Learning Chinese in Chengdu

[Guest yorkie_bear]

Does anyone know which universities / colleges are good for learning Mandarin in Chengdu? It's for my husband and we're not sure how long the course -anything from 3 months to a year!

Thanks for any info on the best places to learn, quality of teaching and prices.

Cheers

[Yun Feng]

Hi yorkie_bear,

There use to be a great writeup about Chinese language programs in Chengdu at the following web site. It was written by person's living and learning in Chengdu.

http://www.chinanow.com/

choose the Chengdu site

I just tried to access the site, but it seems to be down. Hope it is not gone for ever.

I only remember a few things about the article. I do remember alot of good words about the program at the South West University of Finance and Economics. Apparently, the teachers are good and tend to spend time with the students when they need it. See the following web site:

http://psweb.swufe.edu.cn/~english/

I should tell you that I am a bias since I've lived on campus twice in the past and my father in law is a retired professor from that university. However, the persons who wrote the article spoke for themselves. Also, I was not a student ther. I was just visiting China.

The university of Sichuan also has a program, but apparently it is more 'business like' and the teachers tend to give less attention to the students.

Again, I am bias because my mother in law is a retired professor from that university :-p.

The article also said many great things about the Minority University (I don't remember the name). Apparently, the program is good and the teachers are very good with the students and the campus facilities are very good.

There is also a blog written by someone who lived and studied in Chengdu for a while. It is at:

chengdu.blogspot.com

Unfortunately, there is no email address given on the site. But you may want to read some of the posts to get an idea of the program she was enroled in.

Again, I wrote this from memory. Some of what I said may be wrong/inacurate. Send me a note if you have any specific questions about Chengdu. I'll try to answer them as best I can.

Hope this helps,

[Tsunku]

I think there are a few people here who studied in Chengdu, not positive, but hopefully they'll turn up.

I heard good things about Sichuan University from a teacher here at my school in the US.

The minority schools tend to be interesting places to study. My boyfriend is a student at the one in Kunming. The foreign students there have a lot of opportunities to learn about China's different cultures. Definitly worth looking into imo.

[Guest fat_chris]

Unfortunately www.chinanow.com is gone forever! That was a fantastic resource, but that webzine folded back in 2001 and the old website has since been cremated.

Sichuan University has a well established program. The only problem that I would see with it is that because it is THE place to learn Chinese in Chengdu there are a lot of foreigners there. Use what you learn in their classrooms and then get as far away from that foreigner scene as possible.

I have also heard good things about Southwest University of Finance and Economics. I know one teacher there who teaches Chinese to foreigners and I am well impressed with her teaching. Check it out: http://psweb.swufe.edu.cn/~english/enroll/enroll.htm

The university where I taught for three years, Sichuan Normal University, is also worth checking out. There are a few pros to this program. The university is located in the southeast corner of the city, far enough away from the city to easily get into the countryside, yet close enough to get to all of the action on a Friday night (15-20 minute and 15 kuai cabride into town). The program is very small, generally there are less than 20 foreigners per semester. The majority of the students are from Asia (South Korea, Japan and Thailand) and my experiences with them are that they don't speak English. I have been satisfied with the ability of the teachers there as I have worked with them: a few of them train Peace Corps volunteers in the summer.

Others institutes that have Chinese programs for foreigners include: Southwest Jiaotong University (in the North of the city) and Sichuan Minorities Institute (in the West of the city).