Looking to study Chinese in China -help?

[Ernie]

I've been searching the web on and off in my spare time searching for a school for me to study Chinese. Unfortunately all I seem to run into is private schools that have yearly fees of 16,000-25,000 USD. These prices, are definitely something I cannot afford.

 

Why I'm here:

Luckily I was able to come across this forum. After reading a few postings, I see everyone is rather helpful. Does anyone possibly have any suggestions of where a reasonably priced living can be accomplished? Surely there must be a beginner's school somewhere in China that I could attend that isn't accompanied by the outrageous tuition costs of a private school?

 

Truly, I would just like to study the language in China for an entire year. Preferably at an accredited institution, but that's not necessarily required for me to actually learn the language.

[shuoshuo]

Why pay when you can get a scholarship to study Chinese for a year (most fees covered, incl. accommodation). You can even apply to top universities in China (accredited). Check information on Chinese Government Scholarships and Confucius Institute Scholarship.

 

http://cis.chinese.cn

http://http://en.csc.edu.cn/laihua

[dutchpengyou]

I'm going to a fairly new campus called 北京华文学院。

The tuition fee is really cheap compared to other school in the region of Beijing.

I've been there for a summer camp and the teacher and facilities were great! Now Im going back for 6 months.

​The school is fully facilitated with swimming pool, Basketball court, running court, gym, supermarket and a large canteen (Meals for Y.5) 

This is their website: http://www.bjhwxy.com/

 

 

Some pictures of the new campus:

 

 

 

[Johnny20270]

hji Ernie

 

I am in the same predicament as you.

 

Universities are cheaper but not an option for me (too old). Some decent private language schools have semester programs. These are cheaper because of a fixed start date. i.e. http://www.hibicc.com/program_inner.php?catid=144#fragment-14

 

a "one year program" is 2 semesters (40 weeks) so for this school its 

 

-February 17 ' 2014 - July 04 ' 2014 (Semester 1)

September 01 ' 2014 – January 16 ' 2014 (Semester 2)

Cost 22400 RMB (3700USD maybe)

 

hence if you started at in feb 2015 you would probably get a one year visa i'm guess. Could go on a tourist visa before that?

[James3]

Not sure if something like this is what you're looking for, but since I'm kind of in the same boat (i.e., not really interested in going the university route) an option I came across is 1to1 Mandarin Workshop - in Harbin - which is talked about here, and their web site can be found here. In addition to the all-inclusive, intensive route, they also offer instruction by the hour if that helps.

[grawrt]

I think you should try your hand at the scholarship, if you don't get it you can always pay out of pocket to study. The only downside is you'd have to wait until winter to apply then wait until fall for the semester but until then I don't see why you couldn't self study or find some local chinese classes to help with the beginner stuff.