Away from English

[Valera]

I don't know, perhaps it is just me, but i've encountered a pretty big problem, after being in beijing for 3 months, i realized that indeed my english level gets better, and so do all the other languages i know....except the one that i actually did come to study...CHINESE...

i was wondering, maby somebody knows, of schools outside beijing(perhaps even a monastry with monks that never seen a western guy before(which is actually even better)) where i could study chinese, on a chinese background?

[self-taught-mba]

I think it all really depends on where you hang out / which school you go to etc.

[cookie_monster]

where have you been studying? Why haven't you been learning? I had a friend that was going to BLCU in the same situation, but she found something else here in BJ instead. I can't recall what it was right now. I'm sure there's something else here without having to go to the drastic measure of trying to become a monk ;-) I'll ask my friend, since I've been thinking about doing some courses here again too

[roddy]

Basically, the smaller the city, the less opportunities you will have to speak English. Pick one you like the look of and sign up for a semester at the local university.

That said, it's 90% discipline. You can be studying at BLCU and living with English speakers and still be creating hours and hours of Chinese speaking practice for yourself, or studying in the middle of nowhere spending all your time with the other 2 ex-pats in town watching downloaded HBO shows.

[Kellian]

I had the same problem in Shanghai... I wasn't willing to move out to the country so I joined a "Chinese corner"... I know, a Chinese corner in China sounds totally ridiculous, but its really a help. It's made of all Chinese teachers-in-training who get in trouble if they speak any English to me and it's GREAT. I find that I'm much nicer to everybody else in the city who constantly insist on speaking English with me. I have my twice a week fix where I get to spend an hour speaking straight Chinese and now I don't insist on speaking Chinese anymore to people whose English makes me want to cry. Maybe there's something like that in Beijing? Check out "That's"

[johnd]

When I visited Heng Shan (衡山) in Hunan, we went in one of the temples to get a vegetarian meal. I could hardly get a quiet moment from the gossipy monks chasing me around. And none of them spoke a word of English

[Valera]

well.the point taken...i lack self discipline....so what???

i do know that there are some chinese corners and culture studying places, but still i live with 3 foreigners, and in three months have made quite a lot of contacts, that i would like to keep in touch, and whenever there's smtn(and there always is) i am of course talking english(in the good case) ......

so i am currently looking for the best small place where i can both study and not enjoy myself:D

about the Heng Shan,do u know if it is possible to join one of the monasterys for half a year?

[roddy]

Then I'll recommend anywhere in the north-east - cheaper cost of living, fewer foreigners and if you get there quick enough the winter will force you to stay in and study for a few months at least. Maybe look at Harbin, Shenyang, Jilin?

[anonymoose]

I wasn't willing to move out to the country so I joined a "Chinese corner"... I know, a Chinese corner in China sounds totally ridiculous, but its really a help. It's made of all Chinese teachers-in-training who get in trouble if they speak any English to me and it's GREAT.

How did you find out about this Chinese corner? I will be in Shanghai soon, and I wouldn't mind trying out something like this.

[Kellian]

I found it in That's Shanghai, but they have a website

shuozhongwen.googlepages.com

They meet Sundays and Thursdays and it's really fantastic. And cheap too, I think it's 300Y for the year. Definitely worth it.

[anonymoose]

I checked the website shuozhongwen.googlepages.com when I was in the UK, and found the information without problem. I decided I'd wait till I arrived in China to check again, but of course, I can't access the site any more. I don't know whether the site has gone, whether it's a result of the earthquake in Taiwan, or whether there is just something wrong with my network.

So, if anyone could post the contact information here, or send it to me in a message, I would be grateful.

Thanks.