what does anyone know about Chinese Tong...

[jayz108]

this is going on my second year at blcu and i've been quite frustrated at how slowly my chinese is growing...it might be because i usually spend my free time hanging out with other english speakers and not enough time making chinese friends to talk to...

i live in the wudaoko area and recently, i've been seeing alot of ads around for a "Chinese Tong" school...i read their little flier and their approach sounded interesting to me, but i was wondering if anyone was familiar with them, whether their class is effective or not...

the other lesson i was interested in was the sino bootcamps thing...does anyone have any experience with them?...

the whole immersion thing sounds appealing to me, and these two schools seem to offer that...

[tuxoar]

I cannot speak for the quality or methods of the schools you mentioned, but if it is immersion you are looking for you can save a bit of money and achieve a certain level immersion on your own. The key is finding things you are interested in and doing them in Chinese, make friends with the same interests and go from there. The level of immersion to be achieved depends on your own ability to extend your comfort zone and release the life raft of hanging around mostly foreign/English speaking bubbles. This is a hard thing for all of us to do, but IMHO in the end it is the most efficient, worthwhile (and cost effective) way to "immerse" yourself in China/Chinese.

Just my 2 cents... 加油!

[roddy]

Given that someone with the exact same email got in touch a day or two ago asking about the cost of advertising a school called Chinese Tong on the site, did you perhaps see these ads while you were putting them up?

[gato]

busted.

[jayz108]

not my best hour...i'd have to say that this is one of the worst ethical errors i've made in a while...

sorry everybody for wasting your time...and for the posing...

hope it doesn't bring down the name of the school itself, it was just an error in judgement on my part...i was just trying to help them out...i take all the credit for this shameful act...

so, bring the hate, i can take it...after all, i'd despise me too if i were you...i'll go away now, head down, tail tucked and ashamed...

[roddy]

Ah, don't beat yourself up. I've seen worse. I feel partially (as in 0.1%) responsible as when responding to the advertising query I didn't point out that one informative, factual, this is who we are and what we do post would be welcome - so go ahead and make that now if you want. But do let me just add this

[imron]

.i'll go away now, head down, tail tucked and ashamed...

Why not hang around instead and atone for your sins by becoming a useful member of the forum. You might find it's a far more effective way of advertising for the school than pretend posts.

[jayz108]

@imron...agreed...i'll help out where i can...thanks... :D

[badr]

Well, I can't speak for Chinese Tong as I have NO IDEA WHO THEY ARE nor am I associated with them.

but I'll address one point about Sinocamps.. It's not a school

Sinocamps is my little baby and was planned from day one to make learning Chinese more affordable and practical for those who:

1- Don't have the time to study on a regular basis

2- need a crash course to get them going

3- need to freshen up on their Mandarin skills after years of neglect.

4- can't be trusted not to procrestinate

5- can't afford to pay an arm and a leg for the privilege of learning the language ( i.e myself when I was earning 4K/month teaching at a university)

It's total immersion at its best without going overly mad from 8 to 10 hours of chinese/day. I hold the camps on my vacation from my full time job . The curriculum/format/teachers are all chosen by my wife and I and it is non-traditional in many ways. I'm gonna leave it to this because I don't want to turn this post into an add for the program; just wanted to clear a few misconceptions.

cheers.