Where to study in Suzhou, August 2008?

[spitz]

大家好！

I'm trying to find intensive language courses in Suzhou for next August.

I'm sure Suda must have some summer programs, but I haven't been able to find them on their website.

If anyone can point me in the right direction there or recommend me other possible schools to study for 3-4 weeks next August, I'll be very grateful.

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

[spitz]

I'll answer to myself with the info I've been able to find, in case someone finds it useful down the road.

I finally figured out that Suda's page is not Firefox-friendly and dusted off that other web browser to "explore" their website.

That brought me to their School of Overseas Education, which is apparently responsible for the Mandarin instruction for foreign students.

I sent an e-mail to lxs@suda.edu.cn and their answer was as follows:

"The regular Chinese program here is from the end of February to the 10th of July for the spring term, and from the very beginning of September to the 10th of next year's January for the fall term. During summer time, only group applicants are accepted for the special Chinese program. If in August, there is a special Chinese program for western student, you can join in."

I answered with a follow-up email to inquire about that August course and I'm waiting for their news now. I'll update this thread with any new info I can find.

[optical]

Someone from this board already contacted me about this school so I'm not sure if that was you or not, but anyway if you need help with Suda you can ask me, I just finished my first semester here. The person at the lxs address is "Julie", she is very difficult to talk to in all honesty. If possible it's a lot easier to talk to her if you call her at the number on the website, just use Skype, it's only 2 cents a minute.

Anyway she is right, Suda only has semester based courses. You can attend for less than a full semester, but it doesn't start until september 10th, I don't know of any classes that start in august. The special programs she is talking about is mostly regarding to applications from Universities comprising of at least 10 students. If your schedule is the most important thing then I don't think Suda will fit your needs for an August schedule unless you luck out and get into a small group - don't know how you would arrange that though. Feel free to look at my blog for more info about the school and admission process.

soochow.blog.com

[DrZero]

Suzhou has a branch of the Taiwan Language Institute. They have a very good reputation, and they tailor the program to what you want, in terms of timeframe, number of lessons per day, and content. Most of it is one-on-one lessons. I'm thinking about going there this year myself for a few weeks.