Learn Chinese at China's Top University with Homestay

It was a while back when I was in Shanghai studying Chinese at Jiaotong University for the summer. My program provider was Go Abroad China who were quite accommodating because I would only be in Shanghai for two months and they literally handled everything for me: the most important which was organising my study visa, my flat in Shanghai, which I shared with 2 other flatmates and showing me which bus to take to school. Thankfully I didn't live too far away from campus and didn't even need to change bus lines or any of that. Otherwise it would have been quite a hassle to learn the different buses.

Now about my Chinese classes: I barely spoke Chinese when I first arrived in Shanghai, and my class, imagine 20 young people coming from different countries learning Mandarin from Monday to Friday - for me it was full time school in the summer! Life in Shanghai was amazing and crazy! I had so much fun living there, getting close to my flatmates and other classmates. A couple of times I also hit it up with the rest of the people in the Go Abroad China group.

I came to China as a total beginner in Chinese language, by the time I left after 2 months I could manage approximately 200 characters!

I spent two months studying in Shanghai, it was great, sometimes tough, other times fun! I had classes Monday to Friday meaning that every week I had 20 hours of Chinese with a taichi lesson once a week usually in the afternoon. Of all the things I learnt, taichi class was always my favourite one, until I found out we would have a test and it would be graded. Surprisingly I actually didn't do bad in that test, but i also suspect my teacher was a bit lenient.

Anyway let me talk about the important classes then:
I had grammar class every morning, some days it would be followed by speaking/oral class, other days it would be reading & writing...there was a whole timetable. I must admit that my different teachers (I had 3) were generally great but like any other will not be happy with unfinished assignments or slacking in class.

I know everyone probably always says this after coming to China, but my Chinese really did improve significantly.

Fun: living in Shanghai was really great for me, I hung out with my classmates, went to the dinner organised by GAC and visited some nice spots courtesy of our guide from GAC. She was the one I always called if I needed some help with Chinese or something went wrong in the apartment etc.

I had a great experience with GAC and BLCU. Before coming to China I couldn't speak Mandarin at all and had in mind that it was the most difficult language ever. Now, I can have small daily conversations with Chinese people and I am so proud of myself! Those 2 months in Beijing were very interesting because I got to live with a Chinese family and experienced the real Chinese life! The family that I was living with was very comprehensive and would let me go out with my friends without any problem. The father and also the kid could speak good English. The whole family was adorable. They once invited me for a weekend to Xian. I really felt like I was part of the family and that is why I will certainly keep in touch with them!

I went to study in Fudan University in Shanghai for a month during the summer time. Going to China and studying there was part of my course requirements, there was a list of universities that my school already recommended and Fudan was one of them.

I checked out Go Abroad China's website a lot and finally decided to contact them to arrange everything. Everything went smoothly, I applied, got registered at Fudan University and lived in a shared apartment in Shanghai. Unfortunately I couldn't live i campus, so I had to take the metro everyday to school. I joined one of the beginner classes there and I personally noticed a lot of improvement at the end of my course.

At the end, there was an exam that tested grammar, listening, oral and I passed - I had to pass - to get all the credit points that I needed back at my university. Actually one of the reasons that I went with Go Abroad China was actually being able to get credit transfer.

As for fun city life in Shanghai? It's a normal modern city just with millions of people. There was lots to do, but I was there for such a short time that I couldn't really get into the social life.

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 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.

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 learned Chinese when i was a kid, and to be honest i really like this pretty difficult language. Then when i started my university, i think maybe i can go abroad and try to learn this amazing language.Then i started search go abroad learn Chinese,and i found out Go Abroad China.They are really good.