Summer Camp Program at University of International Relations, Beijing

[grovernie]

Am thinking of enrolling in the Summer Camp Programme held at the University of International Relations, Beijing (UIR), which is being arranged by the International Students Center, Beijing (ISC).

Went to the UIR website, but it's all in mandarin, and is therefore not very helpful. The ISC Beijing website is pretty comprehensive but would like to find out more about the credibility, etc. of the ISC before proceeding further. Somehow, friends and contacts in Beijing do not seem to have heard of either. Sigh

Would be extremely grateful for any information from anyone who knows details about these institutions and/or program.

Many thanks!

Cheers.

[Grace Wu]

Hello Grovernie,

This is Grace Wu in Beijing. I have friends working in ISC and myself have personal commitments for the ISC-UIR summer camp program, so I'm glad to see your post expressing interest in the program. The program is promotional and just started this Monday. Anyway, ISC welcomes inspection from interested students.

As for UIR, its English link (Center for International Education, CIE) is under construction. And its CIE office and classrooms is located in the same building with ISC office. You may inquire by phone or email to the offices. I believe the friendly English-speaking staff would be more than happy to reply to you.

Hope the information would be of help.

Have a good day!

Grace Wu

[Grace Wu]

Hello,

For details about learning mandarin in Center for International Education of UIR (University of International Relations), their English website is www.uir-cie.com.

[self-taught-mba]

I know someone over there--if you still have'nt decided-let me know and I can ask them for you.

[self-taught-mba]

OK I'm Back -for those that missed me:wink:

This is what brought me back after awhile. Got an email about this post; she has given me the ok to post our correspondence:

"Merry @ Chinese-forums.com" wrote:

What is your opinion on University of International Relations

Thanks for your help.

Were you able to find out more info regarding this school?

“Merry”

First the disclosure: I now have a relationship with the University of International Relations. You might have read from my other posts that I was entirely displeased with some of the schools I saw in China. Accordingly, I started my own Chinese languge school: http://www.1monthChinese.com University of International Relations now serves as the accrediting institution for my program.

So my opinion may be biased because I now have a relationship with them. However, the reason I have a relationship with them is because I trust in their quality control. I started to seek them out what I was originally attending WorldLink (no love for them) and was displeased. I had heard good things about them. Then when I met with them and toured their classes and actually sat in with their classes and met their teachers and the program director I was very pleased.

How I would describe University of International Relations: They are pretty much like a miniature BLCU (Beijing Language and Culture University). Classes are structured in a similar manner to BLCU and they use the same books/tapes. Many of the teachers also teach both at the University of International Relations and at BLCU.

Here are what I see as the differences depending on your preferences you may see these as good or bad traits:

They are smaller than BLCU: The campus, the class sizes, the entire feel. BLCU sometimes it's kind of the party place, whereas UIR feels more like a family/small school environment. It is approximately 10 minutes away from BLCU so you can still go to BLCU to party.

Quality control: They seem to care more about quality and keep a better lid on it than BLCU

Student Makeup: BLCU has become a small Korean town: they ever-increasing number of Korean students. This sometimes makes learning more difficult especially at beginning levels. Additionally, the Koreans already know characters and if the majority of the class knows them you may find that in writing they surpass you very easily and you feel frustrated and left behind. UIR on the other hand currently doesn't take students that can't speak English, believing that it is more fair to everyone to have them on the same level.

Flexibility: BLCU has had a better reputation for a long time, accordingly they have become very popular. Unfortunately, the more popular they get the more my friends that attend tell me that their customer service/flexibility is going downhill. They are able to fill every class size so to them it does not matter. UIR while employing some of the same methodologies tend to be more flexible in their approach.

Class sizes: Class sizes at UIR never exceed 10 students and often average five. BLCU classes have been growing over time with reports from some of my friends that classes are now reaching 20. BLCU appears to be jamming students into a classroom to increase tuition revenue. UIR has promised not to do this.

Price: finally, UIR is cheaper (although only marginally) and you're essentially getting the same thing but with the smaller class sizes, more flexibility, and what I believe is better quality control. (But less fun campus)

I hope this information helps. It really depends on your preferences as to what you want to do. If you want a nice social environment that is laid back with lots of people, BLCU would be the place for you. However, if you want to get something out of the program I would recommend UIR over BLCU.

Again, it depends on what you want to accomplish and you did not state your goals. You may have read from my other posts that I don't care for the traditional approach. UIR continues to use this approach however slightly modified and more flexible. While I have adopted another approach for my school, if you like the traditional approach then UIR is what I would consider one of the best out of schools employing this method. Having met the program director I am convinced that they are more genuine about quality than BLCU (which has grown too large). There is a reason why I decided to partner with them for accreditation.

I hope this helps,

Matt

PS unless you object, I would like to post this to the original topic on the forum as it may help others.

Dear Matt:

Thank you very, very much for your detailed informative reply. I found it to be enlightening and will consider your words carefully.

Yes, you may use my inquiry on the forum.

Good Luck with your school and if I am in Beijing, I will certainly come over to your school for a visit.

Thanks, Merry