East China Normal University

[Haast]

 

 

I'm continuing next semester in ECNU, but I have to move to the standard course due to my internship. I hope the teachers are better too.

 

adeltjo, if you're reading this - how did the teaching in the standard course compare to the teaching in the intensive course? Were the class sizes/composition similar?

[adeltjo]

Haast,

 

Standard 

- Time: half day (8.30am - 12pm)

- Proficiency Level: a lot of "sublevels" (e.g.: beginner 1.1 - 1.5, intermediate 1.1 - 1.5, etc)

- Class composition: min 15 (could be more)

 

Intensive

- Time: Some days are full days (8.30pm - 4pm); some are half days (8.30am - 12pm)

- Proficiency level: fewer "sublevels" (eg: beginner 1, 2, intermediate 1,2, advance 1,2, business)

- Class composition: max 15-20 (could be way lesser)

 

For me the main difference is the time spent with the teachers and friends. I really enjoyed my time in the intensive course as I was closer to my friends and teachers. That way, my Chinese improved so much faster since the people I spent most of the time were my classmates. In the standard course, I didn't have a close relationship with both teachers and friends. They were just people I saw on daily basis for a few hours. 

 

The standard course teachers were also older. Yes, they are more experienced than the intensive course ones. But then again, they could be SUPER boring due to their unwillingness to change their teaching approach.

 

Overall, I would still choose intensive course over standard course since I could improve my Chinese way faster than when I was in the standard course. 

 

Oh, a friendly tip to all who will be applying to the Chinese Course, YOU MUST MAKE FRIENDS AND SPEND MOST OF YOUR TIME IN CHINA WITH PEOPLE WHO DO NOT SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE AS YOU. That way your common language of communication would be CHINESE. 

 

During my first semester, my friends were majority Japanese/ Korean. Therefore, I cloud only communicate with them in Chinese. It was a challenge in the beginning but then worthwhile at the end as we all improved tremendously in just 1 semester.

 

Hope this helps!

[alayeer]

Hey, I'm glad to find this thread since I do have planning to take the intensive program of either ECNU or SISU. Is there anyone who had experience with both unis? Can you give me some comparison? I see SISU has 6 more hours per week though, compared to ECNU. How about the teaching?

 

I'm actually a bit confused about the dormitory rent fee. If I end up studying in ECNU I'll probably stay in International Dorm No.2. Does anyone have any experience about this particular dorm? The price is 120/night. Are electricity, internet and water included in the price already? I compared the dorm price with the one in Zhongshan Uni (in GZ), and the dorm price in GZ seems to be a lot cheaper, though it does not include electricity, internet and water bill yet.

[sabero]

Is there any CIS student in this university right now? Any student of BTCSOL?

 

I wanted to know some things about the the dormitory they provide for those students and about the study program.

[tallcity]

Hello,

 

I studied at ECNU for one semester under the Confucius Scholarship, in Spring of 2014.

 

The dormitory was decent, though a few things got to me. For example, I noticed when the cleaning ladies, wanted to clean the washroom sink, they simply spat on a rag and used that. I guess their saliva is already soapy? Also, they would come in to work at 6am and immediately start yakking and chatting. Sometimes their families came along and made a ruckus and used up the facilities.

Good thing was, there was no curfew in our dorm, different than the Chinese dorms. Could come and go as you please.

 

I was in Dorm 12, which was for Confucius Applicants. Mostly Italians, some Americans, Australians, and Russians (including former republics). Generally I liked the people there. My gripe came since I was 34 years old, and my roommate was 18, and he just discovered alcohol, so I had to put up with his hangovers and drunkenness.

 

The most popular dorm is Dorm 2, which is mostly NYU students. That said, I didn't get along well with the NYUers, with a couple of nice exceptions. However, on the whole, they were pretty snotty, and didn't mix with others. I suppose that is one of the perks with going to an elite school. Their classroom building has no Chinese Firewall, so sometimes I would go there to use the internet. It was a bit annoying to see that they had their own gym, when we only had access to the track to exercise.

 

There are quite a few eating halls there. River West (hexi) is the most popular, and also has a 'gourmet' room, where most of the Westerners go, because it has menus in English, but is naturally more expensive. There is also River East, which was almost all Chinese, and some Italians being the regulars. Also had CCTV you could watch. I preferred this place since the lunchladies were more chatty and amiable, and it just felt more Chinese. There was also the Korean hall, which I didn't go to often.

 

Of course, there are options outside of campus. Many Westerners went to the expat bar Ellen's, for unlimited Tsingtsao on thursday nights from 8 to 9.

 

 

As for classes, I was mostly satisfied. Most of my class were Russians, Japanese, Koreans. My Kouyu teacher was a mellow graduate student, female, beautiful of course. She was pretty relaxed, and spent most of her time on WeChat. My TingLi teacher was just sexy and talented, and seemed to be on the lookout for a new man, a Westerner. She had a sense of humor. My DuShu prof was a male, and he told us quite a bit of juicy stuff about real life in China, and his opinions of fellow Chinese. He seemed to be disappointed with how the Chinese society was going. I learned the most in his class, though he broke our asses, giving us a quiz almost every single morning. There were a few sponsored excursions, but they were too expensive for me to participate.

 

One nice thing was the the international students took it on themselves to give open classes if they had some expertise. There was a Zumba class that was popular with socially awkward Chinese girls, and was an easy way to make friends. Also, I attended free activities to learn Arabic and Korean, as well as a regular movie night.

 

Another easy way to make friends was to attend one of the Language Exchange activities, usually in Physics, though there was a Chinese group that met at the Mao statue to have basic English conversations. Since it is Shanghai, the Chinese are pretty open to criticizing their own society, as long as you don't mind them criticizing yours, too.

 

Since it is an open campus, people from the neighborhoods come in and out as they please, which lends some energy to the place. You might be invited to dinner, if you are approachable.

The Global Harbor Mall is nearby, and it is the epitome of tacky. There is a Tesco inside.

I don't need to say there is tons of stuff to do in Shanghai.

 

The campus was quite pretty and relaxed. This is not a hardcore study uni, like Fudao, though you will see the same faces in the library from open to close. I am not sure if they fixed up the big library. For now the library is in the activity building, so as you study, people are slamming basketballs upstairs. Not exactly peaceful.

 

You will see dudes recycling gutter oil. You will see plenty of cats, most of them cute and friendly, since they were abandoned. That said, I did see a few floating in the river, and some others suddenly disappeared. Neighbors might come to campus and jam on guitars or instruments, which is pretty awesome.

 

Some of the cooler Chinese seem to hang out by the graphic design school. There is a huge park down there, by that exit. You can rent a little boat that looks like a camaro, or watch old Chinese guys go 110% into karaoke. it is an awesome park. if you pass through the park, it is another neighborhood with surprisingly not many Westerners.

 

The girl in the Confucius Office is always too f*ing busy to help you, so you might need to look sad to get any help. The girls in the International Students office downstairs were way more chill.

 

I did make some money donating blood. i also made money participating in studies at the Neuroscience school, where they did scans of my brain.

 

That is all that comes to mind for now.

[SeaChele]

Hey all!

 

I've noticed this is a much quieter thread than many haha. But, I will hopefully be at ECNU in the fall for the one-year Standard Chinese Language Program! Is anyone else coming?

 

 

What about International Student Residence Hall?

Always when I go to my room I need to notify dormitory guards? I'll live alone in a International Student Residence Hall bedroom, but if I can't bring my friend to visit me and sometimes stay a night there I think will be better to me live off-campus..

 

How about dormitory guards? If my friend want to stay a night in my bedroom the guards will go to my bedroom ask him to leave?

@Lin You Le, Since you later posted that you went to ECNU and really enjoyed your experience, I am curious: where did you choose to live? If in the dorms, which dorm were you in and what was your experience with the dormitory guards?

Thanks for your help!

[Vic]

I was an international student at ECNU as well.

I took the intensive Mandarin program and loved it. Started out with a low level of Chinese, and in three months I passed HSK 3 with 97% (probably could have tried for HSK4). Teachers were clearly highly experienced and engaging. Would recommend this program to anyone who is seriously interested in learning Chinese and wanting to pass an HSK exam as quickly as possible.

[roddy]

Vic, great to have you on board and glad you enjoyed ECNU. If you have the time to do a longer write-up, there's a list of topics you could cover here. If not, no worries and enjoy the site!

[Chris Two Times]

tallcity's ECNU write-up is one of the best I have seen for universities in China on these forums. bravo.

 

Warm regards,

Chris Two Times

[pho]

Hello,

 

I have applied for a 6-month Confucius Institute scolarship starting in September. My application have been moved to my second choice, ECNU a week ago.

 

I would like to know if someone on the forum is currently studying there (or have been recently) and could advise me about who I should contact to see if ECNU can see my application (I remember reading on the forum a problem with a second choice uni which could not see an application because the first uni did not officially rejected it).

 

I found the names of the following people on http://cis.chinese.cn : 

Huangmei Xu, Director of the Center for International Education

Yin Ying, Head of the Office of Student Enrollment

 

I also found on the website of the ECNU International exchange division Mr Liu Fang, head of the Confucius Instutes Affairs Office.

 

Maybe you know one of these 3 persons and could tell me which one is best to get in touch with or someone else maybe? Thanks.

[fernandorte]

Hi everyone.

 

I am considering joining the standard Chinese program at ECNU (not the intensive one). My first option was fudan but since I have read a lot of bad reviews about the quality of teaching I changed to ECNU. May I ask whether there is anybody here who has studied Chinese at ECNU and could give me some detailed information about courses (quality of teachers), accommodation etc.?

[pho]

@Fernandorte. Hello!  You can find some testimonies about ECNU in the previous pages, especially the one of Lin You Le full of praise for the teaching there and on this page the one of Tallcity about dormitories.

 

Are you joining the standard Chinese program as a fee paying student?

[fernandorte]

@pho

 

Yes, I have already read them. I just wanted to get some more opinions since different people may have different experiences.

 

Yes, I am joining as a fee paying student (well, I am considering since fudan is another option as well).

 

Are you currently enrolled here?

[pho]

@Fernandorte. I have just applied for a Confucius Institute Scholarship to go there in September 2016 for 6 months (see post above). If it does not work, I might consider going as a fee paying student. That would be nice if you could you do tell me what are the cost involved, just to get an idea if I can afford it or not. Thanks.

[fernandorte]

@pho

 

These are the fees for one semester for the standard program (RMB):

 

  Application fee   Tuition   Textbooks   Insurance   Total Standard Program

 

         400               9000         200           400                   10000

   

However, if you want to join the intensive program (you will have more classes everyday) the tuition increases to 14000 RMB and therefore the total would be 15000.

 

You have all the information here:

 

http://lxs.ecnu.edu.cn/EN/msg.php?id=48

 

and here you have the link to the different dorms with their respective fees:

 

http://lxs.ecnu.edu.cn/EN/list.php?id=12

 

Food is not that expensive in China. If you eat at the canteen of the University you may probably pay about 15 to 30 RMB. Outside, the price may increase a little but it is still affordable. 

 

Hope you can get your scholarship anyway!

[pho]

@Fernandorte. Thanks for the info. I hope I will get the scholarship too but so far no news. This waiting game is a real torture !

[Guest Tantara]

I studied Chinese at ECNU for one semester last year, it was a great time. Campus is big and green, nearby there are a lot of little and quite cheap restaurants, metro station and a large shopping mall. Teaches are young but experienced and very pleasant people. Highly recommend.

[pho]

@Tantara. I am glad you enjoyed ECNU. I got my CI scholarship and will be at ECNU from September for a semester. Maybe you can help me with a few questions I have at this stage.

 

So far I only have the "scholarship granted" status on my CIS account. I am waiting for the papers from ECNU. I have seen mentionned an admission result list in the Q&A of the uni. Was there such a list when you applied? If so when and where was it posted?

 

I will also be interested by knowing when you received your admission letter with the visa application form (although this year it is an all year round process so it might not be relevant).

 

I am bit worried about the dormitory. Is there a room automatically reserved for CIS students or do you have to book it as soon as you get your admission letter?

 

Finally I red that Dorm 12 is reserved for CIS students on the Minhang campus. Is that correct?

[Guest Tantara]

@pho I studied at ECNU from March for one semester and I was a fee-paying student, but I can answer your questions.

 

Yes, ECNU every year in the beginning of July published on its site the list of candidates who got CI scholarship. You need to check the Chinese version of this site http://lxs.ecnu.edu.cn/ (the main page - 公告栏). For example, the list from 2015 year: http://lxs.ecnu.edu.cn/msg.php?id=615

 

As I said before, I was a fee-paying student, the university sent papers by DHL, so I got them very quickly (3-4 days after ECNU e-mailed me and said that my papers are ready). I don’t remember how long they prepare documents, but I think, within a week.

 

As I know, CIS students get a room automatically. Some universities ask a student which dormitory he or she prefers. If you worried, you can e-mail them and ask directly. They always reply.

 

No, Minhang Campus is another campus that located far away from Shanghai city center, you will live and study at Zhongbei Campus. Minhang Campus has only one dormitory – International Students Dorm in Minhang. Zhongbei Campus has 4 dormitories, they are almost all the same, CIS students usually live in Dorm No.12.

[pho]

@Tantara. Thanks for the information. I would never have found the list without your help because it is not published on the English version of the site (some lists are like Shanghai Government Scolarship but not the CIS one). I will check the chinese version from now on.

 

Do you only get an email saying the papers are ready after your name was published on the list?

 

As you suggested I will check with ECNU about the room reserved automatically for CIS students. I red from a previous post (Tall city april 2015)  that the Dorm 12 was indeed for CIS students but I was pretty sure it was on the Minhang Campus according to the ECNU maps. http://lxs.ecnu.edu.cn/EN/msg.php?id=22 . I just realized there is only one legend for both campus so you don't know what it refers to ! But the page about dormitory indicates that Dorm 12 is indeed on the Zhongbei Campus.

 

Did you also stay on the Zhongbei Campus during your semester? How was your dorm (there is no picture for Dorm 12 on the accomodation page http://lxs.ecnu.edu.cn/EN/list.php?id=12)?