Learn characters fast and easy.

[sthubbar]

I have been attending the "Future Development School" http://www.ictc.net.cn/method-Eng.htm in Beijing for a little over 1 month now. Their method of teaching Chinese is completely different than any other school I have encountered, and I like it.

The method is almost directly lifted out of a children's book series. It consists of teaching short poems, 4 lines of 7 characters each.

Why do I like this program.

1) Definite progress - After every class, I can see progress towards being able to read and understand the 2000+ characters I want to be able to understand. After spending 4 months at a traditional university, I'm sure my Mandarin improved some, I just can't specifically pinpoint it.

2) Learning fun, culturally relevant material - These texts we are learning are the same texts that all Chinese children learn. How many people can complete this poem "Chuang qian ming yue guang, yi shi di shang shuang, ....."? If you say those lines to 99% of Chinese they will smile, probably start to roll their head and finish that without even thinking about it. This is equivalent to walking up to a native English speaker and saying "Mary had a little what?" (singing in the proper melody of course would make it even more compelling).

3) Learning character meanings in context - Since we are learning stories, each character we are learning is being learned in context. This really makes is to much easier to understand and remember what each of these characters mean.

Who is this method good for

A Chinese learner with a beginner-intermediate conversation level that would like to have a structured class that progresses through the characters in a rapid manner. The character rate is about 20 per day.

Students that have taken traditional classes using BLCU, or Beijing University books, and still can't read.

Who this class is not for

A student wanting to learn grammar, or writing the characters right away. I am under the impression that later on we will spend some time getting some level of writing, just not right at the beginning.

I'm currently taking an evening class, M-Th 6:30 - 9:30 plus Sunday 9-4. They allowed me to sit in on a free class to check it out before I started.

[kudra]

from the web site in the OP

Some of our foreign students, after using the method of study for only four or five months, have taken the Test of Chinese Proficiency (HSK) and were subsequently granted the certificate for Band Five.

Band 5, that would be Elem. A? 4-5 months. Gosh, I feel like such a chump!

...little over 1 month now...

Do let us know how you score on the HSK when you take it sometime this year.

How does this compare to Beijing Film Academy or other's you have attended?

I am under the impression that later on we will spend some time ...

I am curious how much you paid up front without being clear what you were going to be taught?

[gougou]

Band 5, that would be Elem. A? 4-5 months. Gosh, I feel like such a chump!

They don't mention what those students did before, or simultaneously. Something tells me that their sole preparation for the HSK was not 4 months of reading poems...

[sthubbar]

I paid 2000 RMB up front for two months of classes consisting of 18 hours per week. 27.77 RMB/hour for a two student to one instructor class seems inexpensive to me.

These classes are completely different than any other school. The Beijing Film Academy classes are pretty standard. The things I like about them is small class size, quality instructors and freedom to attend any class I want.

Yes, I do other studying besides this class. When regular school is in session, I take classes at the Beijing Film Academy. I am currently taking an HSK prep class at Diqiucun, and I also meet with a tutor for 4 hours per day during this break.

I think it is safe to assume their boasts on their website are just that. No different than another school I just talked to that said a student of their's studied for something like 6 months or maybe it was one year and got an 8 on the HSK. I knew there was a catch so I asked the nationality of the student, uhh Japanese. I'm sorry but if anyone can show me a non-asian language speaking person, that has no history of studying or being exposed to any Asian language, and is unable to sing any Asian language songs, and is not an avid fan of Asian films or cartoon or other media. If that person can achieve an HSK of 8 in 6 months I'll really be blown away, even one year seems unreasonable. I don't know of anyone that meets the above criteron that could do it.

Sorry, I just went on a mini rant. It just seems that anytime, I hear somone that achieved a high HSK score in a very short period of time, invariably, they are of some Asian descent, or have previous exposure to Asian language/culture:. For example, they are fluent Cantonese speakers and they try and claim that doesn't help.

[kudra]

I paid 2000 RMB up front for two months of classes consisting of 18 hours per week. 27.77 RMB/hour for a two student to one instructor class seems inexpensive to me.

Yes, I do other studying besides this class. When regular school is in session, I take classes at the Beijing Film Academy. I am currently taking an HSK prep class at Diqiucun, and I also meet with a tutor for 4 hours per day during this break.

Fair enough. I just don't think I could study from children's books for 18 hrs per week of class time in addition to everything else.

[david2885]

Hi, I'm interested in taking a Mandarin course in Beijing, and I was wondering what your how your progress was with this particular school. Are you learning how to write a lot of characters yet? How close are you to your 2000+ characters goal?

[sthubbar]

david2885, just saw this old thread. If you saw this then you might already know. Yes, I have achieved the goal of learning 2000 characters. Unfortunately, it's not enough.

I am still very happy with this school and would not trade my experience here for any other school that I have encountered. Any frustrations I vent are not at all with this school. These teachers are so great that even when I tell them every class that 我恨汉字 they don't let it faze them and continue to teach me with a cheerful attitude. I think they are just waiting for the time when I actually have a nervous breakdown in class and curl up in the fetal position and start sobbing.

[querido]

the same texts that all Chinese children learn

equivalent to walking up to a native English speaker and saying "Mary had a little what?"

[end quote]

What was the name of the book series? (Biao zhun zhong wen?)

That's what I was aiming for when I chose "New Concept Chinese for Children", produced by BLCU. For example:

Vol. 1 Lesson 1:

一二三，

爬上山，

四五六，

去打球，

七八九，

手拉手，

我们十个小朋友。

Vol. 1 Lesson 2:

我有一双小小手，

一只左来一只右。

小小手， 小小手，

一共十个手指头。

No English or pinyin, just BLCU's top quality audio, and BIG fonts!

(They teach pinyin in later volumes, but use it only to introduce new words.)