ACC, IUP, CET, CIEE, etc

[SkeetJenkins]

I was wondering, for a college student with the equivalent of 4 years of college Chinese study (4th year was done at the Princeton in Beijing program), and am thinking of studying abroad in China. Is studying through programs such as the ones mentioned in the post title a good next step? Do these programs have classes for people at that level? Because I feel like my Chinese (and that of many other people who have completed the equivalent of 4 years of college Chinese study) is in this odd position of having exhausted my college's (and most others probably, in the US that is) Chinese language course offerings, but not yet at a comfortable enough level to live and work in China and have his/her Chinese progress naturally.

Is this a reasonable assessment? I guess my main question is whether or not these language programs would be well suited for me. I've looked online at their course curriculums, but I can't really tell the course content just based on the brief descriptions.

[jiangping]

I've completed 3 years of university-level Chinese in England and I feel exactly the same. I've still got one year left, though I'll be taking mainly literature options (plus dissertation), which don't include either composition or speaking and listening. My reading ability for modern and classical Chinese is comparatively good, and my listening is reasonable, though my speaking isn't very fluid and natural...and that, I guess, is the real trick!

I am also thinking about studying in China or Taiwan for a year after graduation, just to try and nail the more practical side of things. UIP looks pretty impressive, and they also mention emphasising the practical speaking and listening skills needed for study and work in China,so that sounds perfect; however, it's damn expensive. Taiwan also has some pretty good programmes. The 從精讀到泛讀 textbook by Vivian ling looks awesome, and is taught at Shida (and probably Taida), but in order for it to work both the teacher and students would have to be extremely disciplined.

[venture160]

If you want to really hunker down and learn beyond what you did in the classroom, I would go with something out of the major cities such as CET in Harbin. Or, you could get yourself some good Chinese friends, tutors, and live off in a remote place in Beijing such as Haidian.

[Jamasian]

I'm going to Beijing Uni in Feb. with CIEE. I can't find anything on past participants anywhere. Looks like I'll be assessing it myself...

[cui ruide]

While IUP has lower levels, it has always been described to me as a post-grad program. The others, I don't know if they accommodate post-4 year levels.

If you're looking for high language level, but want to do something other than study language, you could look at Hopkins-Nanjing Center.

[Jamasian]

I would like to update that after acceptance to CIEE, Beijing Uni, I didn't get scholarships, so I couldn't attend. It was devastating to be honest but I've decided that not being able to find any past participants anywhere to find information about the class/school format and structure wasn't a good thing anyway. I'm going to be applying to an MA program in China on my own instead. I wish anyone else that is trying for these programs luck in that they find someone to help them and are able to fully enjoy the courses.