Learning to read and write Mandarin

[dochido]

I am a Chinese-American who will spend the summer in Beijing to improve my reading and writing. I speak (almost) fluently, and have learned reading and writing before, but have forgotten most of it! Can someone suggest a good program that is designed for someone like me? I have been looking at the 6 week program at BLCU, and was about to apply. However in my inquiry to them, they said their summer program focuses primarily and speaking and conversation. Is this true, or do they tailor their classes to each round of students? I also realize I am running short on time. Please help! Thanks!

[redmini]

since you speak fluently, you have a huge advantage in that you dont need to learn grammatical structure or anything like that. all you need instead is to rote learn the characters from the textbook so you can read and write.

ive only been to BLCU, but i can safely say that their intermediate level courses are fairly good for someone with your background (they go by A, B, C, D level classes with A level being complete beginners so i would suggest for you either B or C). you'll sit an entrance exam anyway to determine your level. if you find B too easy, ask to jump to C. my friend was in the same situation as you (he could speak fluent mandarin) and he was placed in B. think it was slightly too easy for him but he chose to stay in the class cos he thought the people were cool. lol