3rd most Intensive Program (Nxt to IUP - ICLP)

[jeffofarabia]

those prices are insane. you can study in yunnan for about 1500 dollars a month. just go native.

[mrtoga]

It is certainly expensive. You could study with the Koreans, Japanese and Russians on the normal HIT programme for about US$750 per semester - they generally can't speak English anyway so you have to talk to them in Chinese. No need for a "pledge".

Can't comment on the difference in textbooks. I know I have seen some of the CET people down at Blues partying on many a schoolnight. I have even conversed with them in English, despite the fact that I speak Chinese. Hearing about this pledge has made me feel a little guilty now - like making a monk break his vow of silence. Don't worry - I will not be telling your teachers - I can imagine it would really suck to get thrown off a programme that cost so much money

Harvey, you read Japanese right? If you want to qualify for the HSK Level 3 it should be no problem for you after a few months of Chinese study. I effectively "did it in Japanese" with virtually no Chinese ability a few years ago and got a level 4

[jeffofarabia]

mrtoga,

can you tell me about the different levels? what does a 3 or a 4 require? there are six levels, right?

jeff

[mrtoga]

Jeff,

For a person unfamiliar with Chinese Hanzi or Japanese Kanji the HSK (even level 3 or 4) is pretty tough because (of course) all the questions and answers are in Chinese. For example in the listening even if you understood the conversation if you cannot read quickly enough you will not be able to answer the questions.

Having studied Japanese is a huge advantage, especially on the reading comprehension section because you can understand the salient points of the text and even what the questions are asking. I think the big challenge for most westerners is getting to about Level 5 HSK - after that it gets smoother.

[venture160]

I swear I have never set foot in Blues.. nor been on the pole... I swear....

Anyways mrtoga, just because we say a few words at blues doesn't mean we speak english all the time. The anytime english comes out our mouths is when we go out on the weekend. some of us have been here a while, its not a crime to speak for 20 minutes on saturday night.

[mrtoga]

Only teasing Venture! And I have never been on that pole either......

Out of interest, do the CET students have a specific level that they strive to reach by the end of the course in terms of HSK Level? If not, how do you measure the improvement made during the programme?

[venture160]

Mr. Toga, I'd say you have to look at every students needs and what their level is like when they enter the program. Most people are looking to dramaticly improve their chinese, and even think they can "become fluent" (the biggest joke in the world) but most are fairly realistic and just want to improve their chinese in all aspects, reading, writing, listening, and speaking, getting the most out of the 2 or 4 months they have. I'd say the goal is to study what you can study in one or 1 1/2 years at an american university in one Harbin semester

[Ding Yiyi]

Hey Venture, I'm considering going to Harbin next year, after I finish my second year of Chinese, but I think my Chinese program here is a little lax, how much Chinese did you study in your two or so years before going to Harbin? I'm really interested in going, but I'm worried that I won't be able to hack it.

[venture160]

Well I studied 2 years of Chinese at Ohio University,a very crappy Chinese program, I then did the summer semester at CET Harbin, it kicked my ass bigtime and I felt like I was drowning in a black hole, but it was worth it in the end and my Chinese did improve rapidly, you just don't see the improvement until the end.

on a side note, the last 2 semester before CET I spent all of my extra studying Chinese, 3 tutors a week for 6 hours outside of class, and I still got my ass whooped going to CET