Looking for 1 month program this Fall

[thinlay]

I'm new to this forum and after spending countless hours researching universities and programs in China through all sorts of mediums, I wish I had found it earlier! I've found all of the information useful, thoughtful, and thorough. Thank you all!

I'm planning my own personalized semester of study this Fall. I'm providing as much info as possible about my situation and goals so I hope this isn't too much of a long-winded read.

Ideally I would like to find a 1-month program at one of the universities at the start of the Fall semester during the month of September, in Mandarin and Chinese culture (If the latter isn't possible, I'd live with that). I want to apply directly to avert the ridiculous agency fees, as I'm also well-travelled and have lived and studied abroad several times in the past.

In the case some other readers may be looking into this, I'll include my findings thus far on the universities. The info contained is taken directly from the university websites. As many I'm sure already know, it is very difficult to find clear, detailed information consistently. Even with the English areas of the website specific to foreign study, contradictions abound!

Fall Short-Term Programs (<1 semester):

BNU: starting at 2 weeks

CNU: starting at 4 weeks, lists culture studies class component

Beijing International Studies U (BISU): Offers two level of "refresher" course. Does anyone know if these are typically a semester in length?

Also, I also found these two "universities" which do have specific one-month programs that begin in September (and monthly in general):

Academy of Chinese Language Study: Does anyone have direct experience with them? Seems similar to BLCU - it was created specifically for the teaching of Chinese for foreigners. A key difference is that all classes are between 5-8 students.

Beiyan Language and Culture Institute: affiliated with Beijing Capital Institute of Physical Education. Offers tai chi and other martial arts in afternoon sessions. Organized through www.sinolingua.org. Affordable rates. Anybody familiar with this program and can speak to its strengths/weaknesses?

The following univerisites don't have such short-term programs during this season. That is, don't use this list if you're arranging a SUMMER or WINTER program, because actually most universites seem to offer most of their 1-2 month programs during this time, esp. during summer. Use this only if you are interested in FALL program. NOTE: Additionally, many do advertise "short-term" programs, but are one semester or more in length during the regular academic year.

Beida

BLCU

Renmin

Tsinghua

SO...With all this in mind, I thought I had discovered the ideal course. A professor I know recommended a short-term program at Beida, teaching Mandarin in the mornings and Chinese culture (in English) in the afternoons. I, of course, could not find any such course on the Beida website but did manage to locate it through Educasian. The program is two months in length (Sep-Nov) and 140 classroom hours. I am hopefuly of being able to enroll. The problem is I tried to arrange this directly by calling Beida, and the person i spoke with told me not only that "all programs are full" but she seemed to not even acknowledge that such a course existed. The kicker is that Educasian is charging $7895!!! This is possibly the most exorbitant price I've seen for any course of study in China.

www.educasian.com/progdisplay.asp?progid=83

If anyone has any advice on trying to register for this course, do let me know! I'm also looking in general for recommendations and advice not only on where to find a suitable course during this time, but how to arrange it in advance.

I'd probably prefer to enroll at BNU or CNU as top choices, but if this won't be possible before I come to Beijing, I might opt for something like the Academy of Chinese Language Study above.

I plan on moving on to Yunnan in October and will be continuing my studies in Kunming or Dali.

Thanks for your help!

[stephanhodges]

The best single resource I've found for north eastern universities and their programs is at http://www.hyccchina.com/english/araq/

I know that Harbin had a winter (4 week) program last year, for example.

MrToga (it's his site - I'm not affiliated) will also answer questions if you email him directly.

[blink]

Have you thought about studying in other cities? I'm taking a one month course at Manda in Hangzhou. It's about 1.5 hours south of Shanghai. The city is right on the West Lake, so the area is beautiful.

I didn't want to study in Beijing and found that other cities have courses that are considereably less expensive. Good luck finding the one that's right for you.

[Yellowfroggy]

I have found an interesting short term program at the Beijing Union University. Here is the website : http://www.study-in-china.org/School/Beijing/casbuu/

I don't know what this program is worth as I can't find any information on it (the search didn't give any results). The cost is also reasonable for Beijing and compared to other unis. Has anybody ever heard about this university ?

There are also other short term programs in Nanjing and Chengdu.