tsinghua or blcu for almost native

[watermelon]

Hello folks,

I am a second generation immigrant who lives in Germany. My parents are native Chinese/Shanghainese, therefore I would say that my Chinese is pretty alright for everyday use although I find it difficult to express myself sometimes. I find it particularly difficult to talk about more complex subjects.

My PinYin is also quite good. I recognize quite a lot of Chinese words but I rarely write it by myself.

Now I am going to study Chinese at an advanced level in Beijing for one year.

Which Uni ist better for my needs, Tsinghua or BLCU?

It would be great if you could give me some advice.

Anyone else here who has got Chinese parents?

Thanx in advance,

Lisa

[bottledpoetry]

Hi watermelon,

I have a similiar learning profile--Chinese-American with Shanghainese parents, conversational Mandarin and recognition of characters from life at home. I haven't began attending school yet, but I decided to go to Tsinghua because they seem to have a more demanding curriculum. I've heard that BCLU is more tended for the beginning levels and has more of a party vibe. That just may be rumors though.

I made the decision to go with Tsinghua because I've heard good things about the program and also because it has a good reputation in China, which I think will help me out if I ever work with a Chinese company. You might also want to consider BNU. I did BNU a few summers ago and had a great experience, as did many others on this forum. My main reason for not going back is just because I wanted to try something new.

Good luck!

[watermelon]

dear bottled poetry, it's cool that I get to know someone with similar background ;-)

I am going to apply for both unis now but I am slightly preferring Tsinghua.

Maybe we can meet in Beijing ;-) When are you going?

[raymond23]

Hey,

Depending on how many Chinese characters you know, the Mandarin Training Course in BLCU might be suitable for you.

I'm currently taking this course and it has pretty much satisfied my goal of coming to China.

This course is for students that don't have a major problem with recognizing Chinese characters. It is all oral though, which might be what you are looking for if you want to express yourself better while communicating.

I, similar to you, grew up in another country (US) but have a pretty solid background in spoken and written Chinese.

Like I said before, this course is basically all oral and emphasizes on communication and basically the teacher will try to "clean" up on your mandarin vocabulary.

If you have any questions, I am more than happy to answer them.

[anonymoose]

Just a question...if you have Shanghainese parents, why don't you want to go to Shanghai?

[Lu]

You might be right about BLCU catering to beginners, but I never noticed any party vibe when I was there (2002-3). As I recall they don't even have a statue of Mao at the entrance. And I did know a guy who was basically a native speaker (Taiwanese parents) who studied at BLCU.

But no doubt you can learn a lot at Tsinghua as well.

[imron]

but I never noticed any party vibe....they don't even have a statue of Mao at the entrance

Wrong party Think the beer drinking kind of party, not the political kind of party.

[heifeng]

hahaha..good stuff..having only read the bottom few replies i was wondering when the 'party' got tossed into school selection threads...ok now I got it, bp up there is referring to the 'keg' 党...nice

[bottledpoetry]

I like how statue of mao = party vibe

watermelon, we should totally meet up!! I plan to be in Beijing in mid-August, or if visa stuff is weird, then definitely by September.

Joanne

[watermelon]

hello,

does anyone know if i have to have my high school FINAL report?

I am leaving high school at the end of june.

Can I also apply with a provisory report?

Do they care that much at all or is it just a formal thing?

thanx,

lisa

[bottledpoetry]

I think you can just do the unofficial report and then if you don't feel safe, leave a note in there for them. I provided my unofficial college transcript.