Chengdu - Jiaotong or Sichuan uni??

[Aremonus]

I wanna go to learn mandarin in Chengdu in 2009 but I don't know whether I should go to sichuan or jiaotong uni...

My gf's studying japanese at xihua university but I don't wanna go there because I don't get along well with the headteacher there and because the uni sucks (they force students to pay for a dormitory and such things)

In jiaotong uni, I know a professor and they also teach german and french and I wouldn't mind if I could manage to practice my french a lil bit while learning chinese (sounds stupid, tho; I can reach France by care in 3 hours...). German is not so important, I had to learn it for 9 years in school, so I speak it same good as natives.

I've also been told that the environment around jiaotong uni was cheaper than arround sichuan daxue.

On the other hand, sichaun daxue is said to be better (dunno what that means; usually, better in china is the same but more expensive^^) and there are more foreign students.

Has anyone here got any experience with those unis (the last post 'bout these unis were in 2004; that's why I open such a thread again.)?

Is there usually a big diffrence between chinese universities (I always heard different things bout this)?

[muyongshi]

Avoid sichuan uni! They are bad with their foreign program. Because they have so many you will not learn much and they also have a ton of koreans and the teachers mainly focus on characters.... Too large! Stay Away!

[Aremonus]

haha, ok, I guess then I'll go to jiaotong daxue; hopefully gonna learn more there^^

[Tommi]

Avoid sichuan uni! They are bad with their foreign program. Because they have so many you will not learn much and they also have a ton of koreans and the teachers mainly focus on characters.... Too large! Stay Away!

I have to say that so far I've been quite pleased to study at Chuanda, the program is good and I'm making steady progress for two years, started from zero, managing an HSK 8 last semester. There are a bit more students than two years ago, but bigger classes get split into two for most lessons, max 15/class then. I would recommend this uni, suits me perfectly.

[LaVandez]

Tommi what books are you using now?

[Tommi]

Most books are from the 北京语言大学出版社 in the 对外汉语本科系列教材 series.

[muyongshi]

Tommi I'm glad for once that I've heard something good about ChuanDa. Note all my opinions on it are because anyone I've known that has gone there has hated it (but I've never been myself) and most of those people then transfered/moved to the minority university and said it was a lot better there. Also Chengdu Daxue has a foreign program but not really any students as far as I know so if you are looking for small that may be a place to look at.

[Tommi]

and most of those people then transfered/moved to the minority university and said it was a lot better there

I've heard exactly the same from people coming from the Minority Uni, saying the level there was substandard and unproffesional in comparison to Chuanda. So I guess it's a matter of personal opinion as always.

[lerider]

Maybe a stupid question, but just to make sure. Chuanda = Sichuan daxue?

I'd also like to bring this thread alive again - I'm considering going to Chengdu to study chinese for a year but have no idea which university to choose.

[muyongshi]

Yes they are the same. Chuanda is the abbreviated way of saying sichuandaxue

[Aremonus]

well, jiaotong uni has a lot of french students, so i've been told.. it's good for me, so i can practice french and learn chinese at the sametime^^

My french really suxx when considering that i've been learning it for 5 years now. And in addition I am living maybe 45 minutes by car away from the french frontier, lol, so it might be good if i improve it a little too.

According to what I've heard and seen, most chinese Unis are quite bad compared to american or european Unis, but seems that's something that students gotta accept. And in the end it's still up to the student himself how much he learns, the uni just might help^^

Some people study in harvard or at the UniSG and do not learn much...

[evasiege]

Just received an acceptance letter to study at Jiaotong for a year this coming Sept., and while I am excited, I am not completely sure I made the right choice of a school. There isn't really too much information on the schools' language program, and general info about the campus. Also, I heard because its an engineering school, there are very few chicks around. Is anyone else there right now that can convince me otherwise?

[muyongshi]

Also, I heard because its an engineering school, there are very few chicks around.

The real motivation comes out

You know, just try it. If worse comes to worse: switch uni's.

[Prodigal Son]

everything I've heard about sichuan university is that it's a good place to study. I've also heard from students switching between the minority university to sichuan university expecting and getting a better quality education.

[Tommi]

Two years has passed since my last reply, yesterday had my final exam and will graduate with a degree now. In the end I know I made the right decision to study at Sichuan Uni and am satisfied with the results. Still I keep hearing that the other schools are not as good as Sichuan Uni, but to be honest, I think the overall program could improve a bit in some areas, things did change a bit better during my 4 years there, but not enough to make the school a top one.

[Tizburi]

Hi, I maybe go to Chengdu to study 1 year and

looking possibilities now so this post is very

usefull.

From what I see only three universities in considerais

Chengdu to study Chinese with a good level to

foreigns:

Sichuan Normal University

Southwest Jiaotong University

Sichuan Minorities Institute

But in reality there are many more universities ... someone

has tried other?

On the other hand the theme of the prestige of each university to

I personally care less, what I want is a very good teacher and good program study.

I wanted to ask you if you have further views on these

especially universities and ask prices of each

I see that university is an issue that you have not

said nothing (I've looked at the official website and nothing found about how much cost) . I am interested to know the price for a year

entire study. About the accommodation if you know something

as well.

Thanks and regards.

PD: Sorry for my bad english