QINGDAO UNIVERSITY

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Looking for information on teaching conditions for Instructors of English at QINGDAO UNIVERSITY. Anyone with first-hand experience - or know of anyone who has taught there? Would appreciate immensely any advice or informative links regarding the atmosphere / reputation of this institution.

Many thanks -

[David W Jackson]

I teach there at present. If you're thinking of teaching English you'll most likely find that, irrespective of Uni, you face pretty much the same challenges; viz, how to get students to talk and how to shut up yourself long enough to facilitate this. From having taught in China for some years now, and spoken to lots of other teachers that's just the way it is. The concerns you raise are in practice irrelevant, in my and others' experience. If you have any specific questions feel free to ask them.

[ling_ling24]

Can anyone on here share their experience of studying the Chinese program at Qingdao University? There's a plethora of info on studying Chinese at the Ocean University of China but hardly anything on Qingdao University. I'm planning to apply to one of them through the CUCAS website for the spring 2015 term.

 

Thanks!

[aone]

Welcome to Qingdao,Ling Ling

[ling_ling24]

Thanks, although I won't be in Qingdao until next February! I'm most likely registering for Ocean University unless I hear positive reviews about Qingdao University.

[aone]

  Shandong University (formerly National Qingdao University) moved to Jinan, leaving the below listed in Qingdao

- Shandong University School of Medicine (now Qingdao University School of Medicine)

- Shandong University Hospital (now the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University Medical College)

- Shandong University Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Department (Shandong marine Academy, which is now China ocean University).

 

   It is hard to tell which one is good and which one is not. 

[Saxondale]

From what i've heard, the general chinese language classes are very similar to the ones at ocean university.  I don't think you can go wrong with any of them, they're practically next door too!

[ling_ling24]

@aone: Wow, I didn't know about the changes in the place and name of the universities. Thanks for sharing.

 

@thrice12: That's good to know. I'm going to apply for Ocean University as I think it suits my preferences more. Thank you!

[fanglu]

I studied at Qingdao University for a semester about 5 years ago. It was fine. Not really that much to say. Courses were pretty much the standard Chinese university language courses. About 20 students per class (depending on how many students there were at the relevant level, of course - the top level was much smaller). The vast majority of students were Korean.

 

Edit: One more thing. Compared to Ocean University, there were far less students. The total number would have only been 150 or so. Have no idea if this is still the case.

[ling_ling24]

@Fanglu: Thanks for sharing your experience with me! 

 

I've some basic knowledge of writing and reading Chinese characters and speaking Mandarin from taking Mandarin/Chinese classes in the past, but I can't really carry a conversation. I speak Cantonese though so that will probably help somewhat. I think I'll most likely end up at an elementary Chinese level. 

Did the class you take focus a lot on writing? I'm concerned that the class will focus more on writing than speaking...

 

Also, I plan to live on campus. I'm concerned  about the curfew time of 11 pm, which according to the CUCAS representative, most university dormitories enforce, even on weekends. Did you have such a curfew at Qingdao Uni, if you lived on campus, that is?

 

From the photos and videos I saw, Ocean University seems to be a nicer campus overall than Qingdao University. Do you think that's the case? 

[fanglu]

My class was the second-highest level, so it may be a bit different at lower levels. There was two, two-ish hour classes per day, five days a week. Of the ten, two were 'speaking', two were 'listening', one (or two?) was newspaper reading and four (or five) were 'comprehensive'. The comprehensive class (which I've seen variations of in many different schools - so I think it's pretty standard) was reading (out loud) a passage from a textbook, discussing the new words, and doing exercises on vocabulary and grammar. I think something like this is standard across universities.

 

I lived on campus. I don't remember a curfew per se, but the doors were shut after a certain time (midnight I think). If you came back after that you could still get in, but you had to knock on the door and wake up the security guard. That's pretty common on all campuses I think.

 

As for 'niceness', it wasn't the prettiest campus I'd seen, but Chinese universities generally aren't. It was fine. To be honest I didn't spend all that much time outside on campus - I preferred to use my free time wandering the city. I only went to Ocean University once or twice and don't remember exactly what it looked like so can't compare. 

[ling_ling24]

Thanks for all the helpful info, fanlu! I sure hope the gates shut at midnight and not 11 pm at the Ocean Uni.

[Saxondale]

The Chinese Language building at OUC is at the Fushan campus, which is more of a residential area, you can't even call it a campus.  There's no curfew at the Fushan campus, unless something changed in the last few months...

[ling_ling24]

Phewww. It's good to know that there isn't a curfew at the Fushan campus. I am hoping to live on campus instead of finding an apartment. Thanks so much, thrice12!

[Giuls]

Hi everyone! Can you tell me something about the accomodation in Ocean University and Qingdao University? Thanks  a lot!

[ling_ling24]

Hey Giuls, You can read up about OUC's accommodation via searching the topic "Ocean University of China, Qingdao" on here. As for Qingdao Uni, there are 2 international students' dorms. One is mainly for scholarship students and the other is much newer, which you have to pay for and have double rooms. I have been to Qingdao Uni's dorms but I'm not a student there so I'm afraid I don't have the best response for you. I'll try to send you some pictures of Qingdao Uni's dorms. 

[ling_ling24]

Hey Giuls, You can read up about OUC's accommodation via searching the topic "Ocean University of China, Qingdao" on here. As for Qingdao Uni, there are 2 international students' dorms. One is mainly for scholarship students and the other is much newer, which you have to pay for and have double rooms. I have been to Qingdao Uni's dorms but I'm not a student there so I'm afraid I don't have the best response for you. I'll try to send you some pictures of Qingdao Uni's dorms. 

[ling_ling24]

Sorry for the double post. I can't seem to find a way to delete posts on here.

[Giuls]

Thank you so much!