So i want to study Mandarin in China

[Ruperts]

But I have a few questions first:

1) I just want to do an intensive 4 - 8 week course for starters, to see if i like it. Can I just do that at any of the main universities or do they only do proper full length courses?

2) How much would an 8 week intensive course cost? Then what would be my living expenses on top of that? I'll only have about 1200GPB, would there be any way to supplement my finances whilst studying?

3) Where are some of the popular places to go? I'll probably be there in winter so the further south the better, i guess. I'd like there to be at least enough English speakers around to form some kind of social life. A reasonably lively nightlife would be an advantage.

4) Would you recommend doing a course before I go? I'm toying with the idea of doing a 2 hours per week for 10 weeks course here in Sydney. But it is quite expensive ($280AUS at the ACCS, anyone been there?) and I can't imagine picking too much up in only 20 hours.

5) And finally, a general question, why do you learn Mandarin? Do you see it as a gateway to a career, if so, what kind of career? Any other reasons?

Thanks in advance for any replies

[Shadowdh]

1) I just want to do an intensive 4 - 8 week course for starters, to see if i like it. Can I just do that at any of the main universities or do they only do proper full length courses?

You can do that in some of the universities like BLCU for example, more likely they are the summer course type of thing... but I believe its also possible to do single semesters as well...

2) How much would an 8 week intensive course cost? Then what would be my living expenses on top of that? I'll only have about 1200GPB, would there be any way to supplement my finances whilst studying?

Can not help you with cost of course as I have not paid for one as yet... living though is pretty cheap by western standard so the 1200GBP should see you right for 4-8 weeks of pretty good living...

3) Where are some of the popular places to go? I'll probably be there in winter so the further south the better, i guess. I'd like there to be at least enough English speakers around to form some kind of social life. A reasonably lively nightlife would be an advantage.

Beijing or Shanghai? the further off the beaten track you go the less likely the night life will be "lively"...

4) Would you recommend doing a course before I go? I'm toying with the idea of doing a 2 hours per week for 10 weeks course here in Sydney. But it is quite expensive ($280AUS at the ACCS, anyone been there?) and I can't imagine picking too much up in only 20 hours.

You would be surprised at how much you can pick up 20 hours of class time if you study diligently out of class too... but its not absolutely necessary to do a course before you go...

5) And finally, a general question, why do you learn Mandarin? Do you see it as a gateway to a career, if so, what kind of career? Any other reasons?

I started to learn because I thought it was interesting and now look to incorporate it into a my career options too. International Relations stuff...

[Ding Yiyi]

Have you thought about taking courses at a local university first (I have no idea what ACCS is). It'll save you the cost of a plane ticket to China if you find out you don't like the language, etc. and if you do like it then you'll probably be able to use some basic phrases to get around, colors, and know some basic grammar structures. The more you know before you go to China the less overwhelmed you'll be and the more you'll be able to learn. At universities there will be a lot of Koreans and people from various Southeast Asian countries, so you aren't guaranteed too many English speakers at first unless you find some sort of program that caters to native English speakers. Look up information on the big universities in Beijing and Shanghai, possibly other cities, but as Shadow said much further from that and you won't find much of a night life. I can attest to this as I'm in Harbin, Heilongjiang right now and there are a total of 2 clubs open for any period of time past midnight. Take your time and look through your options, you can ask/find lots of answers to your questions here, whether they be about schools or the actual language itself.

[helenlee]

Welcome to china. There are many training institutes in china for suh kind of language training. You had better find a friend to introduce you a good one. Good luck and have a nice trip in China.