Need some help with looking for a new university

[Manfred]

Hello,
I wanna ask what university in China for studying Chinese I might choose for the next year. 

 

Before, I was studying at BLCU and had some issues with the teaching methods and with one of our teachers. She was making us very stressed out during the classes, she demanded that people stand up in front of the classmates very often and recite a text or do some kind of a task. I also felt like she was often unfairly criticizing students for many things. It seemed like she even started picking on some of my classmates who often didn't bring their homework and commented on how lazy they were. She got, in my view, short-tempered about too many things and was way too pushy. Such classes made me stressed out to the point I couldn't enjoy them after a while. 

 

Next year, I would prefer to attend a program which doesn't put so much emphasis on in-class performance and where students are not constantly asked to answer in the class (I'd rather do much more homework than this). If anybody experienced teaching which would be more suitable for me, please let me know. I'm really curious about what the other unis and language teaching institutions in China are like.

 

Thank you for your help.

[杰.克]

In terms of format, from my experience, all the universities teach to the same structure. So the class sizes (10-20 ish), class times (4 hours a day), class types (reading, dictation, listening, speaking), teaching style (teacher dictates, student listens) tend to be the same.  This is the structure/culture of Chinese university Mandarin education and your not , I'd imagine , going to be able to find much different in the universities sphere. Although you may find more pleasant teachers, that you bond better with. (I personally always liked my teachers, even if they were stricter than their Western counterparts). 

 

What you should probably be looking for is a private school or tutor. You will be paying more, but this premium will afford you the flexibility to tell the teacher to do it in your style.

[Shelley]

12 hours ago, Manfred said:

It seemed like she even started picking on some of my classmates who often didn't bring their homework and commented on how lazy they were.

 

Isn't this what a teacher should do?

 

Teaching styles differ around the world, this is pretty much how they do it in China.

I think asking you you to do tasks in front of the class is not a bad thing, you can't learn everything just from reading and listening.

[Flickserve]

BLCU should be one of the best or at least they have a reputation to uphold. 

 

Public speaking is rated as one of the worst experiences. But it forces you to practice speaking out loud and pay attention to what you speak when you prepare. Even in postgraduate education, we are required to speak, ask and answer questions in front of class and discussion groups. I see no difference in a class in front of a Professor from Harvard compared to a professor from BLCU except we don't need to stand up to speak. 

 

I have to agree with Shelley on the teacher commenting on people not doing their homework. Why are people paying for an education that they don't do? If it's too hard, then perhaps drop back a level. Telling people that they are lazy is the Chinese way - short, sharp and direct to the point. This is their version of EQ. It works for some personalities but not others. Personally it's not for me. I can be quite sarcastic with my tuition to postgraduates ... in a helpful way of course. LOL. 

[ChTTay]

14 hours ago, Manfred said:

she demanded that people stand up in front of the classmates very often and recite a text or do some kind of a task

I mean, in a class of 12-18 students this seems pretty normal. You normally have to answer questions in a class. You also normally need to do tasks in class. In China most of the communication is teacher-student with little pair or group practice. This does mean there is usually less chance to practice. However, from the teachers perspective you standing up and doing it is part of your practice. 

 

15 hours ago, Manfred said:

she even started picking on some of my classmates who often didn't bring their homework and commented on how lazy they were.

Lots of these Chinese language programs just require money to get in. Especially at lower levels some students just come for a semester or two with their University. It’s often free for them (parents or Uni) and they don’t really care. I found this to be the case at lower levels especially. Lots of students don’t do the homework, don’t practice, they’re just there for fun.  I myself would find this very frustrating. I am not surprised she pulls them up for not doing homework and agree completely. Especially if the homework is relevant for the class. Calling them lazy... well perhaps that is just a Chinese way of motivating or shaming kids to do work. At least it shows they care and aren’t just letting students do what they want (which many of my teachers did). 
 

15 hours ago, Manfred said:

Next year, I would prefer to attend a program which doesn't put so much emphasis on in-class performance and where students are not constantly asked to answer in the class

I don’t know any classes where you don’t have to answer questions in class. How can this even work?? In fact, even if you do private classes as suggested above you’ll probably be answering more questions and speaking more in front of others as student numbers are less! It sounds like you might just be embarrassed answering in Front of a lot of people or worried about getting it wrong. If so, a one on one would work but ... you’re the only one there! If you don’t answer questions you’ll just be listening to someone talk for an hour. That might be ok (but not really) for a University lecture but not great for language learning. 
 

So overall... I’d recommend self study as the only way for you. That way no one will ask you anything, you won’t need to answer any questions at all, you can do lots of homework (really it would all be homework) and there won’t be any tasks or standing in front of anyone.