Language study in Beijing

[Clarabella]

Hi everyone,

I will be spending a few weeks in China, mainly in Beijing (for scientific reasons) this autumn- probably October/November.

I would like to spend about 3 weeks studying Mandarin (I have already learnt about 800 expressions in a 3 week intensive course in Germany), perhaps at Beida or BCLU.

The problem: I can't afford these organized tours, so need to book directly with a school.

This doesn't seem to be the best of times for a short language class, though (I'm not finding it very easy to find information that does not refer to some american university...)

So: which schools would you recommend? Or would it make more sense to just fly there and walk into a school ;-) ? Are Beida and BCLU the only possibilities? Does anyone know how much I should be prepared to spend?

Thanks in advance,

Clara

p.s.: this is my first posting here- apologies if anything is wrong!

[anonymoose]

Sorry, can't answer your question, but where are you in Oxford? I'm in the Clarendon Lab!

[patsy]

Hi, maybe i can help you, you can visit our website at Website, and poster, removed. See here

and if you find there is not any program fit for you, please do not hesitate to let us know, and we will try our best do help you.

By the way, i want to know that how much you want to spend if it's possible

[ChouDoufu]

If you're just studying for 3 weeks, then I wouldn't suggest going to a university at all. I'd suggest going to a private school. The problems with Major universities for the short term courses are they often don't have one month courses planned. A small university will have a few classes on a variety of levels and allow you study as little or as much as you'd like for a short period of time with a cheaper rate (usually less than 15yuan/class hour).

[imron]

Just near the Wudaokou train station in Beijing (about halfway between Beida and BLCU), there is a private school for Chinese classes. It has classes for all levels, has very flexible timetables, and you book lessons in chunks of 2 weeks. I know a couple of people who have studied there, and found it to be quite good.

Unfortunatley I've forgotten the name of the school I know exactly where it is, but as I'm no longer in Bejing that doesn't really help..

Perhaps someone else knows of it?

[gailtb]

I've just written up all the information that I was able to find out in another post on this forum. I'm arriving in Beijing on Saturday and will be there for 3 weeks. I'll post again later on to let you know how possible it is to just turn up at the school in Wudaokou and start fairly much straight away.

Gail

[mandarinboy]

There are more than 80 universities/highschools in Beijing acording to my teacher. I have had a habit of just going to China and then visit a school for a few weeks/month of studying. Usually no problems.

I like Beining li gong daxue since there are very few Europeans there. Ren min daxue is large and have very good teachers. BCLU is also very good. i study in their EBCLU courses. A good way to study Chinese when you are not in China. If you just stop by for a shorter visit it is no problem. For longer stays you need permissions.