Beijing Normal University

[金妙漪]

Hey ducksauce888!

Oh, excellent! That's such a relief. After hamada posted about being a CSC recipient and not having to reserve housing it made me wonder if it would be the same for you, haha. You might be in Lanhui though, and not dorm 1, if that's where they're putting hamada. So glad it worked out

[hamada]

金妙漪 : I do agree , i guess all CSC Students are directed to Lanhui Apartment. Which has no single rooms unfortunately!

[Ana_C]

So excited, although a little apprehensive about the accommodation, I know we have to check in at Lanhui I had the opportunity to stay at BNU for study china over Christmas.

Lanhui is good but there is no desks, the best accommodations seems to be Liyun, however they were building a cafe at Lanhui before I left, and it's on campus with a huge canteen right outside the door and of course the student supermarket.

It's true that they fix everything very quickly, however I speak no Chinese (hence the language year) so should keep things interesting. We have to check in and they are doing airport pick ups, do we just email them telling them when we are arriving, and if I decide to arrive early (by a week or so) does anyone know if I will have to pay extra? Apart from the cab fare to get to the uni of course hopefully see you all soon, and thanks.

This forum has been help, thanks

[ducksauce888]

Lanhui looks alright from the picture!

I've got some questions about the registration process for CSC students. When I arrive in Beijing Airport on registration day, would I head straight to Lanhui? OR do I need to go and proceed with the registration and sort out my paperwork etc? Ie. If I go straight to Lanhui from the airport, will they have my name on their reservation list? Because it does seem improbable for them to ask us to do our registration coming straight from the airport with all our luggage etc.

Any other relevant information would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

[hamada]

ducksauce888 : When arriving in Beijing Airport , we have to go directly to Lanhui and ask at the reception desk there.

This is a full guide ( handbook ) for international students for this incoming fall semester , it should help you so read it carefully

http://www.bnulxsh.com/xuzhi/hfnis_201309_en.pdf

Good luck!

[Ana_C]

Looking at the handbook the exams are in January, for CSC students does that mean the year ends then? or will we still have Chinese Language lessons after that?

[金妙漪]

Hey Ana_C,

January is when the fall semester ends and you'll have finals in all your classes. You'll have a big Chinese New Year break and then start the spring semester, at the end of which you'll take more finals for that semester of courses.

[Ana_C]

Thank you

I've looked through their booklet that I got when I was there over Christmas and theres a lot to choose from it's going to be hard picking what extra classes I want to take.

Can't wait.

[ducksauce888]

@hamada

Hey just wondering if you knew anything about how CSC students are going to receive our living allowance? Do we have to open our bank account when we arrive and then give them the banking details? Or do we receive cash (which i doubt..)

Thanks so much!

[hamada]

ducksauce888 : Sorry i don't have a clear idea about that, i guess we will get all the information we need during the registration at ISO office.

Good luck!

[Ana_C]

From what i've been informed we get a bank account depending on your degree is how much you get, ( http://www.bnulxsh.com/jieshao/2011CSC_Postgraduate_en.html) I think we get it on the enrolment date, they will show us where the bank is (really close to the Uni).

We will also get a food card and travel card to top up , hope this helps.

[bookworm88]

Hi!

I'm looking for advice on choosing between BNU and BCLU for Spring semester 2014. I've been studying Chinese for four years and passed HSK level 4 a year ago. I'm at a level where I can mostly understand spoken Chinese and can reply and communicate my needs decently well, and I've written Chinese essays for school.

So, these are my questions

1. given that I'm not a complete beginner, how are the intermediate - advanced classes in BNU? (If I passed HSK level 4, what level would I be placed in?)

2. What's the nationality distribution like in advanced classes? (I'm Korean..)

3. Also, do you think an advanced class (30hrs /week...6 hrs a day) is beneficial? I know BLCU has one. I'm not sure if BNU has one, but from the website, it seems that it doesn't, but I'm going to call in a bit to double check. It is like 1.5 times more expensive, though, so I'm not sure if it's worth the price. If it's gonna be useful, I think I should do BCLU if BNU doesn't offer.

4.....That being said, after four hours of classes every day, what do you do with the rest of your day free time?? Individual tutoring? (If you have experience with this in BNU, please share! how much was it, how did you get it, etc) Some people tell me "there's so much to do in beijing!" but seriously, what can you do daily for five months without getting bored? My primary focus of the semester is to learn Chinese culture/language the best as I can.

Thanks everyone in advance!

[ducksauce888]

something i just found out after calling the international students office. BNU intends for all CSC students to reside in either LanHui or No.1..so it seems that CSC students will be split. I was placed in No.1 =( which is a bummer as I was hoping for LanHui. Although I have heard that No.1 is well located and near stuff.

[bookworm88]

Hmm.. Can anyone help me with my questions please?

[金妙漪]

Hi bookworm88,

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner; I just moved to Spain from the States so my life has been pretty hectic.

1. Depending on how strong your HSK 4 is my best guess is that you would either be placed in the 102 courses, which is like the third level, or the level above that. Probably above 102 if you passed HSK 4 a year ago and have made steady progress from there. Or maybe even above that, I have no idea. There will be a placement test a few days before you start class.
2. I don't know what your class nationality distribution will be like because it's always different for every class but I would say typically around 1/3 Japanese, 1/3 or less Westerners, and a 1/3 other students with Eastern backgrounds. If you wind up being in 102 there will probably be closer to a 1/3 of Westerners because SOAS (part of U of London) sends students to BNU for their second year and they're supposed to place into that level. Some of them place into the level above as well but not that many.
3. I never took the advanced class or knew anyone who took it at BLCU so I can't help you there. In my personal opinion I would say that I don't think more class time would hurt your language skills at all but also that there are a lot of different ways to improve a foreign language. I spent like all my time outside of class talking to cab drivers and fruit sellers and my speaking rapidly and noticeably improved way outside of what most of my classmates accomplished through what can reasonably be assumed was only coursework. How successful you are might depend more on how you act outside of a classroom setting than how much time you spend in it.
4. I had a language partner who was a professor at a different university. Fortunately for me she taught Chinese pronunciation to foreigners, wahoo! How I found her: one day after class my 读写老师 pulled me aside and said she had a friend who wanted to improve her English and if I would want to be language partners with her and I said 'Yes' and she gave me her number and we met the next day. We saw each other about once a week for a couple of hours each time and sometimes more if we went out for a meal. There's an 欧美 email list at BNU started by an grad student from the US which you can sign up for at registration and lots of people find language partners through that.
It's true that there is so much to do in Beijing, which is why you don't have to do the same thing daily, which is why it doesn't get boring. I spent my free time studying, sleeping, exploring the city, eating, talking to cab drivers, getting lost, nagging people until they played soccer with me, going out, flirting with Chinese boys over text, bargaining like it's a sport, I made friends with a bunch of Samoans so I spent a fair amount of time at their rugby games. I think it's also fair to say that you'll spent a good amount of time on public transportation, definitely takes up a chunk of the day.

If you have any more questions, please ask and I will try to get back to you as soon as I can

[cnguyen1031]

Hi! So I'm just now starting my application to BNU. I had some questions.

 

Does anyone know where I can find what classes would be available to me while in Beijing? I'm planning on doing their Language program, so it'd be classes related to that. 

 

I've read a lot of people talk about Dorm 3, so is that what I should aim for? I'd really prefer a single room, even if it's in the apartment. Also, does anyone know a good way to go about it if I -did- want to live off campus? Like is there a forum/program I could go through to find, say, an at home type of thing (where I'd live with residents of Beijing)? Is it worth it to live off campus? Or for someone who's never been to China, should I just stick to the dorms?

 

I've seen mention of a group forum/text whatever for international students to keep in contact, so is it decently easy to find like a Chinese buddy to help you around?

 

Thanks! I'm definitely gonna have a lot more questions

[金妙漪]

Hi cnguyen1031,

 

The classes vary slightly depending on what level you place into. Here is the timetable of the language courses offered for each level this past Spring. I don't know what your level is so just tell me if you have trouble reading it and I'll write it out, seems easier to do it this way first. http://www.bnulxsh.com/jieshao/timetable.htm

 

Dorm 3 and Dorm 2 both have single rooms. Dorm 3 is 5 yuan more a day. http://school.cucas.edu.cn/HomePage/27/content_455.shtml (I assume this is still accurate)

 

When I lived in Wudaokou I found my apartment through http://www.thebeijinger.com/ . There are undoubtedly other ways to find an apartment; I am not familiar with them. If you want to do a home-stay or something like that, some of the listings are from Chinese people. Also, there exist websites specifically for that kind of thing. Again, I have no experience with this and cannot recommend what site would be best or is the most reputable or what kind of screening they have of the families or anything like that. Maybe some of those websites have review pages or something like that to look through.

 

What do you mean by 'worth it'? I think it depends on how you like to live. If you've never lived on your own before then living in an apartment for the first time in Beijing might be an overwhelming and unnecessary experience. I imagine living with a family would help ease some of that stress as they would deal with the landlord and bills and those things but there could be downsides as well, like maybe they are CRAZY or live far from the university or they charge a lot or you like cooking for yourself or something, idk. There are good and bad things about living in the dorms as well; it just depends on what you want and what you can reasonably deal with on top of everything else that will be going on. Also you should probably consider your language level when deciding on where to live. For example, when I first moved to Beijing I spoke almost no Chinese and would have been absolutely lost without the help of the English girl who rented me the room. She explained to me how the electricity card works and where the office was and who the heck the landlord even was and where things like the grocery store were and how to work the washing machine and all that sort of stuff that I would not have understood in Chinese. These were all things that I hadn't really bothered to think about beforehand but turned out to be really important (for my mental and physical health). I could not have done it without having someone who knew what was going on and spoke the language. Not trying to freak you out, just some things to think about that I wish I had known!

 

By 'group forum' thing I think you are referring to the email list I mentioned in a previous post? At registration there was a grad student from the US asking people if they wanted to sign up for an 欧美 email list (which now that I think of it was kind of a misnomer because it was not just 欧美 students, which is perfectly fine obviously, I just hadn't thought about it before). It was used to organize pickup games, language partners, jobs, tutoring, questions about the area and trips, events, etc. I think Gus (the grad student) might have graduated this past spring? but maybe someone else stepped in to organize another email list. Idk for sure, but it seems likely. Also you can just meet Chinese students around campus or, like, anywhere else in all of the city; THEY ARE EVERYWHERE.

 

Let me know if you have any more questions and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

[minni]

I'm looking into BNU as an option to study for 2 semesters in 2014-2015. I'm interested especially in the aspects concerning teaching, this thread seems to be a lot about housing.

 

To me, BLCU and BNU seem to be the two most popular choices for foreigners, but I'm interested in the quality of teaching. My level is around HSK4 (passed HSK3 last spring and have studied since). I can read simple texts, can write around 200-300 characters and can communicate in most everyday situations. Would this put me in the level 102 at BNU?

 

What's the tuition fee in BNU? I find it difficult to understand the website, which amount is the housing fee and which is for tuition. What extra charges are there(books, etc.)? Also, I'm interested in the free extra classes. Any recommendations?

 

Is it true what someone said that the class times rotate from morning till afternoon? I find that inconvenient, since I also work part-time and it would be much easier to know your schedule beforehand.

 

Anything else I should know about studying in BNU?

[Ludens]

Minni, your spoken Chinese would probably put you into 201 or 202, your written Chinese would probably 102. There are both morning and afternoon classes, but the schedule is fixed, it doesn't change or rotate. The books are about 300 yuan per semester. There are no free extra classes, the extra classes cost about 500 yuan per semester, I haven't taken any.

[minni]

Thanks for your response! Could you please give me an example of the weekly schedule? I need to choose a school that would fit together with my other schedule. I have understood that in most schools, classes are mostly in the morning. This would be better considering my other engagements.