Anyone for BNU Fall 2007?

[cliveloughlin]

Hi Barb

Was there a reason why would have to take your placement test today and not yesterday when you registered? I am worried about this now as I only will have Thursday to complete everything!! Registration finishes on Friday and I have to work on Friday!!

Cheers

Cj

PS - I'm going to be staying in a house (not dorms now)...

[barb_punk]

hey cj,

from what i experienced, my roommate and i went to register relatively early yesterday. i was able to finish mine in the morning and a teacher gave me an orange invitation card with the time and date of exam- sept 4 at 0900H. My roommate got the misfortune of getting a strict teacher to process her papers and she was asked to go back in the afternoon, after she got her physical exam form sorted out. when she was given the orange invite, her's read sept 4 at 1500H (she's actually still there now). so i think they try to have your registration and placement test on different dates and depending on when you finish reg. so if you arrive thursday and finish registration on that day, your placement exam may take place on friday. maybe what you can do is ask the person processing your papers (it's step #7) if you can take the placement exam on the same day or in another day?

hope this helps! btw, how much are you renting the house for, if you don't mind me asking...

[cliveloughlin]

Hi again

Thanks for the info - I have just called BNU International Students Office but they seem to have closed already! Aghh.....I'll try again in the morning - my boss will not be happy if I need to take time off on Friday as it's my last day at work and I have LOADS to tidy up!

What level was the writing/reading test? Those 2 are my main weakness but I don't want to be put in a really low level class as I have to get enough vocab/character recognition to pass HSK Level 3 by November!

Re: House - of course I don't mind - we're all here to help each other!!

I'm renting a room in a 2 bedroom apartment in Xin Jie Kou Wai Da Jie 3 hao yuan for 1100/month (not including bills). The room is fine but the toilet/shower room (together) is TINY. The kitchen size is ok and there is a small (messy) storeroom. Overall, not a bad deal. The landlord only has one house but if any of my friends are looking for roomies I could let you know.

The landlord has taken me to the police station to register already. That was easier than I thought - maybe because I already have a work permit for China. The policewoman just asked if I was working in Beijing at the moment and who owned the house - she didn't ask about what I would do in the future (study) or my phone number etc. As she recorded my current visa expiry date, I will have to go back again to renew the residence permit after BNU help me get the student visa.

Fingers crossed that everything will be ok!

Hope to see you soon

Cj

[adrianlondon]

Don't worry about the placement test.

You'll sit a written exam and probably not do very well. Then they'll call you into a small meeting room where they'll interview. They'll talk to you really slowly based on your written paper (which you take with you) and then you fire off at them with your fluent spoken mandarin.

They'll get the message and class you accordingly. You have a week or two to settle and move classes. it's much easier to move down than up, so if they place you stupidly high (hint: say you've ben studying for 4 years ir something full time, they'll ignore your written exam) just move down classes until you're happy.

You can be in different levels for different subjects although the placement test is too crude to suss that all out properly. You have the two weeks to do that yourself.

At the end of thne day, despite the rules and beurocracy, you're the paying customer and can do whatever you want. it's just that the chinese system doesn't advertise that fact. Same with all walks of life in Beijing I found.

[wendyt]

Hello again guys! I just got my internet connection! Took me 2 days to finish my registration... Don't know what happened but they had to process something with our brown booklet. Anyway, my schedule for the placement exam is on friday morning. Oh boy! That will be a trial!

[barb_punk]

hey clive, sorry wasn't able to reply regarding the placement exams but adrian pretty much summed it up. for me, the written part was really on the hard side. there were some easy questions, but for the most part, get ready to feel inadequate (or at least, i did). ;) hope everything went well for your reg and exams though.

hey adrian, can you tell us about the different subjects? i know there has to be some reading, writing and conversation involved, but can you spell it out for me? i was also thinking of getting some other electives related to political science or business if my chinese level happens to be good enough- is this allowed and what are your thoughts on this? would really appreciate your input.

hey wendy, which dorm are you at? i've been hanging out with a couple of pinoys here- jeremy and angie. i think you met them during reg?

hope everyone's settled in... with proper internet connection.

[Jamoldo]

Barb, your subjects depend upon your level. 100 and 101 have three subjects. Reading/Writing, Speaking and Listening. Starting in102 you have Newspaper Reading in addition. After 202, there is no more Listening which I believe is replaced by TV/Movie class and then maybe some Classical Chinese is added too, though I'm not at that level (301 and up) and don't plan to be anytime soon.

I think I've posted something about this in quite some detail before so try and do a search... Cheers

[adrianlondon]

hey adrian, can you tell us about the different subjects?

What Jamoldo says ;) It depends what level you're in.

before I went to beijing I spent around a year reading "Practical Chinese Reader" (the old edition full of the 4 modernizations and stuff!) for an hour or so a week. That got me placed into class 102. Not bad for around 100 hours of self-study! But 102 scared me so after the very first class (which was newspaper reading - the hardest class in 102) I quickly ran down to 101.

As it happened I didn't understand 101 either but then I realised it was because I had no "school" vocabulary. The teacher went on and on about homework, exams, types of class, when the mid term exam was, when the semester ended etc and that entire vocab was lost on me. But I quickly caught up and was pleased I didn't bottle it right down to 100.

100 and 101 have ... reading, listening and speaking. They do blur a bit though, and I like the BNU books as the chapters in each subject are related so you end up talking about similar subjects in each class, which is cool, as you can try things out with different teachers. Until the classes go out of sync then it all goes horribly wrong ;)

102 has newspaper reading, which is tough but at least you know you're learning interesting vocab such as "China is great!" and "We all love pollution and the Olympics!" etc. After that I've no idea. I wasn't smart enough to find out - I was only at BNU for one semester so only studied 101.

I took calligraphy as my elective option. Loved it.

I bought the 100 and 102 books as well though and brought them back to the UK with me. Haven't opened them ...

[mayho]

Adrian, what did you do to take an elective? I'm thinking about doing that as well but can't seem to find any info on going about it.

Thanks

[adrianlondon]

After a week or two you'll start hearing rumours about electives. If you're in 100 or 101 then the notices won't be readable by you, so find a friend with better language skills and get them to explain the procedure ;)

Basically, a timetable will be announced, you go to the first lesson for free (probably a tue wed or thu evening) then if you like it, you pay up and go weekly for the rest of the semester.

[extrapages]

meant to post but my internet is really spotty. im leeching off someones wireless. it works every now and then for a few minutes at a time... so i havent really had the chance to write anything. but i should be getting solid internet tonight. maybe we should make a new thread?

[adrianlondon]

If you're in "di san" and face the front you can usually use the free wireless from the cafe across the street. Sit in the communal areas (the places near the lifts with blue chairs) if you have difficulty from your room.

Annoyingly, you need to be 2 or 3 floors up, so it usually doesn't work in the twelve oaks coffee bar on the ground floor.

[cui ruide]

Anyone have any experience with upper level Chinese classes at BNU? Teaching materials--stories/textbooks? Vocab lessons? Classical Chinese? Just curious what goes on beyond second year which is what I seem to have read about in this and other topics...

[magnusgren]

Hi,

I studied 301 last semester and it's pretty much a continuation of second year, longer texts, more words.. The "tingli" is different, watching short video clips instead of listening to recordings. For classical chinese you have optional courses, not until 302 up you'll have it on the schedule. In 302 I believe there will also be some Modern Chinese Literature class.

If you are into literature though, I highly suggest you try switching to the Literature Department, where you can take classes either with chinese students or enter an all korean class which moves a little slower. To switch department you'll need minimum an HSK 6 (which you should probably have if you're on the BNU third year level)

Regards,

Magnus

[cui ruide]

thanks for that magnusgren... That's an interesting thought. I've been taking Chinese at university level for 4 years now, having been abroad to study already... The last couple of courses I've taken actually include modern chinese lit, twice. In one, we read chinese stories simply as a means of learning new vocab and grammar patterns... In the other we actually just tackled it like a real literature course--learn vocab on your own to keep up. I also have two semesters of classical under my belt (definitely rusty now though)--all of these in the States or in an American-run study abroad program. Despite all this, the thought of actually taking a chinese lit course with chinese students scares the hell out of me! I guess I'm at that awkward point where you start working on higher and increasingly more isolated study of literature (masters??)...or...what? Business Chinese? Hah, I just want to keep my Chinese fresh and be in Beijing. ;p

[Jikolp]

Hi guys,

I just wanted to ask you what´s the best way to contact BNU and usually how long does it take to get a reply? I´ve faxed them regarding summer courses, to find out the dates, but so far no reply (I wrote the fax in English). Should I send it again, write an email... ? Any idea would be appreciated, because I need that reply very FAST, so that I could arrange my things to BLCU instead, and only a month´s left until I can tell Guojia Hanban that I will use my scholarship.

[cui ruide]

I've used skype to telephone their office (takes a little bit of money), and there's someone there that can speak English. The phone number's on their international student webpage.