Plans on going to China for a year -need for advice!

[lioune]

Hi!

 

I'm a new user here and this is my first post so I'm sorry if I posted this in the wrong thread -I saw some posts similar to this so I thought  I could write this here maybe.

 

Anyway, my name is Louise, I'm 20, I live in France. I study Litterature in college and I started learning Chinese a year and a half ago as a mandatory language class in my degree (for people who might know the French university system, it was just a UE5 class), but it is a very slow-paced class, as I only have it for 2hrs a week, during the school year, so I've only had a total of about 80hrs of class since I've started, so I don't think I even qualify for the Beginner's level. I know well about 150 characters, how to introduce myself, how to count, and some other really really basic things, but that's about as far as it goes. Although it is very very basic and I only took this class to just try it out at first, I guess I fell in love with the language and wish I could learn more.

If everything goes well, I should be graduating this year in June, and have been planning on taking a year off, and it has been my plan to go to China for about a year starting in September of this year and take Chinese courses there and basically, improve on my Chinese and discover this huge country. So I started doing a little bit of research on my own (that's how I found this forum, of course) and ask people around me -either Chinese expats or my Chinese teacher or friends who have gone to China before, etc- what they thought about it,and came up with lots of different answers which made it all very confusing so at this point, really, I don't know what to do.

 

(To make it clear, what I would like to do, is to go to China -or Taiwan?- from September '14 to June/July '15, and study Mandarin there, but not in a super intensive, academic way. I wouldn't mind going to either a private institute or a university -I just wouldn't want to live in Beijing, if possible, I'd rather go to smaller cities where the pollution isn't as bad.)

(Also this wouldn't be my first time moving away in a foreign country. I don't know if it helps, but I've had experiences before where I've had to adapt for a long period of time in a place where I didn't speak the language. Just... Not alone.)

 

I've had some Chinese people tell me straight away that it wasn't a good idea. That I shouldn't go for such a long period of time at first, maybe just over the holidays, and then stay more, later, if I was fine. Someone -from China- told me I should go to Taiwan, because it was better to go there to learn "proper Mandarin" (?? is that true?) -and I did a bit of research on Taiwan schools and found ICLP and saw the reviews and it looked terrifying. And, I don't know, I'm more drawn to mainland China.

 

I have spent quite a bit of time on this forum reading through different threads about different schools or universities, in different cities as well, so I have seen some comments say that it was better to go study in the North of China because that is where Mandarin is spoken the most, whereas in cities in the South you would hear other dialects being spoken in the streets. And I have seen other people say that it wasn't an issue because you could still talk to people in Mandarin and be able able to communicate, so the local dialect wasn't a problem. As I have never been to China, I don't know if this factor would bother me personally? I'm more worried about the weather. I tend to do better in colder temperatures than in extremely hot and humid areas. Anyways. Do you think it would be better still if I stayed in Mandarin-speaking areas?

 

As I've said earlier, I don't really mind going to either a university or a private school, but for now I have my attention more focused on private schools, because there are so many universities and so many programs and so many different things, both good and bad, said about all of these, I was really getting lost. And also I'm worried that by going to a university I would get really academic, formal teaching of Chinese, which isn't what I'm looking for, as I have said before.

So, to look up private institutes I mainly browsed through the "Life, Work and Study in China in General" thread and looked what was said about different schools in different cities, which proved to be quite helpful. My only concern with private schools is if I would be able to socialise, since they are very small structures and I feel like the people who go there are older than I am? And stay, most of the time, for short periods of time? I might be wrong, but it's the feeling I got. Considering my age, is it better to go to a university program, or does it make no difference at all?

 

Considering all of this and how inexperienced I am with China, I thought about just travelling around, staying in different cities for two or three months each, studying in private institutes, that way I could see different parts of china more thoroughly (than if, say, I was in shanghai for a year and could only go to other cities during weekends or holidays) but I don't know how the visa issue would play out in this case. Do you think it's a bad idea? (is it even possible) Would it be better as a first experience in China to just stay in one city, one university?

 

I know that in situations like these, I've read somewhere on the forum that it's better to already know where you would like to go so it is easier to get specific advice, and I'm sorry if I didn't do enough research, but all of this is really conflicted in my head, And I really needed to lay it out and get some of these discussed, I think, to help me see it all a bit clearer. I'm not expecting a reply like "this is where you should go, and how, and where you should study", but I would really appreciate it a lot if I got at least some of my questions answered. Sorry for the long post and thank you if you've read all of this!

[roddy]

Hello Louise, and welcome to the site

 

I'll get things started with a few comments, no doubt some others will help out too...

 

First, your plan is completely feasible, lots of people do similar things, and you're asking the right questions. 

 

On location, you say you'd prefer to be cold than hot, which means you'll probably be in the north, which is where Mandarin is more likely to be spoken. Take a look at the climate data for cities in the north-east like Harbin, Shenyang, Dalian. If that's too cold, work down a bit further to maybe Tianjin and Qingdao (getting out of the north-east there). Could you live in these places for a year?

 

However don't assume that the pollution will be better in smaller cities - they might actually be worse. The best plan is probably to be on the coast.

 

Everyone who speaks Chinese will tell you their hometown is the best place to learn the language. Go where you want to go. You'll learn better in a city you enjoy where there's a bit of a strange accent, than in a city you hate where everyone speaks perfectly. If you want to go to the mainland, go to the mainland. 

 

There's no need to just go for a holiday first, but if you have the opportunity, it's not a bad idea. Certainly plan for six months initially - extending for another six months won't be a problem and if you want you can change city, university, or country.

 

What's your budget like? Private schools can be expensive, and over a year it adds up. An alternative is to go to a university and if the teaching isn't great skip those classes and do self study and get tutoring.

 

You'll meet people whatever option you take, certainly over a year. If you were only going for a few weeks that might be more of a worry. Bear in mind you want to be thinking about opportunities to meet Chinese people as well as other foreign students.

 

Travelling about and studying here and there might be an option, but visas could be difficult. If you choose somewhere with good transport links you can take long weekends to travel about, plus as a student you'll get decent holidays. My advice would be to choose the best city you can for the first six months, see how it goes, and check out other options while you're there.

 

If you haven't already seen it, this will give you a list of things you might want to think about. And I'm not sure if there'd be time, but you could maybe put in an application for a scholarship?

 

Looking forward to watching you plan your adventure. 

[Kobayashi]

I went to Beijing last fall for a month to learn Mandarin and maybe I was lucky for the pollution but at least when I was there, except a few days, it was not so bad that it affected my life a lot. I got a pollution application for my phone and it seemed that the pollution in Beijing was better compared to most other cities in Northern China.

Going to Taiwan is an option but you would have to learn traditional characters which might be more difficult for you and not so useful if you want to later go to mainland China. In Southern China many people speak with not so good dialects, so maybe Northern China is better for learning the language. I studied at LTL in Beijing which I found a good school, they also have a thread on here http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/26383-ltl-mandarin-school-with-chinese-homestays/

Going for a year is a great idea and I cannot understand why people would say you should first only go for a shorter period. I wish I had the time to study Chinese for this long, if you study hard you will be very good in the language afterwards. I think maybe studying in different cities is also very interesting, you can see more of the country.

[gato]

Don't know if you have considered the Mandarin Training Center in Taipei.  It sounds like a good option.  See this thread:

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/35962-mandarin-training-center-national-taiwan-normal-university/

Mandarin Training Center, National Taiwan Normal University

[tom6740]

Bonjour Louise,

 

Welcome to the forum. Actually I am also a new user so never mind ;-)

 

I think I may be able to contribute something as I had a chance of traveling around the country/region (mainland + Taiwan) when I was at your age (about 5 years ago; though I am a Chinese national), so I could have some comments on each place based on what I saw (I didn't visit every town of course, but I visited every province/region and almost every major cities). I hope you will find them helpful.

 

Firstly the confusion is fine; the country is big with a mixture of local cultures and backgrounds and I had a lot of discoveries even as a Chinese myself. I think it is almost impossible know everything in advance. Discovery is a process and it is fun, so just jump in and explore. I would suggest you to start with big megacities in the east (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou should be top you list), as they often have an established western communities (not necessary big and obvious though, but you may be able to get some connections here...?) that may help when you need it.

 

> (To make it clear, what I would like to do, is to go to China -or Taiwan?- from September '14 to June/July '15, and study Mandarin there, but not in a super intensive, academic way. I wouldn't mind going to either a private institute or a university -I just wouldn't want to live in Beijing, if possible, I'd rather go to smaller cities where the pollution isn't as bad.)

(Also this wouldn't be my first time moving away in a foreign country. I don't know if it helps, but I've had experiences before where I've had to adapt for a long period of time in a place where I didn't speak the language. Just... Not alone.)

 

I think it is comparing apple to orange; the Mainland and Taiwan is now quite distinct from each other. It is true to some extend that the Chinese language in Taiwan is more traditional, but Chinese is a living and vibrant language anyway, so I really don't think one is better than the other unless you are talking from the academic side. Another thing you may think about is that, from what I heard, simplified Chinese is traditional-compatible (i.e. if you learn simplified Chinese, it tends to be easier to read and understand traditional ones), but not vice versa. I don't know if it really applies to westerners though.

 

> I have spent quite a bit of time on this forum reading through different threads about different schools or universities, in different cities as well, so I have seen some comments say that it was better to go study in the North of China because that is where Mandarin is spoken the most, whereas in cities in the South you would hear other dialects being spoken in the streets. And I have seen other people say that it wasn't an issue because you could still talk to people in Mandarin and be able able to communicate, so the local dialect wasn't a problem. As I have never been to China, I don't know if this factor would bother me personally? I'm more worried about the weather. I tend to do better in colder temperatures than in extremely hot and humid areas. Anyways. Do you think it would be better still if I stayed in Mandarin-speaking areas?

 

Well, I believe there is a myth here. It is also interesting in terms of historic and cultural reasons: in fact you have dialects everywhere (and the difference is usually much larger than, e.g. northern US and southern US), Mandarin is just one of them, and is thought to have a "northern" origin mostly because the capital is on the north! I heard that the Mandarin in Taiwan is (or used to be?) more "southern" style because the capital was used to be on the south. Anyway, without talking too much here, the south/north difference is really not an issue in the big cities, unless you want to talk to the eldly people or people at the countryside. I grown up in Guangzhou (where Cantonese is unofficially considered as the official language!) and while I travelled in the north, almost no one can tell where I came from!

 

If you are not a fan of the summer hot waves, then you will want to consider coastal cities. If you really want cool weather, then Dalian may be a good choice. If you don't mind a bit warmer (not hotter!) then Qingdao is also great. Both cities have a strong influence from western colonization that make them popular travel destinations (Russian for Dalian, German for Qingdao) and do have a few good universities. Although personally I would recommend Tianjin due to the concentration of 1st tier universities and proximity to Beijing. The difference between 1st tier cities and 2nd tier cities are quite significant in China, so if you want to do some serious learning and hope to engage a larger western community when you need it, you want larger, eastern cities.

 

> Considering all of this and how inexperienced I am with China, I thought about just travelling around, staying in different cities for two or three months each, studying in private institutes, that way I could see different parts of china more thoroughly (than if, say, I was in shanghai for a year and could only go to other cities during weekends or holidays) but I don't know how the visa issue would play out in this case. Do you think it's a bad idea? (is it even possible) Would it be better as a first experience in China to just stay in one city, one university?

 

That sounds not bad. During the trip I met a few westerners at our age who was basically just travelling around, but probably in a shorter time period. The visa may indeed be an issue and I am not sure how that can work out, but it looks like a few people succeed in doing this.

 

I hope it is of some help and I look forward to the story of your trip!