Few questions about studying Mandarin in China

[Djares]

Hi all,

I'm from Belgium and I always had a passion for Chinese culture and such. Last year I decided that I wanted to do a major change in my life and wanted to learn Mandarin in China.

I have read lots of the posts on this forum but still wanted a few answers

First, are there any good payable language schools in Shanghai? I have seen lots of posts about Kunming, Peking and Chengdu, but like none of Shanghai ...

I'm not really looking for the "best" place, just looking for a good place.

And also I was wondering if there are places like in Kunming where you can find some kind of part time job after your lessons to earn a bit since college is expensive.

I'm very interested in doing at least the 3 year courses most offer, but for that I would prefer a place where you can do some part time job to pay it all.

I have been to sites like

http://psweb.swufe.edu.cn/~english/enroll/enroll.htm

http://www.goeduchina.com/index.htm

Are any of those to be recommanded?

The last one seems to be one of the most affordable, schools in Peking are way way more expensive so I rule those out allready.

If there are other sites you can recommand, please do I open to suggestions still.

Thanks in advance for any more info you all can give me

David

[sunyata]

In Shanghai, i would recommend Fudan University - www.fudan.edu.cn

You could also check out Suzhou (Soochow) University in Suzhou, which is a few hours by train away from Shanghai.

http://www.suda.edu.cn/

I've heard good things about it - it's a very nice city, plus the tuition is cheaper than at Fudan.

Here is a list of nearly all universities in Shanghai with links to their homepages:

http://www.edu.cn/20010101/22241.shtml

You can also surf around the above website for universities pretty much all over China.

Since you are thinking of learning Mandarin, I would still suggest you go to Beijing, because I think you will learn faster there. The teachers at Fudan are very good and of course, most people speak and understand Mandarin in Shanghai, but most of the time you will be hearing Shanghainese dialect, when you are out in the city.

As for finding temporary jobs - you just have to ask around. At Fudan, there are always people who come by looking for English teachers/tutors. actors for movies / commercials, etc...I spent 2 days as a background actor for some movie and they paid us fairly well - $100 each day (for about 6 hours of doing nothing).

If you already have a degree, then you may be able to find more professional jobs in your field.

Hope this helps.

[Djares]

Great,

Have a lot to browse now , great link you have there.

It is amasing how much the courses can differ in prices depending on location. Varia from 1500 up to 3000 dollar for the same course

I do still wonder if there are people that have allready had some experience with EduChina, there site promots themself really well but ...

Greetings,

David

[sunyata]

well, educhina is convenient - they will take care of most things for you, but they also charge more. If you want to save some money, you should try applying directly to a Chinese university. It's really not very hard. Just pick a few you want to apply to and let me know if you need any help.

[Djares]

Hi,

Well, I have a chinese friend and she's from Shanghai. She now lives in belgium but has lived in shanghai for like 30 years. So I have showed her those universities to see what she also knows about them.

And of all of those she also very much recommended the Fudan University, she said that is indeed one of the best universities.

So even if it is not that cheap, trying to search for some kind of a part time job is mostly better to find in a city like Shanghai, so I'm leading towards Fudan now to apply there.

By friday I want to make my final decision since I still will have to do lot of arrangements

So I presume that for Fudan I can just apply directly like they say on there website.

If all goes well a new world might be open for me soon :-)

Greets,

David

[sunyata]

yeah, Fudan is a good choice ;) you won't regret it...

yes, you can apply directly, email them if you have any questions. They are usually quick to respond

[Guest nuer]

I agree, go for Fudan if you are going for the three year course. I went to Shanghai Jiaotong university for several months but Fudan is probably better.

Good luck with your studies and hope you have fun in Shanghai!

[yao_sh]

Hi. Djares . It's my great pleasure to know that you choose Shanghai as your destination for learning Chinese language and culture . I'm a native shanghaiese and I love my hometown deeply . I could candidly tell you that Fudan university is the best university in shanghai and it ranks 3rd in china (after Qinghua univerity and Beijing University). For we natives, competition for Fudan is intense and cruel so students from Fudan are most talented . I'm not that good so I study in Zhengzhou university located in central china's henan province .I missed my homwtwon a lot .This july I'd graduate and come back Shanghai, saying goodbye to my 4 year campus life as well as Henan province .

There are two best universities in Shanghai . Fudan is expert in art subjects such as language ,philosophy, law and sociology while Jiaotong university is strong in scientic field . like MIT .

Shanghai is a place full of boom,energy and chances . Its air is clean, a blue sky with beautiful clouds . As an international city, it would enable you to enjoy all sorts of cuisine and erntertainment here . The shortcoming is that many places of Shanghai is very crowded , millions of people, both domestic and overseas , swarming into the city for sightseeing and shopping .

Anyhow , i sincerely promise you that Shanghai is a desirable choice and wish you enjoy every day of you study in SH.

[Djares]

Hi all,

Well thanks for the help and the replies.

I have been accepted to Fudan, I have booked my flight allready too

Sunday 29th of August I will be in Shanghai for 2 years, seems that the language course at fudan is a fulltime one and last up to 2 years so I took the full course right away offcourse

Yao_sh, it's good to hear about Shanghai, I hope I will like it there, I will have to do a lot of visiting interesting places ^^

And I hope to make lots of friends there so I can practice a lot since that is the best way to learn a language fast

And now back to enjoy the things I will miss in Belgium when I leave haha Belgium fries anyone?

Greets,

David