Any advices? :)

[Michelle13]

Hi guys!

I'm so happy I've found this website!

So my name is Michelle and I'm from Poland, I love learning new languages and for that (and my deep love to China) I picked up Chinese. This summer I would love to visit China and that's why I have this dillema- what can I do for like 1-2 months there? I don't want to go for a language course because I'm rather self-learner, the most important for me is using chinese everyday and get to know the people. Do you have any advices? I'm really open to consider anything. (Maybe some kind of a summer camp? But rather with people from China)

Basic info: I'm 18 years old,  speak fluent Polish, English, advanced Spanish, Russian. Took a part in Latin competition.

Last year I worked for a month in Spain as an Au Pair with teaching the kids English.

I  have sailing, windsurfing and driving licence

Love to sing, play the guitar and to act in amateur theatre

I would be really grateful for any advices!

p.s. I don't know if I have chosen the right part of the forum ( I just like Shanghai) so sorry for that!

[gwr71]

Dear Michelle13 I am officially impressed.  I can see you speeding down the highway of Mandarin fluency.  I am jealous of course as you are so young and multi-lingual.  It puts me to shame as I have wasted my years without fluency in another language to show for it.  I know Spanish but not fluent.

You are in the right place for advice.  There are a lot of good and knowledgeable persons here to help you. The first person Lu who responded to your post is a good person to speak with.  Lu is a moderator and I advise you to check her profile and contact her.

The little advise I can give you is that from what you have posted you will be doing Mandarin from mainland China as opposed to Taiwan.  You will be studying Simplified Characters.  Traditional Characters are done in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

 

what books are you learning from?  It may help as there are many persons here who may have used that/those books. 

As for summer programs there are many as China is so big but you  did state that you love Shanghai so there will be persons in this forum who will definitely be able to help.

[edelweis]

23 hours ago, Michelle13 said:

the most important for me is using chinese everyday and get to know the people.

 

It seems that Shanghai has its own dialect. Although people will speak Mandarin to you (since they learned it at school from kindergarten on), they will probably talk to each other in Shanghaiese.

If you want to talk to native Mandarin speakers, maybe go to a northern area?

 

I know you said you don't want to go to a school, but would a homestay with a private teacher fit?

[889]

Most important step: forget you know any English. Let others think you speak only Polish. Maybe a little bit of Russian.

 

I'd suggest not Shanghai. First because the accent there isn't all that good and there's a local dialect to boot. Second because Shanghai people tend to have an attitude towards foreigners, not to mention towards other Chinese as well. I'd probably spend a couple of months in a more northern place. Xi'an is not a bad place, though you might want someplace smaller.

[Michelle13]

棒棒哒

谢谢你

Well it's important for me to feel safe wherever I go, that's why I considered bigger cities

33 minutes ago, edelweis said:

maybe go to a northern area?

Like Beijing or Xi'an? I don't know what to look for- a school/course/volunteer. You mentioned homestay- how would it look like?

17 minutes ago, 889 said:

forget you know any English

Let me guess why- everybody would be like: "Oh! Hey! Free teacher!" 

49 minutes ago, gwr71 said:

what books are you learning from?

You're just flattering me I like reading in chinese/ listening to music/ watching films- I always learn by surrounding myself with the language. I often chat with chinese people too- for me it's the best book ;)

 

[gwr71]

Dear Michelle13 

Have you taken the HSK as yet?  It is the Chinese Proficiency test. 

I am also self study but I am focused on Taiwan with traditional characters but I am also doing simplified characters. So I would not be of much help with info about China.

[edelweis]

16 hours ago, Michelle13 said:

Like Beijing or Xi'an?

Yes, or Harbin, Tianjin etc.

16 hours ago, Michelle13 said:

You mentioned homestay- how would it look like?

Basically, you live in a Chinese family home.

There are several types, some are inexpensive or even free, but they expect you to teach English (or another foreign language) to the kids (you may or may not get Chinese classes outside the home depending on the scheme).

Others are expensive, but you are not expected to speak any language other than Chinese. You live either in your teacher's home, or with a family close to your teacher's home. (or if you prefer group classes, you live in a family close to the school). So in addition to your scheduled classes, the teacher(s) and the family can help you find activities such as calligraphy or whatever you like, and you are encouraged to talk to the family members in Chinese.

 

Well, I'm sure a Google search for "homestay in XXX" will give you some idea. If you find a company that looks interesting, you can open a new thread to ask if anyone on the forum has experience with them.

 

You can also look at this thread for a company that regularly posts on this forum,

and organizes group and/or private lessons with homestays in Beijing and Chengde:

LTL Mandarin School with Chinese homestays

(expensive, but apparently the service is very good. And they have other schemes that they call "internships", maybe less expensive? anyway their website can give you ideas for further Google searches).

[anonymoose]

I recommend trying to subscribe to some kind of course - it doesn't have to be a language course. Even something completely unrelated to language, such as a Chinese cookery course would be good.

 

When I travel in China, I find that, even being immersed in the country, opportunities to speak the language to any depth are actually hard to come by. Yes, I speak to hotel staff when checking in and checking out, waiters/waitresses at restaurants when ordering food, cashiers at the convenience store, and so on. But these are all very superficial and repetitive interactions. I am not the kind of person who just strikes up random conversations with strangers, although I'm happy to oblige in most cases if others speak to me. I find that just being in China does not automatically hand you language practice on a plate.

 

Therefore, if you intend to stay in Shanghai, I think attending a few activities would be a good way to engage your Chinese skills and make some local acquaintances.

[Angelina]

Hey, my advice is to start small, just to try it out. If you like it, you can then spend more time on learning Chinese.

 

Where is the best course you can find? Can you travel to China? Can you find an exchange program or a summer camp? 

 

Perhaps you can start by what you already have. If you are practicing something, like windsurfing, you can find a windsurfing club or summer camp in China or meet Chinese people closer to your home. Do the people you do windsurfing with know people from China?