Any foreigner-run language school in Beijing ?

[ocpaul20]

Hi all,

I was just wondering if there are any foreigner-run language school in Beijing ? At the moment conversation is more important to me than characters. Maybe I can learn those later..

As I see it, the way foreigners study and learn is totally different from the chinese way, and I just wondered if there was an alternative to the traditional chinese way of learning.

I have totally lost the impetus I had when I arrived, and I dont understand where it has gone. Anyone seen it? :-)

Thanks for any info or suggestions.

[HashiriKata]

I believe the school "www.1MonthChinese.com" is run by a non-Chinese.

[calibantastic]

Was gonna say the same thing but ya beat me to it. I know the guy who runs it. He actually cares about the student learning practical Chinese rather than making money, much unlike some (most?) other private schools around Haidian qu.

Personally, I like learning all the characters, but I'm a visual learner like that.

Need to get NJ Star Chinese WP working again without paying the $100, then I'll be set for studying all through the next year...

[gato]

If you know what you want to learn, getting a private tutor for a two-hour one-on-one session, five times a week might be the best bet. Even if the tutor is inexperienced, if you know what you want and are motivated, you should be able to get what you want out of it.

Other choices for conversation-oriented courses include those at the one-month school, Diqiucun and the like.

[onebir]

Have a look at this post. I spent a month at Taipei Language Institute in 2003 and learned a lot. All their materials include pinyin, and ignoring characters does speed up progress in spoke chinese (at least for a while)

See their website too,

[roddy]

I know the guy who runs it.

Yeah, I've got a feeling we might know him too . . .

There's also The Language Center in Wudaokou, but if I remember correctly you're in Chaoyang so that's pretty far. You might want to have a look at Frontiers - not foreign run as far as I know, but they've had good reports and they're a lot closer to you.

[ocpaul20]

Thanks for the suggestions. That helps a lot. I will either try a personal tutor or one of the nearby schools mentioned.

I did a Level I & Level II at the Bridge School and got a lot out of it, however now I hear they have started teaching characters from the very begining. For me, this was the good thing about the BS - that it did not use characters in the begining, and just concentrated on conversation.

I can understand how knowing entry/exit/toilet/male/female etc etc characters would be really useful to a beginner, but I have a slight block on characters for the moment. I am working on the block though....so hopefully will soon be over it.

[MarkKang]

I read about such school in Beijing on this site, but now I can't find the info. Anyone know about this school?

[roddy]

Merged with the topic you are looking for (all the way back on page 2 )

[MarkKang]

Merged with the topic you are looking for (all the way back on page 2 )

Wah, I don't know how I missed that, Thanks Roddy.

[1on1Mandarin]

I must agree that a foreign run program is going to make a very big difference with the rate at which you progress. We as westerners learn completely different from asians, which is why I have come across a tremedous amount of unsatisfied students from the University Mandarin programs.

Furthermore, you are gonna receive better service when you have to deal with any problems regarding visa, class changes, refunds, etc.

I would say that if one is a westerner, one will have a much more pleasant experience at a foreign run program that uses curriculum made for a western learner.

One great text that I have come across is Chinese Made Easier written by Martin Symonds. This book is very hard to come by, but 1on1 The Language Center in Wudaokou actually specializes in teaching this text. Check out their website at www.1on1mandarin.com