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Q: Studying Mandarin at a Chinese university, is it worth it?
My experience taking an intensive mandarin course at a university in Beijing was not the best, but I cant compare it with other courses or one on one lessons.
Anyone knows if the university courses are really more effective than other cheaper options?
11 years 5 weeks ago in Teaching & Learning - China
Which University were you in?
I did 3 years in the Beijing Language and Culture University, and to be honest, they do teach pretty well. I've seen people learn in a year the Chinese I learnt in high school in 3 years. But it's a bit expensive. (20 000 yuan a year).
It's an investment of both time and money, so I hope you really NEED to learn Chinese.
erokose:
I was studying an intensive course at the UIBE. It is true that I learnt a lot in a few months, but I was spending 8 hours a day between lessons and self study. I was not able to assimilate half of the things even though I spent time reviewing every day.
I didn't see any advanced teaching methods that justify the higher cost and I wonder if I could have achieved similar results with other course.
It depends on your motivation for learning Chinese and what you perceive as being the payback on the investment. If you are only interested in learning survival or conversational Mandarin, then the time, effort and expense of going to a university is probably not worth it.
If you have some kind of longer term career aim, e.g. establish a business in China, then you should self assess the worth yourself. That is to say, how valuable are the Chinese language skills in real terms, do I really need Mandarin skills, would I be better off using Chinese support staff rather than learning the language myself?
If you are looking at prospective employment in China that is not related to English teaching, it is getting harder and harder to find any kind of job without having intermediate level Chinese skills or above. It is not uncommon to find foreign nationals that are fluent in Mandarin these days and they will have a competitive edge. For long term career prospects in China, it might be worth pursuing a university language course.
As for the cost, I would look at provincial cities first such as Qingdao, Harbin, Hohhot etc. Chinese courses offered by International Departments of public universities are very common in most Chinese cities and a simple internet search can reveal many potential locations. Language courses in first tier cities or the well known Chinese universities are usually very expensive, as are the living costs.
IF you have the time and the money it can be a very good way to learn, but still... to learn Chinese [writing and reading] is a tedious task. I prefer one-on-one and have done that; it suits my learning style.
I've been self-teaching for ten years but the four months I spent at uni were the most productive. Even though I spent most of them at home drinking beer, smoking pot and playing on my X-Box.
Not worth it. You can memorize chinese characters on your own and find a language partner for oral and listening skills. In fact, you can learn any language on your own. I've done it many times!
hello, I am cherry from shandong province, I am an interpreter, I 'd like to do language-exchange with you, I am familiar with chinese customs and like traditional snack foods very much. How about we do language - exchange together? Any interest please contact with me , my cell no. is 18678637869
hello, I am cherry from shandong province, I am an interpreter, I 'd like to do language-exchange with you, I am familiar with chinese customs and like traditional snack foods very much. How about we do language - exchange together? Any interest please contact with me , my cell no. is 18678637869
