Choosing a private Mandarin school in China

[LinZhenPu]

http://www.gatewaychina.net/

 

Found this school by googling. I had a skype call with a lady from their school called Sophie. They've offered me a 6 month HSK program which includes a homestay, three meals a day, and 25 hours of 1 on 1 Chinese language instruction per week, in Shijiazhuang, for a total of 81,750 RMB. The lessons are made up of 2 and a half hours of comprehensive Chinese using a textbook (I didn't think to ask which one), and 2 and a half hours of HSK training.

 

All of their teachers are university graduates with majors in either Chinese language, Teaching Chinese as a Second Language (对外汉语), or English language.

They currently have 5 students studying with them. Sophie said that they get about 100-200 students each year and have been operating since 2005 and so estimates that they have had in total about 1000-2000 students.

The shortest tenure that any of their teachers at their school has is one year.

 

They say I should have no problem passing the HSK5 after 6 months which is important for me as I want to gain entry into a Chinese as a second language bachelor degree which allows students to graduate in 2 years if they have a HSK5 certificate.

 

They come across as a decent school offering a budget-friendly option for a total immersion experience.

 

I'm tossing up between choosing this school or LTL Mandarin School. I also had a consultation via Skype with Alexander Krasnov, one of LTL's staff members. A program with LTL which would be 3 months in Beijing and 3 months in Chengde would cost 116,476 RMB, and that only includes two meals a day. So Konall represents quite a significant saving over LTL, but of course with LTL you get the best quality possible.

I'm also considering taking 3 or 4 months with LTL and 2 or 3 months with Konall, in order to save a bit of money.

 

Can anybody comment about life in Shijiazhuang? I watched a few videos on Youtube and to be frank it looks like a fairly depressing place to live vs Chengde. But perhaps I'm wrong?

Perhaps a bit of a longshot but is anybody able to comment about the quality of Konall as a Mandarin school?

 

How easy would it be to earn some money on the side doing 1 on 1 English tutoring in Shijiazhuang? Alex from LTL indicated that many of their students make some money on the side doing 1 on 1 English tutoring in Beijing and that this isn't an issue on a student visa because it's not really considered to be 'a job'.

On the other hand, I asked Sophie if it would be possible to earn money on the side doing English tutoring, and she said that being on a student visa, you're not allowed to take part in any activity earning money as it's not a working visa.

But they do sometimes get calls from their homestay families asking if any of their students would be able to come and do some English tutoring, so they could see, but nothing guaranteed.

 

Any comments, anecdotes and suggestions greatly appreciated!

 

 

 

[ZhangKaiRong]

Shijiazhuang is quite bad, just like the other parts of Hebei, I had the "pleasure" to visit it three time, and hated every minute of it. It's a dull city with very few entertainment opportunities. Air quality and the weather in general is horrible, PM25 level is in the unhealthy range most of the time. It might have been my bad luck, but I didn't meet any interesting people there, it felt like I'm in a big village where foreigners are still a rare sight, so I got the looks everywhere I went. I suppose you're going to cram most of your time as you're preparing the HSK5, but I think to maintain your real-life language skills it is very useful to have converstations with real people on topics you're interested in. Too bad that a big chunk of Shijiazhuang people are quite narrow-minded (however it also goes for most Hebei people as per my experience). To be on the positive side, you won't be distracted by English converstations as there are very few expats living there for obvious reasons, and local people's English skills are far from decent, so you can force them to only use Mandarin when they speak to you.

 

If money is not a big constraint, I would go for the Beijing-Chengde combination.

[ChTTay]

Hebei province gets the brunt of the bad pollution I think. Out of the two options I'd go with LTL.

Have you looked into Keats in Kunming, Yunnan province?

[LinZhenPu]

Haven't looked into Keats in Kunming yet, that should be next on my list.

 

If the pollution in Shijiazhuang is really that bad it might not be a good option for me as I had childhood asthma and might well find myself in hospital rather quickly.

 

Chengde is in Hebei province too. Is the pollution there bad too? Are the people there narrow-minded?

[realmayo]

Also consider Harbin Mandarin School. And is choosing a two-month course at one place a problem, instead of signing up (and even paying up) for six months in advance? If you like your first choice then stay longer, if not then go to one of the other schools?

[LinZhenPu]

Good point mayo.

[LinZhenPu]

Harbin Mandarin School is now looking like a good choice. They have the cheapest course out of all the schools I have looked at so far, and all of their teachers have the 对外汉语 degree and are fully qualified teachers.

 

Harbin looks like a much nicer city than Shijiazhuang and very few people in Harbin speak English.

 

And apparently I will have no problem finding clothes my size cheap because Harbin are the so-called Dutch of China in that they are usually very tall for Chinese people.

[imron]

What time of year are you planning to go, and can you handle the cold?  Harbin gets very cold in winter.

[LinZhenPu]

I'm looking at going in November which is their winter time. I did read about how cold it gets in the northeast particularly Harbin. Well, I lived in the Netherlands for two years when I was a young boy and I didn't find the cold to be a big issue then, but that was a long time ago.

Isn't the trick to handling the cold to simply wear the appropriate clothing? I've been assured that it is very easy to buy clothes my size for the winter in Harbin for cheap prices, and that everywhere indoors has very good heating.

 

I'd say that this is part of the appeal of Harbin for me. Not as many foreigners want to stay there particularly those from warmer climates as where I'm from. So I'll be doing something a little bit different from staying in Beijing or Shanghai.

 

Maybe I'll even be able to learn a bit of 东北话, the lingua franca of Northeastern China, which is different from 普通话 and impress my wife's family who are from 东北 and whom I have not yet met. My wife and I happened across an old man from 东北 on the bus once. He said 我的普通话不好。My wife had a conversation with him in 东北话 and it was very interesting. It sounds like Mandarin but a little different and I could barely understand a word. I suppose it contains a mix of northern Chinese and Manchurian vocabulary.

[eliaso]

...and all of their teachers have the 对外汉语 degree and are fully qualified teachers.

 

A few years ago this wasn't the case. I know for a fact that they've also used teachers that have degrees in things not related to languages at all (I know two of the ex teachers personally). That being said, they're not a bad school and maybe they nowadays only employ teachers with those qualifications. However, I don't believe you can find a language school in China that only employs teachers with masters degree in teaching Chinese as a foreign language and I don't think it really matters. That degree itself is good as nothing if the person holding it isn't naturally suited to be a teacher.

 

Harbin gets very cold in winter.

 

And at times it gets very polluted. Here is example data for December last year http://www.tianqihoubao.com/aqi/haerbin-201512.html

 

LinZhenPu, what is your current level in mandarin? If you are starting from scratch then passing HSK5 would be hard to do in six months even with one to one teaching. University students in full time language programs usually spend two semesters to reach a level where they can comfortably pass HSK4 and it would take at least one more semester to be comfortable with HSK5. The gap from level 4 to 5 is bigger than that from 3 to 4 and levels below 4 are just peanuts anyway.

[Angelina]

Maybe I'll even be able to learn a bit of 东北话, the lingua franca of Northeastern China, which is different from 普通话 and impress my wife's family who are from 东北 and whom I have not yet met.

 

 

 

Harbin sounds like a good idea for you then 

[LinZhenPu]

A few years ago this wasn't the case 

Interesting tibbit of info about the school, thanks for that. Well, Ma Laoshi from the school told me that they all have the master's degree in teaching chinese as a foreign language. You said that you know two of the ex teachers personally, are you able to tell me why they left the school?

 

LinZhenPu, what is your current level in mandarin? If you are starting from scratch then passing HSK5 would be hard to do in six months 

Yes, passing the HSK5 would be difficult to do in six months starting from scratch. If there is anyone who has managed to do this then hats off to them. I think it would be only possible with a lot of prior language-learning experience with proficiency in at least one Asian language and even then only with lots of hard work. My current level is at or above HSK3 and I have been operating at this level for about the last year or so, so it is pretty solidified.

Rest assured that every school I've interviewed has told me that I won't have a problem passing the HSK5 after 6 months as long as I work hard. Andreas from LTL even said "Actually, I think your Chinese is above the HSK3 level" when I told him that I was at the level of HSK3. Passing the HSK5 test after 3 months would be in his words "more of a challenge". I took a mock test on hschinese.com and scored 232 out of 300 points on their HSK3 mock test which is designed to mimic the real HSK computer-based test as closely as possible. I really hope I can pass the HSK5 after 6 months because I hope to enter the third year of a Bachelor degree in Chinese as a second language in September 2017, which some universities allow you to do if you have an HSK5 certificate.

 

 

 

Maybe I'll even be able to learn a bit of 东北话, the lingua franca of Northeastern China, which is different from 普通话 and impress my wife's family who are from 东北 and whom I have not yet met.

 

 

 

Harbin sounds like a good idea for you then  

Thanks for the words of encouragement!

[LinZhenPu]

Ma Laoshi from Harbin Mandarin School says: "There are only a few people speaks 东北话, they are not very well educated, such as salesperson, restaurant waiters and taxi drivers. I don't think that you should learn 东北话 during your stay here in Harbin, because Mandarin 普通话 is very standard and clear here, and it's regarded as a very nice language in the top and middle class. 东北话 is not very commonly used in Harbin, it is very commonly used in 沈阳 and 大连, although we are all in 东北."

[gato]

My impression is also that what's commonly referred to as 东北话 would be more accurately refererred to as 辽宁话. Liaoning is the most populous province in Dongbei.

[Angelina]

Ma Laoshi from Harbin Mandarin School says: "There are only a few people speaks 东北话, they are not very well educated, such as salesperson, restaurant waiters and taxi drivers.

 

One of my former classmates speaks 东北话, she has a master's degree in linguistics, wrote her thesis on 东北话. She works for the Government now, not teaching anywhere. 

[LinZhenPu]

She is working for the Chinese government? Or her home country's government? Or is that the same thing? Haha

Anyway, I'm sure Ma Laoshi was talking about Harbin locals who speak 东北话，not the general population.

[Angelina]

Or is that the same thing?

 

 

yes

 

 

I guess locals who would be able to teach the language are just not interested in doing it.

 

Anyway, it would be good for you to spend some time in that part of China, not only because of the language, you can also learn more about the culture there. 

[LinZhenPu]

One thing I'm looking forward to is stacking up on cheap Chinese clothes there so that I can actually have a wardrobe lol. My clothing collection is so sparse. I think I only have 3 pairs of pants.

Harbin locals are known as the 'dutch' people of China because they are big and tall. So it should be no problem finding clothes my size there.

[Angelina]

Are you from SA?

[LinZhenPu]

No.