|
 |
Best place for Mandarin | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Immersion, Schools & Certificates |  | |
| Steven Triglot Newbie Netherlands Joined 6700 days ago 23 posts - 24 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Mandarin, Latin, French | Message 1 of 17 07 October 2006 at 4:35am | IP Logged | ||
|
Hi everyone,
Does anyone know what the best place is to do a Mandarin language immersion? There are of course mainstream places like Beijing, HK and Shanghai, but what about Taiwan or Singapore, or some other city? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Frisco Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6858 days ago 380 posts - 398 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Italian, Turkish, Mandarin | Message 2 of 17 07 October 2006 at 4:40am | IP Logged | ||
|
"Best" depends on what you want out of your experience.
I've always thought Harbin would be nice. Coming from the Chihuahuan Desert, I'd probably freeze to death, but it seems like an interesting place. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| delectric Diglot Senior Member China Joined 7183 days ago 608 posts - 733 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: German | Message 3 of 17 07 October 2006 at 5:07am | IP Logged | ||
|
The Northern accents in China are very clear and standard so Harbin might well be a good place. I find northerners more friendly than southerners so conversing is easier. I find Shanghai quite a rude city and people will not help you there as much as in other places. Also like many southern parts of China Mandarin is a frequently used but still a second language.
Beijing is an excellent place to study Chinese, being the capital it has many schools and universities that offer courses for foreigners. Nanjing has a horrible local accent but there are tons of places for the foreigner to study. Xian, one of the cultural capitals of China, is supposed to have the clearest Putonghua and so many people study Chinese here. However, like Beijing and especially Shanghai there are many foreigners and tourists so there are more people that speak English. One thing to think about is, in popular study areas your classmates are more likely to be English speaking. I went to try a Mandarin class once and many of the students were from Korea this meant if we wanted to communicate we had to use Chinese. For hot tropical sun and sand then you can go to the south of China. Hainan has a university that offers a course for language learning but again the Putonghua is not the first language here and so it's not standard. Also the people there are known for their cheating ways! I went to Yingchuan in Ningxia for a visit recently. It's in the middle of China but the accent there was very standard. There were hardly any foreigners there and the people were really polite. It's also really cheap to live out here. I asked about studying there and they said that it's mainly Japanese students that study Chinese so you would have to speak Mandarin to converse with them. But if you do go there buy all your books in Beijing/Nanjing/Shanghai becuase materials for foreigners studying Chinese are scarce (unless you're Japanese). One good place to check out universities and courses in China is www.chinatefl.com. It's also really good for finding teaching jobs in China which is my method for learning Chinese. Much better getting paid to study than the other way round. As for Singapore I would avoid this as they speak such good English there and like HK and Taiwan the cost of living will be higher but the standard of living may well be better. I hear Hong Kong is a really bad place for learning Mandarin and you're much better using English to get around here. Edited by delectric on 07 October 2006 at 5:10am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| japkorengchi Senior Member Hong Kong Joined 6682 days ago 334 posts - 355 votes | Message 4 of 17 07 October 2006 at 7:07am | IP Logged | ||
|
I also support the idea that Hong Kong is not a nice place to learn Mandarin. Mandarin is rarely spoken here in Hong Kong and with an abundant of people speaking English, it's more difficult to find someone to talk to you in Mandarin. I would therefore suggest you to choose a city in which fewer people can speak foreign languages so that you can really "immerse" into a Chinese-speaking environment. Edited by japkorengchi on 07 October 2006 at 7:08am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Steven Triglot Newbie Netherlands Joined 6700 days ago 23 posts - 24 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Mandarin, Latin, French | Message 5 of 17 13 October 2006 at 11:44am | IP Logged | ||
|
Thanks so much for this information, you've really helped me ^^. However, i have another question.
I heard about this place called the Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU). The HSK is made here. Have you heard about it? Are there many Koreans, Japanese etc here, or do all the people speak English?? What do you think of this as a place for immersion? There is this Dutch company that specializes in immersion programs in Beijing. Because its Dutch, i can count on support from Dutch people in case something happens. However, they are quite expensive in my opinion and the only program that is possible for me is at the BLCU, where it seems, a lot of people speak English, not Mandarin. Do you think it is important to have support from a company like this? Reading what you've just told me, it seems Xi An is a very good place to go to. Problem is, I havent foudn any immersion programs in Xi An yet. Do you have 'ny suggestions? As for my prioreties, I'd like an immersion program where im 'forced' to speak almost only Mandarin. I read on this site that if you are too much exposed to English, its kind of a waste. I imagine you also learn a lot of Chinese during after class hours, when you meet with other students. I'd like these other students to speak Mandarin with me, not English. To me, this trip is about learning Mandarin and having a good time - with people who speak Mandarin, that is. So Hainan doesnt seem to good to me. You've convinced me not to try Singapore, TW or HK. Shanghai still seems kinda cool to me, cos many people of my age go to Shanghai, its kind of a 'must' to go to SH :P 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| maxb Diglot Senior Member Sweden Joined 7185 days ago 536 posts - 589 votes 7 sounds Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Mandarin | Message 6 of 17 18 October 2006 at 4:20am | IP Logged | ||
Actually I don't quite agree that northen accents are clear. At least not the Beijing accent. Beijingers tend to talk quite fast and reduce a lot of the zh, sh and ch sounds to "r" sounds. Of course it they talk to a chinese learner they will probably make an effort to speak clearly but when they talk among themselves you will find it quite difficult to follow along. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| paisley Groupie United States Joined 5714 days ago 59 posts - 60 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin | Message 7 of 17 13 October 2009 at 9:41pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I would also love to know more about this. I would like to find a fairly non-rude place to go in which the people speak good mandarin.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Wilco Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 6332 days ago 160 posts - 247 votes Speaks: French*, English, Russian | Message 8 of 17 08 November 2009 at 9:00pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I'm alos interested in this topic. Where would be the best place: in a small city (by chinese proportion,1 million and less) or in big cities (Harbin, Beiing, etc.)?
1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
