Studying Mandarin in Non-SH/BJ cities - Suggestions Welcome!

[youngmick]

Hello all!

I know there have probably been many threads about foreigners studying Mandarin in China. I have many of the same questions as these people - where? which program? etc - but I believe my circumstances are a tad unique, as I will explain. Regardless, I appreciate any and all advise/help given. Please feel free to comment as you please, ask me any questions.

Anyway, a little bit about me - I've seen a few posts about people wanting to come to China with little to no prior experience studying Mandarin and/or being in China, I don't fall into this pool. I studied abroad in Shanghai at the East China Normal University and also studied a bit of Mandarin in college.

I'm looking to return to China for 6 months to a year to improve my writing (which is drastically worse than my speaking) and to hone/improve my speaking. I'd prefer to be in a smaller, non-SH/BJ city (I've been looking into Harbin (HIT and CET) and the much-discussed Konall program in Shijiazhuang). I'm attracted to a smaller city for the sole purpose of speaking less English and being able to concentrate on improving as much as possible.

Thinking further about this, perhaps my circumstances aren't as unique as I believe. I still hope to benefit from hearing suggestions from people with more knowledge about different cities and different Mandarin programs. I know there are good programs everywhere and I recognize that you never really know about how effective a program will be until you get there, but I figure the more choices I have, the better decision I can make.

Any suggestions would be welcome!

Thanks!

[abcdefg]

You mentioned Harbin. That's an excellent place to practice your Chinese. I don't know much about the formal university-level programs, but someone else can probably advise you on those, or you can check prior posts in the forum.

[youngmick]

Can any one recommend good places to study in Chengdu or Guilin?

[Chinadoog]

I know some people who study Chinese at Sichuan University in Chengdu. They all seem to like the intermediate/advanced courses but say that the elementary courses are lackluster.

[pancake]

Hi youngmick,

If learning Mandarin is your first priority, then I think Harbin is the place you want. The locals here don't really speak English that well, and most foreigners will be Russian or Korean - they (mostly) don't speak English either! Also, the locals are delightful and speak great putonghua to boot.

Now, I'm not able to advise on the quality of the normal HIT programme. I have been told it's not that good. But when university starts in March, I will get some first hand experience, so if you're still interested in Harbin I will able to advise you better. Otherwise you could consider the "Chaoen Academy" which is a private language school. They can sort you out with a visa too, and they are about the same price as the normal HIT programme. If you want to really buckle down, I would recommend the one-on-one teaching available from http://www.1to1mandarinworkshop.com, it's by far the best tuition I've had in Harbin so far.

If your mandarin isn't very functional currently (as certainly was the case for me), then I can recommend this company as facilitators: www.hyccchina.com

Hope this helps.

[aquablue]

I'm looking into studying mandarin in a smaller, less polluted city than Beijing, Shanghai, etc. However, I do not want to be isolated in some small remote town or village. I would like there to be an decent ex-pat community and have the ability to buy foreign imported foods and goods.

What do you think of the following...and please give me alternative suggestions..

Xiamen -- > hear its actually polluted and not as clean as they say?

Kungming -- > I hear its less developed and poor but clean air.

Quingdao -- > not sure how clean the air is here.

Guilin?

Yantai?

Dali?

Any others? I like coastal cities best.

I would go to Beijing, Shanghai or Shenzen if it weren't for the level of enviornmental problems that exist there and the various scare stories that you read.

Any others? Perhaps what I'm looking for does not exist in China at this time.

[cui ruide]

@aquablue you might consider adding Hangzhou to your list. It's near the coast, beautiful downtown area with a lake and hills to hike through tea plantations. It's also very developed and you can get foreign imported goods, and there's also an expat scene.

Kunming's infrastructure is definitely older, but it's getting more and more developed, and it's already very easy to find foreign food and goods there. Kunmingers, while hey have a dialect, also speak really clean Mandarin.

While Beijing and Shanghai are more polluted than the rest of China, you should have realistic expectations: everywhere is rather polluted, and not just in air quality.

@youngmick Maybe consider adding Hangzhou to your consideration. It's a bit bigger and there is an expat scene, but it's not in your face and easy to avoid if you want. There is a southern accent/local dialect, but that just makes Chinese everywhere else easier to understand. Zhejiang University has a program, where a number of foreigners go. CET also has a school there.

[Elkedf]

Hi all!

I'm from Belgium and I work in the international office of Liaoning Medical University, which is located in Jinzhou, in Liaoning Province.

We also offer Chinese courses for foreigners, not related to medicine. Most of our students are from Russia, Korea and Japan (in the Chinese language courses) and from South-Asian countries (in the medicine programs).

Jinzhou is a smaller city in Liaoning, much smaller compared to Sh or BJ, and pretty enjoyable to live in. I have been here 5 years by now and have never regretted coming here, instead of going to a big city.

As for the Chinese language courses at our university (I took them myself a while ago) and was very satisfied. The teaching groups are pretty small, which is a big advantage, about 5-10 students in one group. The teachers are good, they all have a Master degree in teaching Chinese as a foreign language. Most of our students don't know English, so when they hang out with each other, they have to communicate in Chinese.

Have a look at our website: www.cielnmu.com, if you are interested.

[yigedeguoren]

@aquablue: Adding just a little bit more to what cui ruide already said.

I agree on what was said about Kunming, I want to add it's a beautiful city that is not as polluted as the other big options like BJ, SH, HK. The pollution in those big cities wasn't a problem for me initially, but somehow annoyed more and more as I stayed longer...

I also think Hangzhou is worth considering. I thought the Shifan Daxue had very good teachers, but that was a few years ago.

Dali is a picturesque village but I'd say rather a tourist destination than a place for studying Chinese, it is simply to small but that's just my opinion.

I think Guilin is a boring city but of course has these stunning landscapes in its hinterland.

[antoine]

Hi everyone,

My name is Antoine Herblot, I am in charge of welcoming foreign students in Binzhou University in the Shandong province. I am a french native speaker and i also speak english, spanish and mandarin chinese.

I conceived the courses program together with the chinese language department director. according to the standard curriculum practiced in other official universities. I tried to make the program as much professionnal oriented as I could.

as for the city in question, it is a small city ( 600.000 people), with few people speaking foreign languages. the city is small but you can still find all the basic things a foreigner need when coming to China. And also, you can reach a natural environment in 20 minutes on bicycle. it is a quiet city where I like to live and improve my Chinese level step by step.

For all those who want to share their interest in Mandarin Chinese with me and the few students already there, please take a look at this website :

www.2-study-in-china.com

I will be available if you need further information.

Best regards to everyone

[yangzihyz]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_China

You probably can't go wrong with any of the cities under 1,000,000 people. The ones on the list will still be large enough to have universities/language programs, and English teachers are wanted everywhere. Figure out a region, and it should be pretty easy to zone in on a target city.

[youngmick]

Hi All,

Thanks for great suggestions. Really helpful.

Pancake, if you could send me that update about Harbin when you have time, that'd be great. Thanks!

[pancake]

Hi youngmick,

I've now had a week of classes at HIT, and I must say I am pleasantly surprised by the quality of the programme. The teachers use powerpoint to good effect. Which means that less time is wasted drawing those stroke-by-stroke diagrams of 汉字 on the blackboard, for example. They are also very good at getting (forcing!) students to speak.

HTH,

pancake

[youngmick]

pancake - that's very helpful. thanks. i'll contact you again in a few weeks/months to see how it's going, if that is okay with you. Thanks!!