Learn Chinese in Qingdao

[Marina B.]

Hello!

I will go to Qingdao in a August and stay there for summer. I want to take Chinese class when I'm there but I don't know in which school I should go to learn, could you recommend me one please?

Thank you!

 

Marina

[rvw]

Hi Marina!

I'm sorry, I don't know Qingdao and therefore cannot recommend a language school in Qingdao.

 

But you can always use search machines like google, duck duck go etc. to get the names of some schools in the area.

I used the words "learn chinese [townname > in this case: Qingdao]". This worked perfectly fine for me.

 

With the results from duck duck go etc. you can search the forum. You can enter the school name in the search field and hope for results. You also can always insert the townname (in this case: Qingdao) and the words "language school" and hope for results. And by the way you can also take a look at the Qingdao Sub Forum in "Life, Work and Study in China in General".

 

When you found some schools in the Qingdao area you can present your findings here in this thread and ask specific questions about the schools you have found.

 

For all this you have to invest some reading and thinking time. But I think that's a good investment, because you want to spent a lot of money on a language program in China.

 

I wish you a good time in Qingdao!

 

PS: I think you also should narrow your question about a good language school down as much as possible and post your findings here. You could tell the about your aim (HSK...), your budget (I am rich, money matters...), the courses you want to do (one-on-one, group ...), how many hours (20h a week, ...), prefered type of accomodation and so on. This might help to get you better advice.

 

Maybe these links will give you some ideas for narrowing down your question:
https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/31281-want-to-know-where-to-study-read-this/
https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/45859-private-language-schools-help/?tab=comments#comment-345916
https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/46196-im-going-crazy-aka-3-month-mandarin-course-help/?tab=comments#comment-348944

 

[Marina B.]

Ok you are right, thank you for your answer! I will check those forums first

[abcdefg]

Also check Google. I saw six or eight schools listed there on the first page. Type "learn Chinese in Qingdao" or "study Chinese in Qingdao" into the search field. Sometimes those listings are not actually useful, some are bogus, but they still are a place to start. 

 

I have lived in several Chinese cities which had no schools for teaching Chinese to foreigners. One tactic I employed to study there was to go around to several private English schools and search for a tutor. The teachers are Chinese, but they speak English, at least well enough to teach it to kids. Some are eager to have outside income and will agree to teach you unofficially  a couple days a week in your home or in a cafe or public space. I once arranged lessons of that kind in the lobby of a hotel. Another time in the business center of a different hotel. Once had lessons in a park. 

 

You will need to select study materials, with the help of your teacher, agree on a fee and agree on teaching methods, techniques, etc. So it requires more initiative and effort than just going somewhere and signing up for classes. But it also allows you more flexibility. It can work out very well. 

[simon1]

Hi Marina,
did you go after all?

For the case your'e still pondering about it, let me share some of my ideas. I've been living/working in Qingdao once myself and in fact it happened to offer quite some options for Chinese learners. As rvw had pointed out, your specific aims seem to matter here for making the best choice. The local expats I had met had been studying language at different places across town. With some of them at Ocean University of China (Qingdao), which works perfect if you want to (and can) combine your Chinese studies with your ordinary major. For this you could search the university's website for freemover options.

In case you'd like to focus on Chinese even more, I commend to check out private schools. Those tend to be more flexible and often offer their students tailor-made courses like big group, small group and even one-on-one courses (possibly also a mix of these if fancy). At private schools you'd likely learn more intensely and join multiple classes a week. During my stay I learned about two private schools in Qingdao which are Rimei School and XMandarin. Both are situated in Shinan Disctrict and I heard good things about them.
After all at university you'll get to know many young people, which is cool esp. for assimilating to a new place as strange as China :-). Also you'd likely have more spare time than at a private school. Drawback however is that at university lecture sizes may be large.

Do you happen to be even younger, that is are you still in school? Then there exist some international primary and high schools, such as Yew Chung International School or Qingdao Pegasus California School.

Hope any of this helps!