BLCU or Tsinghua?

[kien]

Hi. I'm looking into studing in Beijing this September for one semester but am having trouble deciding between BLCU and Tsinghua.

Tsinghua looks good being the top uni in China but I haven't really heard much about the course. I'm thinking life at Tsinghua will be getting more into the chinese culture whereas at BLCU it will be more with the foreign crowd, is this right? . I'm ethnic chinese but don't speak a word of mandarin (can only speak cantonese).

Access mandarin seems like a good middleman if going to BLCU as their fees are reasonable, but I can't find anywhere else that does the same for Tsinghua (PRC Study is a lot more expensive).

I don't really want to start in the deep end (this is a massive step for me) but would like to progress well as time goes.

What would you recommend? Any advice would be much appreciated.

[IslandDan]

While Tsinghua is China's top university, their regular Chinese program is far from up to standard. (However, the expensive IUP program, located on the Tsinghua campus is one of the best out there - and people sometimes get them confused). I think you will have less of a chance to interact with Chinese folks at TH, as the class location on the far northwest of the campus is quite isolated, as are the dorms. The program may work for some, particularly those interested mostly in advanced reading and writing.

However - BE WARNED. Classes are taught in a very traditional style that centers on hours of mindless repetition of dialogues and allows for little actual use of spoken Chinese. My pronounciation actually got worse while I was at TH! I was so frustrated I dropped out my second semester and started paying tuition elsewhere, even though my TH tuition was non-refundable. Nearly all the Western students I knew in the TH program moved to other schools second semester. My BLCU friends seem much more satisfied with their experience. Another more affordable and better run option is also DiQuiCun (Global Villlage) - a Korean-run school in between BLCU and Tsinghua. My personal advice if you don't need formal credits is to pay tuition at a school like DiQuiCun so you can get a Visa and then hire a good tutor for a couple hours a day. Worlds better than Tsinghua!

[AJ14]

Is there any update on Tsinghua, given Tsinghua's recent popularity on the forum...

[AJ14]

Hi guys,

juggling up between BLCU and Tsinghua...

BLCU seems to have alot of good reviews here, and have been there myself 6 years ago.

can anyone please provide some information on their experience on Tsinghua.

The main things I'm interested in are:

- average age of the students

- students types - hardcore studiers or party types.

- nationalities- percentages

- class times and structures.

Thanks,

AJ.

[greenarcher]

BLCU

More foreigners.

More compact campus.

Good but limited dormitories for foreigners.

Specializes in teaching Chinese (lots of programs to choose from).

Tsinghua

Looks good in the Resume although HSK/real skill will still be the basis for foreigners.

More rigorous classes, regular exams, homeworks, etc.

HUGE campus.

Student-types: You can't generalize but I think people studying in Peking University tend to party less compared to these 2.

When learning Chinese, it's really dependent on the person and not so much in the school.

[Ku An]

i would say blcu just based on the fact that it was opened as a school dedicated to teaching foreigners chinese. i actually attended a program at tsinghua last summer thru my university, but i am now going back to beijing to study chinese at blcu. im not sure how the iup program fits in all of this but if learning chinese is your main goal then blcu is probably your best bet