Learning Mandarin in Nanjing

[bmorr]

Hi All,

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ben, im 21, i currently reside in Sydney (Australia) and am moving to Nanjing with a friend in August this year (once i have finished my university degree in Sydney).

I have a few questions - and any help would be MUCH appreciated!

My friend and i wish to study Mandarin for a full academic year in Nanjing, but i am having trouble finding places that offer this service.

I have come across a few options, but they all include accommodation, airport pickup etc. for around $4500USD a semester. I quite frankly dont have that much to spend, and i wish to arrange my own accommodation (for monetary reasons).

Some friends of mine that either live in or have been to China have told me that i should be expecting to pay $1000-1500USD a semester for Mandarin courses - however im having lots of trouble finding such places.

Can anyone suggest Universities or Colleges that i can look into?

Any guidance at all would be appreciated.

Regards,

Ben

[wenhailin]

hey ben,

just saw your post and i think i may be able to able to help you out. im from brisbane and am studying at nanjing university, also doing a year here but started in february.

um, firstly, nanjing is a great place to study and live, i think you'll like it here. ok, there is actually 7 of us australians here at the moment all on the same program, we just finished high school last year and got partial scholarships from the australia china council, still we are paying quite a bit, about $10000aud for the whole year, kind of a shit deal really, but the good news is you can do much better.

accomodation here in the foreign students building is really nice, however quite expensive at 1800kuai per month in a 2 person room, you can get cheaper outside accomodation and if you live with your mate, probably about 1000kuai per person per month.

studying chinese here at nanjing university costs 9900 kuai per semester.

i am not sure about registration fees, and dont have any contacts here at the university to help you there, however you could always contact the australia china council and ask them, as they organised it for us as part of the scholarship.

hope that information is useful, if u have more questions just ask.

regards,

justin

[bmorr]

thanks very much for that Justin! very helpful!

I have since been quoted (by a few different agents) around $1500 a semester - and that sounds pretty consistent with what you have told me, which is good.

If anyone has anything else to add then fire away!

Im still have trouble finding institutions other then Nanjing Uni and Nanjing Normal Uni that offer the course we are after...

Cheers

Ben

[blake]

guys, how about Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics ? is it far from the city ? is it good ??

because the tution fee is quite cheap US $ 800 /semester, please need your advice

thx

[adrianlondon]

To give you an idea of prices ... in Beijing I recently paid around 11,000y for a semester at BNU (aka Beijing Shifan Daxue) and they charge about 2700y/month for their poshest dorm rooms (single, serviced). A nearby studio will set you back 2000RMB/month, less for a 12 month deal, I think.

[wenhailin]

hey blake, i've been here for 3 or so months now and have never heard of Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, some others here at nanjing university have heard of it, but have no idea where it is. I think it would be a fair way out of town in that case, so that probably explains why it is cheaper. Of course, I have no idea what the teaching is like out there. Sorry I can't be of more help

[blake]

Wenhailin...thx for your info, no wonder then the accomodation also so cheap USD 250/semester.so you are studying in Nanjing Uny now ? how much doest it cost ? you have mentioned it before but i dont know is kuai same value as rmb ? how about the living cost ? is that expensive?

[wenhailin]

hey blake, i had a look on the map actually and that university you spoke of isn't as far out as i thought. however, its not at close to the action as nanjing uni, depends on what you want i guess.

yeah kuai is the same as rmb, so it is 9900rmb per semester, and living costs, you can easily find an apartment for 1000rmb per person or less, though you may want to start in the foreign student building, which is 1800rmb and you share with another student.

[simonlaing]

Hi Ben and Blake,

As a Nanjing lover myself, I can give you some input on the subject. There are several different schools here and can usually be distingusihed by the large country groups of people. I went to Nanjing normal (shifan teaching U) and Nanjing U, and taught english at a couple of others. (I'm old)

Nanjing U my favourite for beginner intermediates , He the major groups are Japan, Korean, British, USA, with sprinkling of Europeans, and AUstralians,

It cost the most but goes at slower pass than nanjing normal. In the higher levels they have interesting classes like Modern history and International relations, and Minority religions of China, Sung dynasty poerty, some of which were a bit aways from learning the the language.I think it still costs $1100 US tutiion for a semster

Nanjing Normal Teaching U. THis is the university that was set up to train teachers and professors of various subjects. In the learning CHinese department ranking it ranks above Nanjing U. It is the biggest foreigner department and the beginner (first year) level has 8 speeds. It has a huge Korean population and other people most of who are on Government school. Koreans (have an advantage on reading) are ridiculous students and the teachers go very fast. Some time I ss it can be hard to keep up as even on asking questions they don't slow down fast. You have 4 hours a day of class and you probably need to put in 5-6 hours of preparation. They cover 2-4 chapters a week. It is for the intense crowd. (They also usually win the soccer inter uni tournament)

This is a little cheaper I think it is only 1000 US a semester.

Hohai Daxue/Univeristy , has tons of African students (they also do well in the soccer tourney). I think it is cheaper and classes are more laid back. THere are some french and Europeans who study here as well. It's campus is nice and it is still inside the city so in range of cabs from partying. It is known for engineering with regard to water etc..

Nanjing Medical U, and Nanjing CHinese Medicine U have lots of Pakistani and Indian students. Perhaps they are learning about alternative medicine. I used to play Volley ball in their Gym it is a small campus in the downtown, could be noisy, but then almost everywhere in CHina is noisy.

Dong Nan South East University also has tons of koreans and is a smaller program. It has good exercise facilitis though and is also close to downtown. THe classes weren't that big and they did have several levels. minority of European students as well.

Small places Like Nanjing Audit U,(south east asians, Thai, Viet) Science Univeirsty, Space and Airaunautics, XiaoYan sp? - Has a variety of but smaller pop of international students. I had a German friend who Went to xiao yan and beacuse she was the only intermediate student she asked them to teach her certain classes. They arranged for a wushu kungfu class, (not the snail, Taichi ), Chinese cooking class as well as the reading comprehension and other classes. So if you don't mind being away from other expats for a bit you can get some good value for money. Also They like caucasians to come to the school as they look good on the photo ops and these are relatively under developed programs than the previous 5.

In addition there are school that use the Nanjing Uni campus and teacher but don't let others into really, Like Sheffield Uni from England, Another fun program with CIEE has then study for 4 days a week and on Fridays takes them on Field trips. It sounded like a fun idea. All of these will likely be more expensive than teh plain Unis.

I picked Nanjing U after a bad (too intense) experience at Nanjing Normal Uni. However if you go to a school with a lot of you country men it is a strong temptation to go and get Drunk with them at Castle or Scarlet Bar every night. ( Any school will give you a passing mark if you bother to show up for classes).

Finding housing for 1500 RMB a month for a two bedroom place is doable, but you should come as early as possible, preferably july early August. By september there will be little selection and the prices will go up.

If you have other questions give a call after you arrive,

13073447613

Have fun,

Simon:)

[bmorr]

Simon you have been a GREAT help!

Thankyou so very much!

I think Nanjing Uni will be our pick.

Cheers

Ben

[simonlaing]

Hey Ben,

You're welcome, give me a call when you're in town.

Good Luck with Chinese.

Have fun,

Simon:)

P.S. we sometimes play baseball on the weekends if you're interested.

[wenhailin]

wow thanks for that summary of unis here in nanjing simon, i really only knew about nanda and nanshida, maybe a little about hohai.

i havent heard about this soccer league, where can i find out more? i've been playing with the guys from sheffield uni (most of them live on the same level of the building as us) and we've been playing against chinese guys. even played at the olympic stadium training field the other week, was great fun.

looking forward to seeing you here ben, when you starting?

justin

[blaq_man]

Hey people,

I'm coming to Nanjing in August of this year as well to study Mandarin. Simon your description of each university was extremely helpful, thank you soo much for that! I think Nanjing University sounds the best, and it also seems to be the most established in the city!

But I tried calling Nanjing U to see if I could organise application and get some more information about the course. I called the number for the Foreign Affairs Office of Nanjing U that's on their website (the number is 86-25-663-3074) but it says it's disconnected. I tried numbers for other universities (specifically Hohai U), and that got through, and I even asked the lady I was speaking to if she could give me the Nanjing U number, but she didn't have it.

Does anyone know the number to contact if I want to study Mandarin at Nanjing U? I would really like to speak to someone in the international office or foreign affairs office at Nanjing U as soon as possible. Also, between what times should I call? I heard that regular office hours are 8am to 6pm....will it be ok to call anytime during those hours?

Thank you so much

Have a great day

[wenhailin]

hey blaq_man,

i have a form here from the institute for international students, and the number on there is 86-25-83593586. their fax number is 86-25-83316747. i don't know their work hours, but i would say you are about right.

hope that helps, look forward to seeing you round here!