somewhat simpler words?  If anyone knows what I should do, let me know.