Beijing Normal University

[Lena]

I am thinking of applying at BNU for the Spring semester, and I'm wondering about their class sizes? Also how fast does the course go? Basically I'm a beginner and I'm worried about being left behind. Any advice???

[Zhende ma?]

BNU has class sizes that range about 20 people per class and you get called on often (once a day almost). As far as beginner, they have a class for the very beginners which assumes you know nothing or a "knowledgeable beginner" where they assume some knowledge. Basically, to my knowledge all the classes are taught in Chinese. The pace is not too fast but since you take 3 or 4 different classes which all give homework, there is a lot to learn and expect to study at least 2 hours each night. At first it may seem like a lot but you will be shocked how fast your Chinese improves, especially if you practice outside of class as well.

A lot has been posted on BNU in the Study Guide here. There is also a lot in the Studying in Beijing forums. Look at the posts there and it may answer many of your questions. Also, feel free to post more questions here

[Lena]

Thanks for your post, thats very helpful. Only thing, what do you mean by the classes are taught in chinese? Does that just mean that once you get to a certain point they restrict speaking in english?

Ta, Lena

[StealthyBurrito]

Even beginner level courses should use mostly Chinese (95%+) during instruction. In another thread one poster mentioned that an ESL teacher used Latvian to teach a course of other ESL teachers who had never learned Latvian before, and they understood all the directions. It's fairly easy to understand from the context, the tone of voice, facial expression, hand gestures, etc. what the teacher is trying to say even if you can't understand the words. In my experience, the teacher will only use English if the majority of the class can't understand.