Comments on: Is China a good place to learn Chinese?

By: pilgrim

pilgrim — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 07:27:30 +0000

I’ve been in Dalian now for the last two years learning Chinese at a uni. I’ve got to say that learning Chinese in China doesn’t really mean anything if you don’t go out there an point blank refuse to speak English. As you all know people want to improve they’re English and it’s so easy to accomodate them cause then it’s comfortable and we’re the ones with the upper hand but it’s just gonna drag out the painfull process that is getting to a stage where you can at least speak something close to fluent Chinese.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 07:24:42 +0000

In Shanghai getting a chinese boyfriend / girlfriend in a Bar is a terrible, horrible idea.

The boyfriend / girlfriend learning move only works for one person in a relationship.

What happens is you communicate in the strongest language. At the start you might use both language but then you will switch over to only one language.
I mean if your in a relationship who has the energy to teach all the time.

In a bar most of the chinese are young and educated which means most of them know English.If your looking for a boy friend/girl friend to just help your Mandarin language then their language will be better than yours and so you will only be improving their english.

I think traveling is the best way to learn, taxi drivers or people on trains are great people to talk to.

Keep Learning and speaking Mandarin

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 08:24:04 +0000

I know i am three years late in replying to this post, but i thought it was interesting. Since i have come to Beijing i can’t help but feel that China is a great place to learn Chinese.

I mean, what is the alternative?

By: Bamboo

Bamboo — Thu, 28 May 2009 02:29:54 +0000

kiss,
I would recommend you to go to Xi’an or nanjing,both of these cities have a long history and they were capitals in the past,there are still lots of historical sites,after you visit these,maybe you can know much more about China,since your chinese is not good enough,go to visit those with some chinese college students will be a good choice.

And in these two cities,there are also lots of top universities.As for nanjing university,it is one of the top universities in China,maybe there is some difficuilties for you to apply for your acceptation.

What about Nanjing university of sicence and technology….haha

By: temptresszkiss

temptresszkiss — Wed, 27 May 2009 16:20:13 +0000

Hello, I am planning to study abroad in China my Junior year in College – I just finished my first year. I have studied at Beijing Language and Culture University during my high school years. I am currently taking private Mandarin lessons from a man who was born and raised in Beijing. He said going to Nanjing University would be great. I want to explore different areas in China, so I wouldn’t like to return to Beijing to study abroad again. I do not really want to go to a main city like Beijing or Shanghai…

My goal is to learn the Chinese culture, language, customs etc… I literally want to be dreaming in Chinese (that is how fluent I want to be)

Does anyone have any suggestions as to which city/school I should go to?

Also, would a homestay option instead of a dorm option help me tremendously in my goals?

By: Shanghai Baby

Shanghai Baby — Sun, 24 May 2009 09:18:54 +0000

I think the best way to learn chinese is to have more chinese friends. Talk to them more and you will be able to learn easily.

By the way, I’m in the midst of building a website to connect China and the world. I hope people from all over the world get to know China people better and make friends with each other.

As i am still at early stage and the website is not entirely finished, I would like to invite you to take a look and let me know what you think.

The website is http://www.ecpod.com

At the moment you can sign up, upload your photo, right something about yourself and make friends with each other. You can browse the current members on the site.

Appreciate your feedback. Thank you.

Shanghai Baby

By: beijing.mama

beijing.mama — Sat, 23 May 2009 11:03:45 +0000

I just happened on to this site, re another page, and followed the link to this page because the title question seemed downright strange to me. I’ve lived in Beijing for five years and have had nearly the opposite experience. I can’t get anyone to use English with me (though people shout “hello” when we pass). In my early days, I struggled through many conversations in Chinese (try to request or plan something) only to find later that the person I was speaking with was fluent in English. (I even paid a translator one time to find out the person was completely fluent! What a waste of time for him to spend a half hour listening to himself being translated!) Maybe because you are on a campus, it is different, but I’ve never found a situation where someone wanted to use English with me over Chinese, even in Starbucks. While it’s true that many long term expats cannot hold a conversation, I don’t know any foreigners who can’t get around in a taxi or restaurant or tell time; it’s imperative for survival (unless they drive themselves around all day, but I don’t know anyone who does this). I have two small children and they are the gateway to talking with Chinese on the street and making friends with parents at their school. So, come visit Beijing to practice your Mandarin or be prepared to have your hotel concierge write your entire itinerary in characters, or you’ll be going nowhere. (Taxi drivers here don’t even understand the English names for monuments or hotels. Not saying that they should, but that I don’t understand this thread at all as I’m reading it from downtown BJ.)

By: Albert

Albert — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 03:22:09 +0000

Bamboo,

I’m sorry I had to remove the first part of your comment about “the island” because my website started showing “this page cannot be displayed” and “connection interrupted.” A coincidence? I don’t know.

Dear Everyone,

For the record, Laowai Chinese is strictly about language learning. Please avoid discussions of other issues. I paid good money to get my IP address unbanned and I don’t want to go through all that again.

Oh and “Catch 22″ = a no-win situation (see here).

By: Bamboo

Bamboo — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 02:55:02 +0000

As for taiwan,I think maybe it is a good place to pracitse your listening and speaking,but I don’t think it is a good place to learn your writing,as I know taiwanese use more 繁体字(I don’t know how to say that in english)than the ppl from mainland.(Maybe I am wrong,by now,I haven’t been to taiwan,I know that just from TV and some movies which were producted by taiwanese).

I think shanghai,nanjing and hangzhou are good choice to work and live,and there are lots of universities in this three place.To the very south of China,just as guangzhou and guangxi,I don’t agree those places are good choices,as you may know,those people speak with a special accent.

Albert,may I ask what’s the mean of this sentence “It’s kind of a catch 22.”in your reply,can’t follow you.thx.

By: Albert

Albert — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 00:40:23 +0000

Bamboo,First of all, your English is great! Don’t worry about mistakes here. We are all language learners so everyone should be very tolerant. Secondly, you’ve got a good point. It’s kind of a catch 22. If we go to a small town or village to learn Chinese there won’t be many people speaking English. But, as you pointed out, there also won’t be as many people speaking Mandarin (which is what most foreigners want to learn). The other problem with avoiding universities and big cities is we need some way to 1) get a visa, 2) make money. Teaching at a university or working in a big city is generally better for those two things.