HELP: Advice needed for an IUP-level program - other possibilities?

[lylestyle]

You guys seen this school? I just heard about a newly opened school loosly based on IUP. It uses very similar materials and most of the teachers are ex-IUPer's. And its half the price....

http://www.blichina.com/

[Jamoldo]

Gato, you can pick any newspaper you want. Lots of kids don't like the textbook and the class structure. Once again I can't comment firsthand because I simply don't know. I will in the fall though...

[venture160]

blichina looks interesting, maybe a cheap alternative to IUP? I see two of their professors are ex IUP. They are clearly after the corporate crowd as their office is in the CBD.

It uses very similar materials

From BLI's textbooks section it looks as if they are using completely different sets of textbooks. BLI claims to be centering their teaching around the HSK and thus forth use allot of Chinese produced textbooks from the major universities. I have seen the IUP textbooks and they are more or less copied from the ICLP texts in Taiwan but have been adapted for mainland use. This was last year, so things could have changed.

[gato]

It uses very similar materials and most of the teachers are ex-IUPer's.

I guess that's why ex-IUP students complain that IUP teachers are inexperienced. The FAQ section of the website says that BLI was started 2006, as a subsidiary of a Korean company. I guess they figure they can make much more money by starting their own school.

But if you comparing prices, Taipei Language Institute (Beijing), which has a great reputation, is actually cheaper.

http://www.blichina.com/tuition.html

BLI China

Type of Class ¥ per hour/stud. 80 hours

VIP (1: 1) ¥ 200 ¥14400

Small group (1: 2) ¥ 150 ¥12000

http://www.tli.com.tw/tli/eng/en/4-2-1B.asp

Taipei Language Institute

individual classes US$13.50/hour

group classes (2-4 stud.) US$8.00/hour/student

group classes (5-10 stud.) US$4.50/hour/student

[venture160]

I guess they figure they can make much more money by starting their own school.

I've heard that Chinese teachers in foreign programs get paid squat. Most of the college-level programs here run by american institutions are literally raking the money in as they still charge their students home tution but have such low fixed costs over here.

With more and more schools looking to start language programs here, like EVERY other industry in China there is going to be a shortage of qualifed labor sooner or later. Programs like PIB and IUP are going to need to increase wages, offer on-site training, and oppurtunity for exchange in the states for their Chinese language staff in order to retain talent.

Also it looks as if TLI is full-time only, which makes it unable to tap the corporate expat market. BLI is literally a 5 minute walk from the new US Embassy, I wonder if that was on purpose? They are also attractive to the Korean market, which arguably in Beijing is more important by offereing a course structure based on the HSK. O, and its even closer to the Korean embassy.

[gato]

Also it looks as if TLI is full-time only, which makes it unable to tap the corporate expat market.

Actually, I think TLI also offers flexible scheduling:

See http://www.tli.com.tw/tli/eng/en/3-2.ASP?class=3

Individual Classes

Individual classes are a more personalized, highly intensive form of instruction allowing students to progress at their own pace. These classes are completely flexible with regard to scheduling and curriculum. Students have more freedom to choose materials and design their own study programs.

Group Classes

　 Small group classes of two to four students may start and stop any time according to the student(s).

I've heard that Chinese teachers in foreign programs get paid squat. Most of the college-level programs here run by american institutions are literally raking the money in as they still charge their students home tution but have such low fixed costs over here.

I would guess that the Chinese teachers are not being paid much more than 4000 yuan (US$500) per month, if that, which is pretty disproportionate to, for instance, the US$7000 tuition charged per semester (4 months). I mention 4000 yuan because foreigners teaching English in public Chinese universities get paid roughly that amount.

[venture160]

I would guess that the Chinese teachers are not being paid much more than 4000 yuan (US$500) per month, if that, which is pretty disproportionate to, for instance, the US$7000 tuition charged per semester (4 months). I mention 4000 yuan because foreigners teaching English in public Chinese universities get paid roughly that amount.

I can't discuss figures publicly, but I know of 2 programs in Beijing that are run by American schools and pay their Chinese staff half of that.

[gato]

I can't discuss figures publicly, but I know of 2 programs in Beijing that are run by American schools and pay their Chinese staff half of that.

That's not too surprising considering that university salaries range from 2000 yuan per month for new teachers who just received their PhDs to about 5000 yuan for full professors. A small number of professors receive research grants that can add to their income, but most take outside jobs to supplement their income.

What this means is that American programs that charge such high tuitions don't really have an excuse for not paying more to hire more experienced teachers. They can double their salary and still pay just US$500 a month.

[heymister]

I'm currently studying at TLI in Dalian and I can say that it's been a great and flexible program so far. With that flexibility, of course, comes responsibility; you must discipline yourself to stay on top of things.

The good thing is that they are very responsive to questions and concerns. I was studying TLI materials for my first month and was unhappy about their extensive use of pinyin throughout the first two books. I initiated a switch to the BLCU materials which have no pinyin starting with the third book. This greatly helps my character recognition. They've also let me take days off from class when I felt that I needed to review before continuing. I also didn't like their focus on speaking - and insisted on taking time to practice character recognition and writing.

This is probably not the kind of thing you can do at a program with an established curriculum. I would just look at some of the many private schools - not necessarily TLI because it is just a bit pricier - but do a field comparison and see who has the best teachers and materials.

In the end, we'll all learn one way or another - it's not as if one program teaches words and grammar structures that another one does not.

[myann23]

HM,

Can you explain what you typically do with your TLI instructor in a private class? It's expensive, so what are the advantages that you get compared with paying a university teacher 50-80RMB an hour for lessons? I was thinking about going to TLI, but wanted to know what makes them really effective and what the use of time is in the private classes.

Mike

[GolfGuy1200]

I think I have probably read every post on this entire website related to studying Chinese. I have been accepted to ACC Summer and Academic Year. Have researched it and IUP extensively and it seems to me that ACC is nearly every bit as good as IUP even though I would still prefer to attend the latter. I am unable to find any posts regarding ACC and the quality of its program. Can anyone give me some guidance on this matter? If anyone knows someone that attended ACC Academic year that would be extremely helpful. Thank you!

[roddy]

Have you got a link to the ACC thing? I'm not sure I've heard of it.

[GolfGuy1200]

This is the program homepage. It's been around since 1996 apparently.

http://www.hamilton.edu/academics/acc/

[gato]

It's this one.

http://www.hamilton.edu/academics/acc/index.html

ACC Intensive Language and Culture Program in Beijing:

The ACC Intensive Language and Culture Program in Beijing is a summer, fall and spring intensive Chinese language program administered by Hamilton College and hosted by Capital University of Economics and Business (CUEB) in Beijing.

[Horchata]

Have researched it and IUP extensively and it seems to me that ACC is nearly every bit as good as IUP even though I would still prefer to attend the latter. I am unable to find any posts regarding ACC and the quality of its program.

I agree, information on ACC is scarce, even though it's been around almost as long and is usually mentioned in the same breath as IUP and ICLP. I think that it being one of the programs that qualifies for the Light fellowship at Yale is a pretty good endorsement: http://www.yale.edu/iefp/light/programs/index.html