Mandarin Schools in Beijing (Which to attend?)

[Alexander]

I'm headed to Beijing this summer in August for quite some time (Specifically for MAs).

I've already taken mandarin for 1/2 a semester at some night classes, and then I'm taking another semester now. I already did my undergraduate, so this is purely to learn Chinese as fast as possible.

Right now I'm thinking of BLCU -- however, I'm terrified of all the English speakers there will be there. I may have to be seriously cold to the Americans and deliberately avoid them.

I would like to stay at a university for 6 months/ 1 year and then find a job in Beijing so I can stick around for a couple years.

Are there other/ better options than BLCU? I also have no idea what proximity BLCU is compared to where lots of people train.

[josh]

BLCU is in the Haidian/Wudaokou area, it's close to Beida (Peking U) and Qinghua. There are tons of foreigners there, and around that area in general, so if you're looking to avoid that kind of scene, good luck! I had friends who did Chinese at BLCU, at Beida, at Qinghua, and at Beijing Normal... my impression was that the programs were generally the same, they follow a curriculum designed to prepare you to take the HSK (Hanyu shuiping kaoshi - a standardized Mandarin ability test), and whether or not you learn anything from the instruction is pretty much up to you - i knew people who were there for years who still couldn't do much more than order food and tell a taxi driver where to take them. Anyway, Beijing is a huge city and people train all over the place; the teachers that I happened to study with while I was there all trained at parks in the center of town (within the "2nd ring," the area delimited by the subway line 2) but most of the universities are closer to 3rd/4th ring roads (Beijing is laid out in concentric circles). Anyway, as long as you live near the subway or light rail, it's fairly easy to get around.

[Michael]

Between now and then, you could go through the three courses of Mandarin offered by Pimsleur. They're fairly simple audio of standard expressions and sentences that build your vocab up to the 2500 words necessary for basic conversation, according to the marketing. It's similar to the way kids learn their mother tongue by verbal imitation without any formal instruction or grammer and is a good way to avoid developing poor pronunciation habits from reading. Available in stores, libraries, and t0rr3ntz near you.

[Orpheus]

One advantage of going to BLCU (or any other university near Wudaokou) is that you are close to and can train Shuai Jiao with Zhang Weidong, who teaches at the gym on campus. He speaks about twenty words of English and most of his students speak Mandarin fairly well.

I've known a couple people who really liked Minzu (It has an English name, but I don't remember it off hand) University. Its close to Purple Bamboo Park and you aren't going to run into that many foreigners there. Also, some really good restaurants down in that area.

[Alexander]

Is Zhang Weidong the same Zhang Laoshi that teaches early morning Bagua and such?

[Alexander]

Between now and then, you could go through the three courses of Mandarin offered by Pimsleur. They're fairly simple audio of standard expressions and sentences that build your vocab up to the 2500 words necessary for basic conversation, according to the marketing. It's similar to the way kids learn their mother tongue by verbal imitation without any formal instruction or grammer and is a good way to avoid developing poor pronunciation habits from reading. Available in stores, libraries, and t0rr3ntz near you.

Ooh that's a good idea Michael. I do have a small commute to work, so those could totally fit in that time.