Studying in China.... WHERE??? HELP!

[DisperataItaliana]

HI to everybody! I am an Italian student! I am planning to leave for China from April to August! I have talked with my Chinese professors about the possible Universities but no one gave me good suggestion ! My Chinese professor told me about the Chinese University where she comes from (which is in the very south and my other professor said they speak a very bad dialect!); the other professor (which is Italian) told me the Beijing Language and Culture University, the one in Shanghai, Dalian and Kunming... which is in the south but the mantains they speak a nothern kind of dialect and it is such a great place!! Please, tell me ytour experience, if you know any other place where to study a good Mandarine and where the classroom aren't FULL of students (I have heard that there are too many students per classroom in the BLCU!) Is it true?? THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!!

Talk to you soon!!

Ciao!

[wame]

oh~maN,choose BLCU,you should know that if you really want to master a language,the environment and the culture is the most important thing,learning in the class is the other thing.There`re many many universitys around BLCU&lots of funny places there,you can learning Chinese quickly when you re adjusting the whole environment there,you can also make big progress when you making new friends there so BLCU is my suggestion.

btw:i`m studying right beside BLCU&i`ve been in beijing for 3yrs.if you still have sth confusing ,feel free to ask me.

Ken

[DisperataItaliana]

Ken, nihao!! Thank you so much for your suggestion! You have been very nice! Why aren't you studying at BLCU at the moment? where are you?

3 years??? Is your Chinese very, very good now??

CIAO!

Sara

[gato]

3 years??? Is your Chinese very, very good now??

His profile says "native chinese."

Do they really speak a northern dialect in Kunming? How's that possible?

From what I've read, BCLU has mostly foreign students. It might be better to try a program at a regular university, such as Beijing University or Qinghua (Tsinghua), with a more mixed student population. The class size at all the programs appear to be large, around 20 students. Beginner classes really should have less than 10 students and be focused on conversation. 20-student classes are tolerable for advanced students who are more focused on written material.

Here're some quotes from previous discussions:

http://chinese-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=3230&highlight=class+size

my class sizes range from 10-15 people, so its about accurate from what you read on the website. I think the class sizes are fairly suitable for a good chinese learning environment, not to big and the teachers usually do a good job of getting the class involved. However, I know Beida has a repuation for accepting more students than what is appropriate for the amount of teachers, so this won't be necessarily true of the following years, I'm not sure. Beida is good overall though, the teachers are very capable.

http://chinese-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=318&highlight=class+size

However, I preferred studying in China. I was at Shaanxi Normal University in Xi'an back in 1998 for a semester, and it was a great experience. The class sizes were small, tuition was cheap, there weren't many foreigners (so you had to speak Chinese), and Xi'an was the cultural center of China for hundreds and hundreds of years ... so many cool places to go visit (maybe even better than Beijing!).

http://chinese-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=3339&highlight=class+size

>> BLCU is a great school. IF you wnat to study proverbs, etc, it is very easy to find a chinese tutor (most of the time it's free if you agree to teach them english in exchange - or you can pay as well). <<

I currently attend the school and disagree. My disappointment stems from a conscious decision the school has made regarding permissible class size. Last summer classes had about 10 students or so. This fall my class has 24 students. There are next to no speaking opportunities, on a good day I might speak two minutes out of about four hours. Many students are upset about this.

Nonetheless, tuition is 2-3x the cost of private schools per hour, and significantly more than just hiring a private tutor.

If you are not comfortable speaking ANY Chinese and would like to have your hand held while visiting China for the first time it might be a good idea to study there. If you cannot write any characters you probably want a university instructor to teach you. But from what I've seen, BCLU is in for-profit mode and doesn't give a damn about the quality of the education they're selling.

[gato]

If you want to focus more on conversation, you might also consider private schools, whose class sizes appear to be much smaller.

With private schools, your scheduling would also be more flexible. You could do a week at a time, for example, and have more time for traveling. The downside is that you're at a language school and a regular university environment, which offers a better chance for making friends with non-language students.

Here's someone's review of the Bridge School in Beijing.

http://chinese-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=114

Ok, I'm now in a position to answer my own question. I went along to the Bridge School last night to try a lesson. They let you have one hour's free lesson, but I asked nicely and got two hours.

They have a very nice environment, basically small offices with whiteboards. They are small, but then so are the classes. I was trying the 'Advanced Class' - which actually means 'The Highest Class we've got' - the book they were using was intermediate, and I don't think you could describe the class as advanced - certainly not when you think of what you'd expect from an advanced user of English.

There were only two of us in the class, myself and someone from an embassy. There were 3 or 4 enrolled, but they didn't turn up. The teacher was good, lively, and kept the class moving. I wasn't too impressed with the structure of the lesson - read the new words, read the text, repeat for two hours. However, I was only trying a lesson - if that's what the other students had requested, fair enough.

I got the impression that they would be very responsive to requests - ie, if you wanted to practice more listening, I think they'd be quite happy to give you more listening.

The charge just under 4000Y for a 72 hour course, with various schedules. They also hire out their teachers for one-on-ones: probably more expensive than finding your own, but I've only every heard good things about their teachers, so it might be worth it.

http://www.bridgeschoolchina.com/documents/Chinesecou.htm

[wame]

BLCU has its own advantage like the teachers are much more professional,language environment is better,certificate is much more authoritative~~(just like gato said,there`re also lots of students around want to teach you chinese for free).also,like many other universitys open to foreign students,it`s a profit-made org so those problems exist.

Speaking of BEIDA,I forgot to mention it yesterday, it`s the greatest university in China so you may think about this.

And the private school,i didnt have good impression on it coz one of my friends once had been cheated by certain private school for lack of class hours and suck teaching quality:(( ,and you should know that sometime those school picked teacher from university students like me so you can imagine the teaching quality.yes,we can speak influnce Chinese but not the grammer thing.

Anyway if Bridge school is exactly like what gato said.there is no doubt it`s your best choice.

Think about it carefully~it all depends on you after all

[DisperataItaliana]

Thank you so much guys!! It was great reading about your experiences, comments, suggestions! GRAZIE!!!!!!!

I am still very confused but at least now I know more!!

I have no idea about which kind of dialect they speak in Kunming! My Italian professor of Chinese told me they speak a northern kind of dialect... but I don't know!

You are all right! Basically it depends all on me! It depends on what my needs are! Well I basically have to practise my listening and speaking skills! I think that, after all, grammar is something that you can learn by yourself... mmmm

So BLCU is good but I could end in a class of 20 people! And the enviroment is nice but too full of foreigners (90% you said)... so this Beida sounds interesting! Maybe it's better if I go to study in a University than in a private school... it's just that I would feel more confortable... and you can meet more students!

I'll write you more later!! THANK YOU!!!!!

[Jizzosh]

It really depends on you. For the most part, I would say choose what "sounds" best and then you can change your mind when you get here. I haven't started yet, but I chose BLCU because I had a mate back in Vegas who had gone there and spoke very well after only a short 3 month course, so I judged on her ability after going for a short time. You can always take extra courses, switch schools, have Chinese friends, etc. There really aren't many limitations, it just takes patience and constant vigilance. What I would say, is glance at the programs and choose which one seems to look best for you, then come and see how it turns out. There is a great community here on this website and also here in Beijing. I'm sure that if one of us can't help you, someone else here in this city certainly can. Good luck Sara!

Oh, and I met some students that attend Tsinghua who said that they require their students to learn approx 50 characters a day. For some people that is too intense, some like the challange. BLCU I think is around 20-25. Anyone know what Beida is? I say this because student population and class size don't necessarily mean much. Much of the time Western Chinese speakers want to practice Chinese with you more than some of the Natives! Let us know if you need any help!

[maxham]

I studied at Tsinghua for a semester and then at one of the private language schools, Diqiucun,for about the same amount of time. I was much much much more satisfied with Diqiucun and my progress was much more rapid. My class was smaller, my teacher was fantastic, the flexibility in choosing classes meant that I was in the class which suited me best - unlike at Tsinghua where I was given a placement test at the start and given an overall level with no regard for strengths/weaknesses in the areas of speaking/listening/reading...as a result I ended up in an intermediate class which was too hard in some aspects and too easy in others. My teachers at Tsinghua were pretty crap too.

[jaydub]

For what it's worth, if you want to study in Beijing, you might want to consider Beijing Foreign Language University, known as Beiwai in Beijing. I am studying here right now and interestingly enough, there are quite a lot of italian students if that makes a difference in your decision. Beiwai has foreign students but also a large number of chinese students so your conversational opportunities are good.

If you don't mind spending a little extra money, you could actually apply for more than one of the schools here in Beijing and maybe come early enough to take a look around to help your decision.

good luck with your future studies!

[Chappie]

Offtopic...

You will find almost everthing in Beijing. I even found Dutch - Chinese Dictionary! VERY RARE! And a Chinese - Dutch 100 dutch phrases!

I didnt pay attention to Italian - Chinese - Italian but there should be more then Dutch - Chinese...

[djwebb2004]

Oh' date=' and I met some students that attend Tsinghua who said that they require their students to learn approx 50 characters a day. [/quote']

When you say Tsinghua requires students to learn 50 characters a day, do you mean the IUP Inter University Programme there?

[Lil']

For what it's worth' date=' if you want to study in Beijing, you might want to consider Beijing Foreign Language University, known as Beiwai in Beijing. I am studying here right now and interestingly enough, there are quite a lot of italian students if that makes a difference in your decision. Beiwai has foreign students but also a large number of chinese students so your conversational opportunities are good.

If you don't mind spending a little extra money, you could actually apply for more than one of the schools here in Beijing and maybe come early enough to take a look around to help your decision.

good luck with your future studies![/quote']

Hi Jaydub...my chinese teacher told me about BeiWai but I couldn't find any info about their courses on the internet! Have you got a website address? A phone number? Where is located in Beijing? In Haidian district?

Thanks in advance.

[Angelskates]

Che cosa è il vostro livello cinese? Quanto tempo state imparando? Potete leggere e scrivere?

Beijing è il posto da essere se desiderate imparare "pu tong hua".

Ci sono molte opzioni. Dovreste preparare una lista di "desiderate". Che cosa è importante? Piccoli classes? Parlare, lettura, scrittura, conversazione? Cultura? Quanto tempo sarete in Beijing?

I really should practice my Italian more! Maybe I should go to Italy next??

Bei Wai's address is 2 Xisanhuan Beilu, Haidian District (北京外国语大学，海淀区西三环北路2号。Website is www.bfsu.edu.cn