Where should I study? :)

[srcampana]

Hello,

My name is Ryan, I'm 32 years old, and I love languages. I snowboard, workout (crossfit type workouts), and go to church (non-denominational Christian). I have taken a bit of Mandarin privately in Los Angeles and realized that it's cheaper for me to just go and live in China and study there (even Shangai or Beijing) than staying in LA and studying. Crazy. I'm planning on around 4 months but maybe more, it just depends on how things work out for me back in LA and while in China. I have no definite timeframe for leaving but I think I'd like to head over there around March 5th. I'm quick with languages and would prefer a private school with one-on-one tutoring. Once I get better at the language, I could be in small classes, but starting out, seeing as it's a tonal language (which is new for me), I'd like my teacher to be able to hear and correct me. Plus, being in classes is difficult for me because I know how I learn (I have a Masters in teaching Spanish and have taught it to high school kids for the past 4 years) and I know what will make me learn faster might not help (and perhaps will hinder) someone else's learning experience. I need less textbook work but I do need to learn grammar and see things written down so I can remember them. Standard Mandarin and simplified characters seem good to me.

I have lived abroad in several different countries and experienced different living situations. I am used to (and enjoy) living alone but would not be opposed to living with locals, just to continually practice the language. I have enough of a budget for a place by myself, with others, or even with a family but any situation would have to be a good one, as if I'm not happy with my living situation, life begins to suck in general (personal experience with an awful roommate in Spain). I would also have some money for travel and sightseeing, as I genuinely want to spend as much time as possible learning the language and culture.

Having never been to China, I have been reading these forums, online articles and other forums about many different cities. My teacher in LA recommended BJ or Dalian but with the pollution being so bad, I've kind of ruled out BJ for now. I'm open to many different options and have been reading about Qingdao, Harbin, Shanghai, Chengdu, Dalian, Taipei, etc. Having lived in different cities in Spain, I'm familiar with the difference between living/studying in a big city versus a small city. I'm kind of leaning toward Shanghai, as I have a friend whose family lives there (they are Chinese and speak very little English - but at least they are familiar faces). I am not a fan of rain, though for some of the time, I can put up with it. I enjoy sun or snow (though if there's snow, it'd be great if snowboarding was nearby). Anything too hot, unless dry heat, I am not the biggest fan of. 90 is fine but 90 with 95% humidity is a lot to handle.

I am very social when I meet people and would love to make friends with locals (I may have some problems here, but I'll consult the experts (you guys) when the time comes). I think to get out of speaking English (if people "insist" on speaking English to me - I am a 6'3" tall white guy with blue eyes) I will speak Spanish.

So.....what recommendations do you guys/gals have? I believe I answered the questions Roddy posted in his "Want to know where to study? Read this." thread. I apologize if this post was long-winded or if I somehow offended anyone. I'm just excited about this opportunity and look forward to hearing from all of your guys' experiences.

[putonghua73]

Hi Ryan,

The way I would (and have) approached this - and have advised others - is to list the criteria that is important to you in deciding where to study. Then I would rank the criteria by a weighting system, or highest to lowest in terms of importance.

Whilst you will not have all the information to hand, you can perform sufficient research via the 'net to come up with a short-list of places, that will allow people who have direct experience to comment and make informed suggestions.

Your wants are still too vague. That said, if we work with your environmental considerations it helps rules out a few places re: over 90 degrees. If humidity is a factor, that rules out Taipei.

Have you considered the following:

Big city vs small city (factoring the China element for what constitutes 'small')

Budget (NE costal cities are generally more expensive)

Amenities (Western or more localised experience)

Location in terms of travel

Private 1-2-1 will rule out a lot of places because unless you go advertising for a private tutor, then there are few places that offer decent private 1-2-1 compared with group classes.

There are a number of threads on the same topic that might help your thinking process. Also, don't forget that Google, especially Google images, is your friend. Whilst reading helps, seeing what the place looks like can help inform your evaluation.

Since you don't mind the cold (snow), and factoring in environmental considerations, the NE e.g. Dalian or Harbin might be good places to start your research. Whilst having friends in Shanghai helps, don't let that become too big a factor in your decision making, overriding over factors.

Note: whilst you are correct that studying in China is probably much cheaper than studying in the West full-time, you also need to properly account for all of your costs during your study period i.e. can you cover your rent / rent out your home whilst studying?

[Marakanka]

from what I read, the are three main factors for you in choosing a place, snowboarding are the climate and the possibility to speak a lot of Mandarin.

Snowboarding: If you like snowboarding, then anywhere in the Northeast works, with Beijing and the surrounding areas having the most ski resorts, some of which are quite big and good by now.

Climate: If you do not like rain, then that also points towards the north and northwest. It will still get hot during the summer in those areas though. It rains a lot in the south (Guangdong) and Shanghai.

Speaking Mandarin: If you want to speak a lot of Mandarin, I think you should be looking at Mandarin only speaking areas, so Beijing, Harbin, Jilin. Check the wikipedia article. I personally found the accent spoken in Dalian completely incomprehensible, even though people say it is Mandarin, I do have my doubts there. For full immersion, Shanghai and Beijing are not as good as "smaller" cities, but in the end it comes down to how you do it.

For schools, I think in the bigger cities you might be more likely to find a high quality school. I studied at LTL in Beijing and can from my experience say that their teachers are very good at tailoring classes to individual students needs and they also do a full immersion program and homestays, which I did not do, but my flatmate was very enthusiastic about. There are other options around too, I suggest to search this forum and google.

I live in Beijing and while the air indeed has not been good during the last few weeks, I kind of find the international press are making things a lot worse than it is. Beijing climate and air quality basicaly depends on the wind and the current problem is less a pollution problem - well of course that too - than that for the last few weeks there has been less wind than usual during this time of the year, which is supposed to come back on Friday according to the weather report . A friend of mine told me that the situation in Shanghai and Shenyang was pretty similar at the moment.

PS: as you are quite concerned about the climate, one piece of information would be helpful: which time of the year do you plan to be in China?

[andysun731]

As a Chinese, I think Harbin maybe the right choice for you, if you are quite concerned about the climate. Shanghai is too hot and wet in summer, while too cold and wet in winter, which will be a disaster if you are out of an air-conditioning room. Beijing is very hot in summer too, but not so wet. Furthermore, there are accent problems. In most southern cities, locals can not speak standard mandarin, except young students. And locals in Beijing also have accent, which is called 京片子, altough many people think mandarin in Beijing is very standard. People in Harbin have little accent, sometimes a little northeast accent, but much less than in Liaoning and Jilin province. I remember someone mentioned a 1 to 1 mandarin workshop in Harbin which is pretty nice. You can read some threads in Chinese-forums.com→forums→Studying, Working and Living in China→ Life, Work and Study in China in general→ Harbin to find what they said about it.

BTW: A lot of cities are liable to air pollution in winter, especially severe this winter. Today 1/9 of China is covered by smog.

[srcampana]

(Crap! I responded to you guys as I was boarding a plane the other day but I guess it never went through. Dumb airport wifi.)

Thank you guys so much for your responses! I really do appreciate the help and advice you have and these forums offer.

I have been doing more reading, google searches (the Harbin Ice Festival looks like the most beautiful thing ever), and thinking about this.

I did want to clarify: as much as I love snowboarding, since I wouldn't arrive until mid-March, I doubt I'll have much chance to snowboard anyway, so that's not as much of a concern. My biggest concerns are environmental - humidity isn't my favorite, neither is rain, that being said, I'm from Seattle and I lived in Nice, France (humidity) for a while. Budget is not too much of a concern because, as previously mentioned, it's cheaper to do this and pay rent in LA than it is to stay here and study (and I have a friend subletting my place, meaning I'm saving more money by going to China). That being said, I won't spend money on a school that's twice as much as the other schools without very good reason (pedagogical, travel, student services, etc).

I know it's still vague, but to me China is a blank canvas. I've never been, I don't know what's there, I know VERY LITTLE about it, and I just kind of go with the flow - so if Shanghai sounds good, I'd go there. Same for any other place. I don't mind going to one place for a few months and then if I don't like it, maybe moving to another after for a few months. Since I don't know much, this might work for me. I'm open to suggestions and experiences you've had.

And this may seem like a dumb question for you guys but what are some of the biggest differences between a city with "western amenities" and one without? I don't have much experience with a city without (though rural El Salvador might come close). Thank you again!

[andysun731]

There are a lot of foreigners in Shanghai, which may be good for "western amenities"? I'm not sure... But Shanghai rains a lot for sure. You may only bear Shanghai's weather in autumn.

The air pollution problems are severer than before for most North China and East China cities this winter, the bigger city the more pollution. It's lucky for you not to be here this winter.