experience w. short intensive tailored course

[Scoobyqueen]

i am going to beijing in spring and have found a school that can provide one to one lessons intensively for two-three weeks tailored for my needs. (which was quite difficult) i did one last year for two weeks and the one to one approach really does make it intensive. no way to escape even for a minute for those 40 hours a week that i had chosen.

i shall be doing six hours a day mon-fri then 3 hours a day on sat and sun.

at first it was very tiring but after around 5 days the brain ticks over and start thinking in chinese (provided you dont speak other languages, or so it was for me). i did revision in the afternooon and previewed the lessons for the next day.

has anyone else had experiences in these short courses? how did you find them?

working full time does not allow for more than three weeks at a time so doing a short intensive burst is the only way. i also do twice a week skype with teacher and she writes everything down on the chat history whic form the basis of my revision notes.

sorry for staccato writing style. broken elbow so only one hand to write.

scoobyqueen wrx sti (do they have these cars in china i wonder)

[myann23]

I did three hours a day Monday through Friday last year for 3 months in Beijing, then did three hours a week Mon, Wed, and Fri in Dalian. I actually thought that even 3 hours a day was too much. Looking back, I probably went too fast through the grammar when I should have mastered each concept before moving on.

What are your goals for your language learning? I think it may be perhaps better to do 3 hour days instead of 6 and lengthen your stay in China instead. You need time for your brain to assimilate all the information. I actually think the better you get at Mandarin, the more you will get out of longer class hours because all the stuff your teacher is saying will be more comprehensible to you, thus improving more quickly. At the beginner, since you're not used to the language and everything sounds weird, your head is spinning a little bit. At least that was the case for me. I listened to a lot of audio at the beginning, but I actually wish I could have listened to more.

What school are you going to in Beijing by the way? I went to TLI.

Mike

[flameproof]

Whether it works or not depends really on the teacher. I am really picky in that respect.

Since there are no teachers trained in teaching CFL anyway, or least not available to you you can just pick anyone. Last time in BJ I found people through QQ. Knowing the way how I like to learn made it then easy to get something out of it.

On the professional side, Berlitz has such immersion courses for 20-30,000rmb. They should be worth giving them a look as they, opposite to most other companies in China, have a reputation to lose.

[Scoobyqueen]

thanks for your feedback.

myann - i agree that it takes time for the brain to assimilate. unfortunately my

employer will only give me three weeks off. however your comments

prompted the idea that one could mentally prepare for the grammar

points ahead. my goal is to pass the hsk intermediate and using listening along with

speaking as main points of preparation.

i have found a small school just within reach of tsinghua. it was a suggestion

by a chinese friend who teaches chinese at the uni. otherwise i would not have gone for an

unknown small school.

flameproof - i am also picky about teachers but found these ones good.

in terms of berlitz i have two issues with them: here in europe their teaching chinese precludes the learning of characters! everything is in pinyin. i think that should be optional. all their books are pinyin. looks funny.

secondly i contacted them last year in beijing and they did provide a

favourable offer (much below your fee here). however, the turnover of staff

appeared high, it seemed a bit unprofessional (their responses)and they did not follow up. it sort of left me feeling they werent that keen on the business, so they may focus more

on bigger clients.

[roddy]

Scoobyqueen - you presumably cover an awful lot of material in these brief intensive bursts. How well do you find it 'sticks'. I'd imagine that acquiring large amounts of knowledge / skills in such a short time means that you're going to have a pretty steep forgetting curve afterwards. Or do you manage to do enough study while working so that doesn't happen?

[Scoobyqueen]

roddy - the intensive bursts are meant to also enliven the stuff i already know. i travel 1.5 hours to work then back every day and i use this time to read and listen. on the evening trip i revise what i learnt in the morning and then quickly review the next day. i then follow up after around two weeks but supplement the revision with writing to remember characters (essays that i send my tutor in beijing that she corrects or made up sentences or dictations from mp3). i find that helps make things stick, passive though it is. but i do have the skype lessons.

i have found the brain needs to be reminded that it needs to remember so i usually do first what it likes the least. thats usually the most difficult material.

for the intensive course i take notes and go over the material in the afternoon and then in the morning again, just like when at university, and then prepare for next lessons (parrot fashion as this is how they teach but i find it works). still trying to find the secret to long term memory but repitition is one element, time is another, but interest is perhaps most important. if you have any other tips i would be interested.

apoligies for writing, like i said i can only use one arm.