My critical view of BLCU

[wwu_5]

For anyone considering applying for a Mandarin course at BLCU.

I studied on year at BLCU now, and I am not too positive about it.

I started off in the B+ level. This is an elementary level class. I had three classes:Integrated Chinese, Listening and Speaking. The semester after that I went to the D+ (Intermediate) class, where I had Integrated Chinese, Listening, Speaking and Comprehensive class.

My main critique of BLCU is that although it is called a University, the teaching is not very academic. I've had seven teachers in total, only two of them were actual teachers. One of them was a PhD student and the other four I would describe as 'only' native speakers.

Ofcourse native speakers speak Chinese fluently, but unfortunately they can not teach. In an elementary level it matters less because the Mandarin you learn is still basic and doesn't require much complicated explanation. But when you reach the intermediate level, proper explanation is required. My experience is that the teachers here can NOT explain the Chinese language on an academic level. Especially grammar seems to be a hard for the teachers here.

If you are a linguist and you are interested in the 'rules' of the language you are in the wrong place. If you want to study Chinese in a relax way, with lots of time left for partying, this is probably the place for you. Some of the teachers I had were also quite lazy, don't prepare classes, don't take initiative. One teacher had showed us 6 movies in one semester, and in the end we ran behind schedule for the exam...I'd rather watch movies in my spare time, not in class where I want to learn about Mandarin.

Also the focus of teaching is on your exam result, instead of improving your Chinese. The reason of this is that teachers will be judged on average scores of their students. Little attention is paid to areas that is not included in the exams. For example, teachers almost never correct your tones or wrong pronunciation.

Ofcourse,you'll be learning a lot in a year,because your environment is Chinese. Unfortunately I have no experience with the other main Universities (BeiDa and QingHua) so I can not make a comparison nor give other options. I did went to another private school called DiQiuCun for a few months, where teaching was excellent, fee is cheaper as well and they help you with a Visa as well.

Still there are also positive aspects about BLCU. I love the environment, met great friends from all over the world and let's not forget the fun aspect. Maybe I was unlucky with my teachers, but I do hear stories from friends, who aren't too happy with their teachers either. My class has several students leaving BLCU after this semester because of the low quality teaching.

Hope this info helps.