Studying in China with a 4 Year Old in Tow

[jwoen]

Hello all,

I am planning to study Chinese language in China in spring 2009 and am bringing my would be 4 year old son. Right now my choice is BLCU since everyone I know (cousins/friends who went there, my Chinese tutor) recommend me to go to Beijing. Their main reasoning is the standard spoken Mandarin in Beijing - we will hear people talk the same way in and out of school. The admin office in BLCU told me there is a kindergarten near the school, so this sounds like a good place to go. However, I have a second thought after reading so many posts in this forum (i.e. is it really necessary to be in Beijing? Afterall, I would rather be in a smaller city and closer to nature).

Does anyone have experience bringing a child while they are studying? What are the obstacles? Is there a place/agent for hiring a sitter and is it safe? Do you think it will be 'easier' to study while raising a chile in smaller city (i.e. Kunming, Xiamen, Guilin)? Does anyone know the procedure to enroll a child in a kindergarten? The people at BLCU told me just to register my child when we arrive.

Right now I am holding my application for BLCU. I thought I should get more opinion from more people. Thank goodness I found this forum.

Many thanks in advance.

JW

[randall_flagg]

I don't have any kids, but if I had a choice between having my child breathe Beijing air or, say, Dalian air, I'd go for Dalian! Most people there speak pretty nice Chinese as well (most, not all!).

[terryswift]

i think its an expensive proposition, though maybe that isnt a concern for you. you'll need to buy medical insurance, and probably with a young child, you wouldnt want to go to far out from the larger cities since you may need access to decent health care. there are kindergartens that will accept foreign kids, but you have to pay. maybe you can find a place that will have an 'attached kindergarten' that will give you a cheap price. of course there are the international schools, but they are extremely expensive. you probably neednt worry about sitters if you enroll your child in a kg, because they go from morning til late afternoon.

[kdavid]

Beijing will certainly have most of the comforts that a western city back home would.

I'd bet you could also find a kindergarten that catered to expats living abroad, though it would certainly be more expensive than one that marketed to the average Chinese.

These types of kindergartens may also offer some type of bilingual Chinese/English program, making it easier for your child to adapt. However, he should certainly learn quite quickly and without much effort regardless.

What are your priorities? Why do you want to learn Mandarin? How much time do you have to work with?

If you're looking at a short amount of time over seas, then Beijing might be nice. It'd also be ideal if you weren't looking to become fluent in a short amount of time.

If you're looking at some type of long-haul stay, and you'd like to reach a native-proficiency of the language, you may want to choose a smaller city as you mentioned, as the amount of foreigners in smaller cities will require you to speak more Chinese (less foreigners generally means the locals speak less English).

I recommend Harbin to all serious learners of Mandarin. However, I'm not familiar with the kindergarten industry here.

Edited October 27, 2008 at 03:26 AM by kdavid

[aeon]

We enrolled our then 4 year old son in kindergarten while I was studying in Beijing in 2004. We lived in the Huaqing Jiayuan (花清家园) apartment complex which is just opposite the Wudaokou (五道口) subway station and very close to BCLU. The kindy was called MingTian (明天...) something or other (sorry, memory is fading) and was almost next door. We felt he was well looked after and it wasn't particularly expensive.

However, our son is very confident & outgoing and was already 'playground competent' in Mandarin so the all Chinese environment didn't phase him. If you want an expat kindy environment with English spoken then be prepared to pay through the nose...

[jwoen]

Hi all,

Thanks for your replies.

Here is some background....

My goal is to be as fluent as possible in Chinese in 1-1.5 years (this is how much time I can spare without working). There are a few things that motivate me to learn Chinese:

• I am a Chinese descent (born and raised in Indonesia now living in Chicago). I learned Chinese as a child until I reached my tween years and became rebelious, not wanting to do anything 'Chinese'. (sigh.... a typical story).
  
• I still have some relatives in China although I am not close to them. This is partly because of language barriers. They live in Beijing, Guangzhou, Xiamen and Kunming. I would love to be able to communicate with them.
  
• I am currently working in global marketing research industry and China is almost always in studies assigned to me. Being fluent in Chinese will certainly help.
  
• While I like what I do now, I do not want to be working in the same industry all my life. Teaching is one of my passions and teaching Chinese to kids certainly attracts me. I totally understand I will need more than 1.5 years to be able to teach and pass all those tests, thus this is long-term goal.
  

My considerations in choosing a school:

• Good quality of program/materials
  
• Easy access to international airport as I will have to go back to Chicago every 6 months
  
• Safe (and exciting enough) environment for my son. He likes to go to parks, zoo, playground, walking in the woods... all those usual stuffs.
  
• Local kindergarten near school. I do not need an international kindergarten catered to expats for my son.
  

randal_flagg - I never consider Dalian, however I probably should. Please tell me more about Dalian (which univ to consider, living cost).

terryswift - my current buget is around US$1000/month for food, accommodation and kindergarten tuition. Do you think it is relistic for Beijing? Do I need to adjust? (FYI: I just need a simple, clean, safe apartment for us. I am not into partying and all that).

kdavid - Harbin sounds like a lovely place to study, although I am not particularly keen on long/harsh winter.

aeon - do you remember the kindergarten tuition your son went to? I was told by BLCU staff there is a kindergarten nearby and the tuition is about US$300/month.

Thanks again, everyone. I would like to start in spring 2009, so the more info I get now, the better. I need to make a decision soon.

Best regards,

JW

[Meng Lelan]

Aha, you live in Chicago. There's a real demand for Chinese teachers in Chicago. They call me all the time.

[gallochilango]

I lived in Beijing, Kunming and Shanghai for a couple of months in each one of them and all I can say is that Beijing and Shanghai are really nice for short periods (autum), but for a longer period you will need a better reason other than the accent.

Kunming is really nice if you`re looking for "adventures", but it`s kind of far from everything. I will say Xiamen is the best option, you have Taipe and Hong Kong very near and you wont suffer those harsh northen winter, though that might spoil your child.

Good luck and let us know what you decide, I was considering going to Xiamen, but Xiamen DaXue seems to have some problems recruiting enough students for the program I`m interested in.

You can post an ad in at asianxpat magazine if you`re looking for an xpat baby sitter.

[BrandeX]

terryswift - my current buget is around US$1000/month for food, accommodation and kindergarten tuition. Do you think it is relistic for Beijing? Do I need to adjust? (FYI: I just need a simple, clean, safe apartment for us. if I am not into partying and all that)

You should probably budget more than that if you are going to be in a major city. Thats around 7000rmb a month. Depending on where you live and the quality of life at home you can stand, rent will likely be closer to 2000 a month for a "cheap" (but westerner acceptable) place. If you need some kind of baby sitter type person, a local (who even my wife won't trust hire chinese sitters) will be at least a few thousand a month. Also, even in a "local chinese" school, foreigners are still charged an extra high price, although it is less than intl. school. (I have friends that do this with their kids, my understanding is it is illegal to attend public schools if you are a foreigner, so you have to attend local "private" schools, then they jack it up even more since you are foreign. intl school is considerately more exorbitant with its fees.)

-oh and then you still have to eat, pay your utility bills, tuition for your own school, etc. I think it is probably doable, but you would always be tight on money at the end of every month I would wager. So, a smaller city will help your budget considerably. Also, there is the issues of visa's for the two of you, if you think it might be any trouble you would need to make regular trips out of the country, unless you have secured an X visa from a Uni (then your son can get an "L" under you with no day limit on entries since you have a resident permit.)

[jwoen]

Hello all,

An update on my plan and more quests that I hope you can direct me for information....

I have decided to go to Ocean University in Qingdao. Their admin office is preparing the acceptance letter. A friend of my colleague in China helped me gathering a list of kindergartens. I will visit those kindergartens and make a decision where to put my son.

There are a few things that I would like to know before I arrive in Qingdao, although the admin office person told me to "just come to Qingdao and make decisions when I arrive there". It is probably the best advice, however I would like to know as much as I can so I can schedule the arrival of my son. The plan is that I will go first and get settled before my son arrives.

Here are my quests:

• How long do you think I will need to settle down? This includes visiting the kindergartens and deciding on one, registering myself to the university, registering my son to the kindergarten, finding an apartment.
  
• Is a 2-bedroom furnished apartment relatively easy to find in Qingdao?
  
• While I am settling down, I plan to stay in a hotel/hostel.
  

If you have any information or can direct me where to find information, or have suggestions, please let me know.

Many thanks in advance,

Justine