Summer 2011 in Beijing- BNU, UIR, or private school?

[Chicago_pengyou]

Hello- I was wondering if anyone could help me out. I've been reading posts on here that have been very helpful but I'm still unsure of what program I should pursue.

These are my options:

1. 6 weeks at private school and then BNU for 4 weeks

2. 8 weeks at University of International Relations (30 hours/week)

3. 10 weeks at private school

About me: I only have one summer of Mandarin studies where I took a private tutoring course focused mainly on speaking (I can't read at all). It was based on common situations I would find myself in (train station, restaurant, asking for help, etc) I would really like to focus on speaking before reading. I'm willing to go anywhere in beijing where there is a good program. I think private tutoring would probably be best in my situation but the comfort of being able to study with others may help at a university. For a university, I am looking for one that will not enable me to speak little English and I am not interested in the "party scene" but rather learning Mandarin as best as I can. I chose BNU and UIR because they were smaller and did not have as many international students as BLCU.

So far, I've heard sinoland, 1on1 Mandarin, Beijing Gateway Academy, and CLE were good programs (and reasonably priced).

Here are my questions:

1. Which is the best private school for someone like me?

2. Is it best to stay at one university (or one private school) or try to split up my experience?

3. Is it possible to go to a public university and focus mainly on speaking? I have heard professors are really interested in rote memorization of characters which is not the best use of my time.

Thanks for any help anyone here can offer.

[jingshen]

Hey,

I've had the same questions and I've been here for a while, having tried various programs and am currently doing university program and two private training programs, Tianjing and Guavatalk (www.guavatalk.com). The university is good for the interaction and grammar and foundation, but if you have it, perhaps a small setting works best. If you're focussed on speaking--forget the university!!! I do far more speaking at my training schools, both are in the Wudaokou (university area) than in my speaking classes because of sheer numbers.

I've heard good things about 1 on 1 Mandarin as well, but not familiar with the others. I've actually convinced my friends to join my program because having tried 5+ training schools' hands down I've got the best spoken language teachers in the game.

Hope that helps. Feel free to contact me.

[imron]

@jingshen, so, does guavatalk give out email addresses @guavatalk.com to all of their students, or just the ones who aren't really students, but who actually work there?

It also doesn't suprise me that you say you've heard good things about 1on1 Mandarin. According to your respective websites, you share basically the same offices in Beijing.

If you're going to try and spam the forums, at least try to put in some effort and don't sign-up with your work address.

P.S. I've deleted your other posts spruiking guavatalk too. If you want to promote your site on the forums, first have a read of the T&C's, and also this post. Sock-puppeteering is generally frowned upon here.