Program Reviews

I was in Shanghai for 2 months, my internship was at a big hotel and I was doing a lot of customer service and administration tasks. Sometimes I would need to be at the front desk together with the other Chinese ladies, other times I dealt with requests from guests and preparing conference spaces for meetings and proof reading some other materials. I felt like it was a relatively good internship, I do hope to get a job in the hospitality sector when I’m done with university. Shanghai was like any other big modern city, there are tons of restaurants, bars, parks; and with a lot of foreigners living there so to me it felt very international. The Go Abroad China coordinator there was helpful showing me around the city and my apartment, then introducing me to the hotel when my internship began. Would I go back to China? Yeah I think so if I got another great opportunity I would go again.

I actually stayed in Beijing for a really short time, just a month learning Chinese with a private tutor during the summer holidays. Learning Chinese was fun! My teacher did lessons on meeting new people, food, getting directions and stuff like that. I was a beginner and was clueless about Chinese but after that I made a decision to actually continue learning Chinese. To me, China was so interesting because it was my first time there; I learned to buy fruits and their Chinese names with my teacher out on the street; I rented a bike and we biked to a nearby park, sometimes my class would be held there or she would come to my homestay place. It was good having my own teacher, especially being taught the foundation for Chinese language which is very important. Go Abroad China was helpful in arranging the private classes for me; I hope that maybe in the future again I will be back.

I already knew a little bit about the HSK qualification. I have been learning Chinese in the US for a few years and decided to go to finally go to China.
During my research there were a few options I read about but in the end picked GAC after lots of comparisons. They organised for me to go to a small language school and I was there for 3 months. Learning Chinese away from my school in the US was totally different; the pace and intensity was higher in China, and definitely I was able to pass HSK level 3. The exam was so intense, it had a section for grammar, listing, reading and writing characters. I had expected this because I did lots of practise questions from an HSK preparation textbook.

I had so much fun when I as there; there was a lady from GAC that helped me get to my school, she always emailed me when they organised events and outings and I met a lot of other people.I think it went very well getting everything organised by Go Abroad China, they helped me a lot.

I specifically wanted to go to Nanjing University because I already had knowledge about Nanjing and my parents also wanted me to go there, so I actually chose GAC when I saw that they had a program in Nanjing. At Nanjing University, I was placed in an intermediate class because I had studied some Chinese before. I had to take a test in the beginning to find out which level would be good for me. I think when you get to the intermediate level the intensity increases from how beginners are taught. I found that I had to do a lot of revision as assignment, if you don’t review its really easy to fall back in class. But I enjoy learning Chinese and my fluency has definitely increased even though I think the characters get harder and harder to write from memory, but anyway smartphones can write in Chinese so it’s an easy reminder! For me the thing I really had to spend extra time on was word usage, I think in Chinese it has some very specific rules and patterns that you have to really remember. GAC was helpful with the preparation of coming to China and helping me enroll at Nanjing.

I contacted Go Abroad China after discovering them on the internet and decided to talk to them. IN the beginning communication was very quick with them so I was satisfied and thought the program they advised for me was decent enough.

Classes
I was learning Mandarin in a relatively small class, I still remember my school was in an area called Wudaokou in Beijing. My lessons were standard but at times it actually felt like they were intense just because I thought sometimes the pace was quick. But if you do a lot of extra studying after class its easy to keep up to speed with everyone else. Just don't think that its a holiday and you will learn only occasionally. But I guess on the bright side at least you will be getting your money's worth.

Living situation
I stayed in the homestay accommodation with a Chinese family. Everyone was super friendly and its great to see how an average Chinese family lives. But I have to admit that I realise living situation in Beijing is not as cheap as I had thought especially if you want a really nice place.

Do I think the program is useful?
For me yes, I came to further learn Chinese and I got exactly that. I personally know that I have great improvement especially with my conversation and proper way to pronounce words.

Go Abroad China was firstly recommended by my close relative and I've got to admit choosing Go Abroad China for my summer internship has been an excellent decision, and I have not regretted it for a moment. My first visit to China was made easy by Go Abroad China whereby they provided me with all the information and assistance i needed from them. I chose 1 year internship package which included housing fee and a service fee for the particular program. At the company where i was interning from, we were given transport and meal allowances everyday. I stayed in a shared apartment which was always clean, near subway station and i could obtain most of the services. Go Abroad China normally arranged some trips whereby i was able to make new friend Chinese and other nationalities.
At the office all workers could speak English this made the organisation most enjoyable to work for.
If you are thinking of Interning abroad, I highly recommend Go Abroad China

I was in China just last year learning Chinese in the small class program organized by Go Abroad China. I signed up for 6 months study and they helped me enroll at a school in Beijing. Of course I like learning Chinese but sometimes it wasn’t easy; I have to say that a big part of studying in China I noticed is going over what will be taught in class, then actually going to class, afterwards reviewing the lesson once more. Most lessons were about the grammar and word usage because Chinese has some very specific rules! I remember 2 times a week there were listening classes; in listening classes usually we listened to different tape recordings of people having a simple conversation, or children songs and learned new words that way. It was fun trying to recognize the words we had learnt already! I got assistance from Go Abroad China starting with registration at my school, they organized my accommodation like we had agreed and I got to stay in a shared apartment. Some weekends they also organized stuff and I met a few other people who came with Go Abroad China as well. Once you get used to it, Beijing is actually a nice city to be in, there was certainly more foreigners than I had imagined at first.

My experience learning Chinese? Well I got my foundation from a couple of Mandarin classes per week at university, but as part of my course I found myself needing to go to China to really focus on the language.

I ended up enrolling at the Beijing Language and Culture University, which I later learned that it is one of the best at teaching Chinese language in China. I applied through Go Abroad China; during the planning stages with them, I was drawn to the fact that they would arrange for me to get picked up from the airport, my accommodation would be prepared by them and the whole application process into BLCU was easier with someone there helping me.

I was nervous about studying away from my usual environment, BLCU had its fun times and its tough moments. The class sizes were relatively small, my classmates all foreigners there to study Chinese. I was definitely in one of the beginner classes, but I learned that they arrange different classes depending on your Chinese level. First thing that definitely stood out to me was going to class every day for around 4 -6 hours to learn Chinese, I mean back home it would be half of that per week! Now I’m not a great student but I have always managed to do what is required. At BLCU, my workload definitely increased from what I was used to, but textbooks is nothing to worry about as they will be given to you at school. I will admit that after a while I got my rhythm and started enjoying my classes. I absolutely had fun with my classmates especially with the speaking lessons, as for writing characters, it was tricky to begin with but as my teacher had shared with us, there are all sorts of tricks to use to remember them!

The environment at BLCU: I thoroughly enjoyed it. The campus is not overly large but you get to meet so many people from different countries, (occasionally a few in the same situation as I, having gone through Go Abroad China) prepare to learn about countries you have never even heard of! But seriously, I noticed a big improvement in my spoken Chinese level after a few weeks, probably from all those practice conversations we did in class almost everyday. In that sense I am really happy, my teacher was always really nice to us and made class enjoyable. If I had another chance to return to China I would definitely be back.

I have to say it was pretty funny when i decide to join into Go Abroad China. I still remember when i told my parents that i want to go to China,how bigger the mouth they were opened. I just searched online and then Go Abroad China pops out, and i read their website and the program discrbtion all the service i can order. Then i just put my laptop in front of my parents, and we finally decide to send Go Abroad China an email together. They did a fast reply, and after a few email talking i did a skype interview. It went pretty good and i got an offer that could really help my future career.
After all this i am landed in China. I cannot mention how excited i am, and the person who picked me up Jeremy was so cool. So by his lead i start my life in China.
And my coworker are really good and help same with my host family the are perfect.

Although I do not enjoy doing this, I think it is an opportunity to give feedback to Go Abroad China as an agent as well as provide information for future participants on a platform. My experiences were too much and at this moment that I am typing, I am already tired. I wish Gooverseas will record this in voice rather because I enjoy doing some mathematical gymnastics rather than writting essays: a reason why I love corporate finance. I joined Go Abroad China through an information session on my campus during their campus tour. I am originally a university of Loughborough student majoring in Business Studies.
I paid so much for this program so I came in with serious expectations with high hopes. This was like a journey to Mars a planet I never knew about but had some photographs and footages from the news.
I was given 4 companies with 3 in Shanghai and another in Beijing. I do not know if I needed to mention these companies which I will do because I did not read the ethics guiding this review. But i settled for one in Shanghai called Transcosmos Consulting. I loved the job description from day one because I will be part of a team that are supposed to carry out a feasibility research for a clothing line from Italy which was supposed to take over another in Xian (China). I was then put on the line to speak with the HR who is an American. I was subjected to a stress interview and I did not like it but it was good I was confirmed afterall. I will assume at this point that I am already in China and then work started. Arrival arrangements went well and I am not supposed to be overly impressed as thats the duty of Go Abroad China as I paid them so much.
I love this company because I worked in a team where we were allowed to vary the working time. We worked so late sometimes and we are allowed to delay coming to work next day. This proposes I am a disorgnized person and loves disorganized environments but I dont really care what you as a reader is thinking because my supervisor likes me that way.
First of all, I was made to perform tasks that were already completed to test my accuracy especially financial statement analysis and predictions. Cost structuring given the company's information. Stress testing on financial systems within an organizations and evaluating their capital structure.
So that brings the corporate finance topics and revisions to mind. Have you ever been put on the spot ? I have and I think I never disgraced Prof Tuller the one who educated me about finance. Company evaluation, the process of mergers and acquisitions, Red lights during acquisitions, Negotiation skills etc was what I added to my head during the internship. It was very easy to absorb because it was done in a very corporate environment with real situation.
What else? the food?, the people? the fun? the trips? the events? etc they are not relevant to you now as you read this because your main aim is to get real hands on experience in China. China has 10000000 how many zeros? types of food and you cant enjoy all. Get ready for the drinking culture of chinese while you network and it is pretty easy. Shanghai is a city that easily sways dreams. I am not fascinated by its beautiful designs on the street since I have had enough of that in London but the Nightlife is........ (let me end it there)
I just secured a 2 year contract with the company I interned and I am considering going back to China only if my family agrees.
I think thats all for now.
The program was fantastic as I am trying to avoid too sweet words. I think Go Abroad China is too old and learnt their lessons in the past but they have not finished growing. I worked with Native English Speaking and 2 Italians How could I speak Chinese? So the "Ni hao" and basics is all I had not Business Chinese. I hate them for that.
If you find this helpful, hit me.