Jinan University or BLCU?? help please!

[Jeanca21]

hi how are you? Im going to study in BLCU for one or two year, but my family has been insisting me to study in Jinan University in Guangzhou and not in BLCU. The following are the reasons they are stating for me to choose Jinan over BLCU:

A) Weather: The weather in Guangzhou is better than in Peking. I mean the winter in Peking is much much more colder than in Guangzhou.

B) Food: The food of Guangzhou is one of the best in the world, while of Peking it taste as s**t according to all of the ppl I know who has been there

C) Family: I have family in Huadu and some friends in Guangzhou, specially in Jinan University. If I need help they can go there to Guangzhou and help. They can also assist me studying mandarin.

The reasons I want to choose BLCU over Jinan University are:

A) Recognition: BLCU is much more famous than Jinan University in the area of mandarin language.

B) Learning: Some says that BLCU is one of the best (or at least better than Jinan University) in teaching mandarin.

C) Beijing: I want to know more about Beijing, because in the near future I would like to take a Major in Economy in Peking University. Choosing BLCU will help me greatly, that's what I think.

Well, that's all, Maybe I am missing one. Hope you can help me choosing which one, please!! At the end I think that I will be choosing BLCU but your opinion will be of great help. My email is jean_qiu@hotmail.com if you want to add me to your msn or just want to send me an email.

Jean

[skanger]

Only you can answer this question and I think you're already halfway there.

It all depends which is most important to you, the education you receive or the environment you live in. For education BCLU will probably be better, Jinan Uni would probably be ok.

Beijing is more expensive as a place to live, although Guangzhou isn't particularly cheap.

I don't know how Beijing compares with GZ regarding street crime; probably it is like any other large city in China.

But you definitely cannot beat Guangdong for food. You will need a big stomach if you go to study in Guangzhou - it's enough to give you orgasms. I stayed there for a while and I still haven't got over it.

[gato]

I know that Jinan University has a special program to attract overseas Chinese students. For that reason, it might not have the best Mandarin environment, there would be a large number of English-speaking students on campus, and outside of campus, since it's Guangdong, I'd assume most people like to speak Cantonese instead Mandarin.

So I would suggest Beijing if you are only choosing between these two cities. For Beijing, I would also consider Beijing Normal University (BNU). "Normal" means teaching, as it's originally a school for training teachers.

Many people complain that there are too many English-speaking foreigners at BLCU. At BNU, there seem to be more Japanese and Koreans, many of whom are better at Chinese than English.

http://www.chinese-forums.com/showthread.php?p=66786#post66786

Why I picked BNU.

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/12-horse-horse-tiger-tiger-slang-and-idioms52&highlight=bnu

Beijing Normal University (aka 北京师范大学)

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/59-help-with-audio-translation66&highlight=bnu

Beida or BNU for serious chinese student?

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/9413-whos-going-to-bnu-for-072006&page=8&highlight=bnu

Who's going to BNU for 07/2006?

[Lindsay]

I just have to say one thing: the food in beijing does not taste like s**t. I don't know WHO these people are that said this to you but they are obviously mistaken. Regardless of my partiality towards beijing and theirs towards guangzhou but that is a bit harsh, don't you think? As for the food in Guangzhou, it may be delicious but you're as close to SARs Central as you're gonna get.

[GZstudent]

I am a proud "graduate" of the Jinan language program. Intense program and quality teachers - put in the time and effort and you could learn as well if not better than in Beijing. The environment in GZ isn't standard Beijing dialect but still a large percentage of immigrants who speak standard Mandarin. Zhongshan U also offers a quality program not to mention the various private options available. Beijing is inundated with westerners learning Chinese - not great if you're looking for an "immersion" experience. Jinan is known for it's overseas Chinese quotient - an interesting demographic. On the other hand, BLCU is certainly the benchmark for Mandarin learning in China. I've written extensively about Jinan and learning Mandarin in Guangzhou at chinaRoll if you care to dig deeper. Good luck and feel free to let me know if you decide to come down south.