Tsinghua University Chinese Courses

[roddy]

Discussion of Tsinghua University Chinese Courses, including the application process and classroom experiences. Please refer to the Tsinghua University Index for links to discussions on other courses, accommodation, etc.

In particular, see this excellent write up by CHttay in early 2013.

[Jimme Deknatel]

Hi,

I have just signed up for the Fall 2012 semester of the Chinese Language Program at Tsinghua University. Anyone else starting in September as well?

Bye,

Jimme

The Hague

Netherlands

[Valeria Piccinini]

Hi! I'm startig in september as well!

[Valeria Piccinini]

Hi everybody,

I've applied for the fall semester at Qinghua, I've sent my documents and payed the application fee, how long does it take to know if I've been admitted to the Language Program or not?

[Brian Lau]

I believe they tell you within a few days of registration deadline. I remember applying at the end of November, being accepted online on Dec. 15, and receiving my acceptance package 2-3 weeks later.

[Valeria Piccinini]

ok, this could be a problem...I wanted to book my flight now, I can't wait till june or prices will raise too much...should I buy the flight anyway or should I wait?

[icebear]

I have just signed up for the Fall 2012 semester of the Chinese Language Program at Tsinghua University. Anyone else starting in September as well?

Do you mean you've applied, or already been accepted? I thought acceptances were issued closer to June... I thought they just started accepting applications a week or two ago.

There is a chance I'll be studying there as well for one year starting in September.

[Jimme Deknatel]

Hi Valeria & Icebear,

Good to hear from you!

I have applied & paid and received the following feedback:

"Review Comment of the Program Manager - Your application is completed. Please check the admission result in your on-line application page after April 20."

However I still need to wait for my exam results on June 14th before I can a book a flight.

Where are you guys from?

[Valeria Piccinini]

I'm from Italy!

[Timtim]

Hello everyone

I'm from France and I might be in Qinghua too next semester. I still have to send my application though...

[Brian Lau]

Let me know if you have any more questions. I've been at Tsinghua Beijing for nearly 3 months now and time flies here. It's exciting and there's a lot to learn about to go about life here. Use me as a resource.

[Valeria Piccinini]

Hey guys check your online application, I've just been admitted

@Brian: How are the electives? I wanted to attend the hsk ones and maybe the calligraphy one too..

[Brian Lau]

@Valeria: I'm taking the Intermediate Business Chinese elective and the class is pretty large. About ~30 people and it really is another one of the regular Chinese language courses, but with some formal business vocabulary. HSK is another popular one but I can't say from experience how the class is.

[Valeria Piccinini]

Thanks, I'm interested in the business class too How's the placement test and the language course in general?

[Brian Lau]

The placement test is pretty hard. Most of it is comprehension and the other part is knowing radicals/characters. The comprehension is done by listening to a cd and then answering questions based on what you listened to. It was hard because the audio is spoken at a near-local level pace. The test has nothing to do with reading a paragraph or speaking.

I like the language course. I placed into Beginner 2, but asked to switched into Pre-Intermediate, which even then is a little easy after the first month. There are morning classes from 8-12 and afternoon classes from 1-5. In the Pre-Intermediate level, the courses are split pretty evenly into 4 different sections: General (grammar), Speaking, Listening, and Reading. Of course, if your speaking is a higher level than your reading or writing, you can always ask to switch out of 1 of these sections into a higher leveled one.

[Timtim]

Thanks for the information!

Brian, could you tell me more about the electives? Can we go to more than one? (Would you recommend it?) Do we sign up for a whole semester?

[Jimme Deknatel]

@Brian

1.What are the opportunities for sports like football (clubs , teams)?

2. Is there some sort of exam at the end of the course ? If so> Do you get a certificate when you pass?

[Brian Lau]

@Timtim: You can go to more than one elective. I wouldn't recommend it though because it is quite time consuming in addition to your 4 hours of Chinese a day. You sign up during the 2nd or 3rd week of classes and it goes through the rest of the semester. IMO, a lot of people start skipping their afternoon electives because it doesn't seem as fun and not as rigorous. I think the HSK prep course is probably the most important for those who want to take the test.

@Jimme: Opportunities for sports teams and clubs don't seem as readily available as it should. All the sporting courts (basketball, football (soccer), badminton) are always full of people. You really have to be persistent, such as asking around, in order to find an opportunity to join a team.

For your Chinese courses, you will be graded on a Final(45%), Mid-Term(35%), and Participation (10%). I haven't completed my course yet, but my teacher says we get a certificate and a report of our grades at the end.

[Bogo]

I plan to enter Qinghua for this fall semester as well.

@ Brian :

Is the entrance test for CLC in Qinghua, include writing paragraph/ story use hanzi ?

For the elective courses, when we choose it at the first few weeks of the semesters, can we change it to others?

Or we need to attend it till end of the semester ?

Is the elective course held daily ? how many times a week ?

@ others :

Are there anyone planning to live outside off the campus for CLC this year ?

Can u guys give me a comment for the dorm inside of the campus ?

I heard it's pretty small ?

What is the nearest apartment from Qinghua ?

Thanks.

-BoGo-

[roddy]

If you have questions about Tsinghua dorm accommodation, see here. If you're looking for off-campus accommodation do some searches for 'Wudaokou / Haidian' - there are a lot of universities clustered together.