Learn Chinese in China!

Learning Mandarin Chinese in China was and is still one of my most valuable experiences, and it can be yours too! Chinese is one of the most valuable languages to learn in the world, especially as many business and economic relationships are growing between China and America. Lucky for me, I am a teacher, and have the summers off, so I was able to go to Beijing for a month and be totally immersed in the Chinese language the entire time. Granted, I am Chinese. However, I was born here, and speak Cantonese Chinese, the dialect spoken commonly in Hong Kong, and it's not quite the same as Mandarin Chinese. My written Chinese was also horrible as well, limited to my name and a few short sentences like, "Hi! How are you?". Now, I can write short letters, and converse in Mandarin well. I plan on going back to continue my studies in the future, so that I can keep improving what I've learned from my short, yet amazing month, in Beijing.

I attend a predominantly Chinese church, and asked many of the mainlander Chinese which school would be best to attend. One of the most famous is Tsinghua University, but it is generally costly. They suggested that I try BLCU, the Beijing Language and Culture University. Internationally known, BLCU has foreign students from all over the world learning Chinese, and its program was considerably more affordable for my budget. BLCU offers 4 weeks of learning Chinese for only $416 that time (2004); now, it has gone up only a little, under $450 (see the "Chinese Language Program for International Students" link on the left of the program link). The tuition fee includes books and classes. In terms of dorming, I chose to dorm with another student (it turned out she was from Spain! As I can speak Spanish, I was able to converse with her, even though Mexican-Spanish and Spain-Spanish are slightly different. She could speak English well, but for the first days, we spoke Spanish together, and I was able to improve two languages at once there!), and we had our own western toilet and bathroom, which was wonderful. Be aware! If you're not used to toilets in Asia, many of them are comprised only of a hole in the ground, where you will have to squat down to do your business. Girls may prefer wearing skirts instead of jeans, as using the bathroom outside of your dorm room may be complicated. Having a western toilet in your own dorm room makes a great difference! At that time, it cost me under $13/day for my room (now, it may be different), and for my 30 day stay there, it cost under $400. Together, my tuition and dorm fees cost less than my airplane ticket there!

The first meeting of classes actually comprises of an interview to assess your skill level in the Chinese language. If you have no background whatsoever, you will be placed in the A level class, which teaches you how to use pinyin, and basic vocabulary to form and strengthen your foundation for the Chinese language. Those with some knowledge can be placed in the B level class. This was where I was placed, as my pronunciation of the words were good enough, and I could read some; they asked me I preferred to be in the A level or the B level, and as I was there hoping to improve my writing and reading in Chinese, I chose the B level for a challenge to myself. Though it was a challenge, I also happen to be a big nerd, and spent many afternoons studying, rewriting, rereading, and practicing my Chinese. I was able to end the course with high scores! You will be given a written and oral exam at the end of the month, so you can assess what you've learned. Though I am out of school and no longer need grades for any university credits, I would ask the administrators at your own university/college to see if they will accept your time and grade there for some credit. After the last day of class, the school throws a banquet for all the students in the Summer Program, you get your test results, and you have a chance to take pictures and say goodbye to your professors for the course.

Classes start from 8am and end around noon. The great thing is that if you get to class early, they sell steamed buns downstairs for you to snack on before class. Your classes are actually 2 hours each - one portion focuses on the written skills, and the other focuses on your oral skills, and unlike schools here in America, you stay in your classroom, and the teachers will rotate into your classroom. You'll find classmates from all over the world. In my class alone, we had students (age averages in the early 20's, but we had one 18 year old, and another that was in her early 30's) from Canada, America, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and France!

When classes end for the day, you are free to do as you wish - you can study in your dorm room, or study at the local cafes that are only a walking distance away. You can eat lunch (food is incredibly cheap here! A large plate of fried rice cost me 50 cents!) in the cafeteria, or find places outside of the school as well. There is a computer lab in the center of the campus, as well as a few Internet cafes outside of campus - often, you find these places simply by walking and exploring the areas inside your campus and outside your campus, and by word of mouth.

Don't be afraid to ask questions - with the Olympics in Beijing this summer, I'm sure there will be more signs in English, unlike 2004, when there was absolutely nothing in English to help me get around. The great thing about learning Chinese in Beijing, and not in a classroom in America, or via online classes, is that you are totally immersed and absolutely must learn Chinese if you are to get around successfully. I highly suggest buying an updated map of Beijing before you come, and to examine your map on the long airplane ride there. Once you get the hang of reading the map well, it will be easy to figure out the subway and bus system...and these system can take you almost anywhere you want in Beijing: all the wonderful historical places, like the Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Forbidden Palace and Tiananmen Square. Your touring of Beijing is endless. It's such a big city that in one month, I still had not explored all the nooks and crannies that I would have loved to! Taxis are helpful too, but if you look foreign and can't speak any Chinese, be careful - in rare instances, they make take you on longer routes to your destination, making you pay more than you should. So familiarizing yourself with the local region by taking the public buses and subways. It will help you have an idea of where you are when you happen to be in a taxi.

The Campus of BLCU is also equipped with tennis courts, basketball courts, an indoor gym, and classes you can sign up for, like Tai-Chi! Around and on campus, you may also run into students asking you to tutor them English. This is a great way to earn some extra income while conversing with someone from China. You can even practice your Chinese with them - a double bonus! I did the same, except I charged nothing - the student instead, spoke to me in English, while I spoke in Chinese, while we went out to a local spot to eat that he would choose. Chinese students are hungry to learn English, and if you're not put off by their approach for you to tutor them, it's certainly of no harm to you. There is also a travel center on campus, where you can get information and tickets for traveling to places outside of Beijing. Two of my friends that I met there, and I, bought tickets on a soft sleeper train to Shanghai for the weekend for about $40. Our train room was actually composed of 2 bunk sections, a total of 4 beds, and these are called "soft sleepers" because there is a thin mattress on the bunks. The "hard sleepers" are cheaper, but are comprised of 6 beds, 3 stacked on each side, and simply wooden boards. The round trip ticket costs included meals each way. After eating dinner on the train, we went to sleep, and woke up finding ourselves in Shanghai for the weekend! We returned to Beijing in time to make it to our 8am class on Monday! Though tired, the trip was worth it!

Don't be afraid to make friends! Banding with your own group of companions will make it more fun and easier to explore areas that you are not familiar with, and there is always bound to be one person or two that knows a bit more Chinese than the others. My friends and I were able to help each other out - we each had different proficiencies, such as one reading better than the other, another speaking more, one hearing about many places we could visit, and another that stayed with a Chinese family, whom we were able to visit and make dumplings with one day. I realized also that almost everyone was going to BLCU through some sort of international language program, which cost about $2000, not including tuition at the school. Signing up online and by myself, I was able to get a dorm room (arrive at least 2 days before school starts to get your room! It's first-come, first-serve, from what I hear. One of my friends arrived one day before, and didn't have a room until another student moved out. She stayed in a hotel for those few days.), get the same education as those that signed up with a special group, and go on the field trips offered by the school. The school offered two field trips for us during our study there - one was to the Great Wall of China, a must see for anyone going to China, and another to see a Chinese Opera play at a theater, an amazing cultural experience.

In regards to buying anything in China: Don't be afraid to BARGAIN! The more you bargain, the better you get at it. Plus, it's great practice for using your Chinese. Never buy something the first time you see it at the market; more than likely, you'll see it at the next booth. Find out what the prices are discreetly to get an idea of what the going price is...and offer about 40% of the price to start your bargaining...30% if you're brave. For me, I never went over 40% of their asking price - they always, always give you an incredibly high starting price, especially, again, if you look like a foreigner. Even if you initially think it's cheap, you'll notice that you can often bargain them to a much lower price. If they don't sell you the item because the price you offered is way too low (and it insults them if it's too low, though if you buy more than, they're wiling to bargain even more!) don't worry - you can try again at the next stall. In the end though, if you are happy with the price you paid for your item, you and the seller both end up happy - you with your souvenier, and he/she with a bit of income.

Beware of a few things in Beijing - the summer months are humid and hot, and mosquitoes certainly are abundant. Take care to bring some mosquito spray, or use Tiger Balm, which was effective in keeping mosquitoes away (they usually love to bite me) while I was sleeping. Pollution is pretty heavy, as Beijing has undergone major construction. Banks will happily exchange American dollars for RMB (Chinese currency), but if you use your ATM card, like anywhere outside of your country, expect a surcharge. There IS a locking cabinet in your dorm room, and I found that that was quite secure, and brought mostly cash with me. I didn't encounter any problems, but of course, keep your wallets close to you when you are outside. You WILL see homeless people, and even sick/ill children sitting on the streets, begging for money. There are stories where some say the children are stolen, purposely deformed, so they can beg and earn money to their "owners". I often give them some leftover food, or buy an extra bun, so they can eat it then and there, and they happily will do so.

If you want to attend church while in China, there is a bus that picks you up in the morning to take you directly to the foreigner church. Ask the university workers when you register at the school about it. The church only allows you in if you have a proper form of ID (passport or driver's license) that proves you are indeed a foreigner, and not a Chinese citizen in China.

One thing you MUST see when you're in Beijing, besides all the usual hot spots, is a certain rite-of-passage tradition for foreigners in China. Reserve this event for a Saturday or Sunday morning. If you can get yourself up around 4am, while it's still dark, take the taxi to Tiananmen Square for the raising of the flag. There will be a crowd there already - at sunrise (for me, that was around 6am, so we waited a while), they'll remove the barriers, and suddenly, you'll notice that everyone begins running to the front of the square towards the flagpole...young people, old people, mothers pulling their young ones by the arm as they hurry to the front...you'll have to do likewise if you want a good view! Take off running to the front...and when the ceremony begins, you'll see the soldiers marching out and raising the flag, saluting their country. The flag raising of any country is always filled with honor - whether we agree with them politically or not, I think that we can all relate to that sense of pride of seeing a country's people respectfully unfold their flag and raise it up so it can wave proudly in the sky. Afterwards, you'll notice the square will be filled with many kites flying in the morning sky, a wonderful site to see. This is the perfect time to find breakfast from a nearby vendor and enjoy the scene before heading off on further adventures on your stay in Beijing.

The best way to learn anything is to do it yourself. If you're an adventurous type, this is most certainly the way to go!