I was very much involved in Chinese language school business in China so am in good position to offer a few tips for those thinking of going to China to study Chinese.

Generally speaking, there are two main choices, either going to universities or private language schools. Universities such as BCLU (Beijing Culture and Language University) are among the earliest universities in China to run Chinese language courses for foreign students. The university (BCLU) is famous but does not guarantee that its course suits every one’s needs. For one thing, the course is run on a semester basis, to peg with the university timetable. So is the course design. So if you want to join a short-term course, say for two weeks or two months, the course is just not right for you. You can of course still join it, but since the course is designed for longer term, your study result cannot be too promising.

Also this type of university course is more focused on comprehensive training in speaking, listening, reading and writing. That means if you are for short-term study, how can you achieve anything given that Mandarin Chinese is such a difficult language to learn and to master all these capabilities is an impossible task in a short period of time. Many foreign students just want to train their speaking and listening abilities when they stay a while in China. This kind of university course cannot satisfy their needs.

So if you look to study mandarin Chinese in China for a few weeks or months, consider going to private language schools, which are springing up in China, especially in Beijing and Shanghai. It is a new business so the government is yet to issue license to these schools which are not officially certified. They cannot give you government-approved certificate when you finish study with them.

There are many such schools in Beijing and Shanghai, and some in Xiamen, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, kunming, Qingdao, etc. When choosing the schools, it is advisable to ask two questions : are they run by local Chinese or foreigners? If it is local chinese, who are they? This is important because if they do not know much about Westen style of education, the teaching method will be very oriental style and you will be just drilled in the classroom. You will be taught a lot in the classroom, but at the end of the day, you are not getting anywhere. I know of a couple of schools in China that are run by foreingers and are very successful, welcome by foreign students.

With centuries of communist and authoritarian rule, China’s education system stifles free spirit and creativity. The Chinese language teachers, despite their professional knowledge, come from the same education system. Can you expect them to be creative and dynamic in meeting foreign students learning needs? Very hard. I don’t deny there is exception, but that is exception.

The quality of teaching is something that there is still much room to improve in China, especially in the field of teaching Chinese to foreigners. Teaching Chinese to foreigners has become a new profession in China and universities across the country are offering the course. Guess what the students have to study majoring in teaching Chinese to foreigners? Theory of Communism!

So if you want to sign up for a language school, do ask for the former students for their comments about quality of teaching.

Another question you need to ask is, how many classes do they have? This is yet another very important question to ask. The private language schools are usually run on a weekly basis, or bi-weekly basis, meaning that students can enrol in the class every week or every two weeks. If there are not enough classes catering for a whole range of levels, how can you be sure that you can find the class that is right for your level? Some schools jus want to make money so they don’t care if you fit into the right class. They put you into the class that is operating regardless of your level and you end up with people of different levels in the class. How can you learn?

In a word, when choosing a Chinese language school, ask who is running behind, ask for former students for comments on quality of teaching, and ask how many classes/levels they have at the moment.

When choosing a university for studying Mandarin, the quality of teaching is important. Do check out this. On the other hand, it is usually more established and there are more classes to choose from.

I’ve highlighted one issue in my previous discussions about learning Mandarin in China: quality of teaching, and would like to dwell on this topic a little more in this post.

If you have ever read recruitment advertisements of mandarin teachers posted by language schools or institutions in China, you may find one thing quite weird or absurd. You don’t need to be a graduate in Chinese language or teaching Chinese to foreigners to be qualified for the post. All you need is possession of a degree in English or being fluent in English. The rationale: the foreign students have to have an English-speaking teacher for them to understand the lessons.

It is an obvious sign of ignorance on the part of school/university management and poor standard of teaching. Given this, how much hope will you have of good teaching in store for you? Their logic goes something like this: teaching Chinese is not a professional job. Every educated Chinese can teach Chinese, as long as you can speak good English.

I was once involved in the Chinese language school business in China and was asked numerous times questions like ”Can your teachers speak English?” “Can your teachers speak Japanese?” Then I would start my rantings and ask them to ask themselves a simple question: If you go overseas to study English, would you expect the teacher to be able to speak Chinese to teach you English?!

The fact is, Chinese schools in China simply ask English teachers to teach Chinese to international students. And they will hide the fact from you, telling you that they are experienced teachers. I know cases likes this personally.

So one pointer to good Chinese language schools/institutions: their teacher ads don’t require the potential candidates to speak good excellent English. If you don’t get the chance to see their ads, which you most likely don’t, ask them who their teachers are. If they say they are university graduates of English majors, forget them!

But please be warned that there are many lies around, and be smart enough to do more research and ask for the former students’ contact for information before you jump into the boat!

I always hold the view that Chinese language teaching to foreigners in China falls short of professionalsim and training. The authoritarian political system constrains the sort of teachers trained.

Another reason is probably because the emerging Chinese language schools do not want to pay attractive salaries to recruit good teachers.

Do you have any idea how much a teacher earns in a Chinese language school? If the teacher is a fresh graduate from a teacher college, say in Hangzhou, a wealthy coastal city near Shanghai, their monthly salary is less than 2,000 RMB - about 1,800 RMB. And the schools are happy to hire these fresh graduates rather than more experienced teachers. The reason is obvious. Fresh graduates’ salary is low and they will work hard just to keep the jobs offered - after all there are not many vacancies in the field of teaching Chinese to foreigners yet.

Well, to keep the school’s reputation, the school will also hire some experienced teachers. But I can assure you, there must be some fresh graduates as teaching staff just to keep the cost down and the profit high.

I know in person some school management lie to foreign students about the qualities and experience of their teachers. And as foreign students, you tend to just listen and trust what is being told.

I have known and experienced so many lies living in China. Maybe you are more lucky than me.

(This serie of great & valuable notes are courtesey of annatam.com )

I would suggest you take one-on-one lessons if you come to China to study mandarin just for a short period of time. The reason? Quality of group class teaching is not guaranteed, and one-one-one lesson is not expensive.

With one-on-one lessons, you can control the pace and focus of your learning and your tutor has to listen to your need. With Mandarin House in Shanghai, the fee is 130-170 yuan per hour. This charging scheme is at the high end. If you look for private tutor yourself, you can easily find one who charges about 50-60 yuan per hour. This seems to me the average price, and a fair price.

In Beijing, diqiucun (global village), a language school near BLCU, is quite popular because of its low pricing - about 20-30 yuan per hour for one-one-one lessons. And you can try your first three lessons with three different teachers to find the one that suits you most.

This price is way too attractive compared to the price of one-one-one lessons you have to pay to learn, say spanish in Spain. Why bother to take group lessons?

Of course there is upside to learning in a group. I shouldn’t be too judgemental on this. But what I want to say is, if you think one-on-one lessons are all you need, why don’t you go for it? It is so cheap in China. And the result is usually guaranteed.

If you are looking to study Chinese in China for a few months, consider not to enrol in a Chinese language school, but in a university programme. I raise this issue here because I was asked about the topic and think it may be helpful to weigh in on the topic a little bit more.

The rational is, speaking from my experience and observation, the Chinese language schools in China are mostly very new, meaning that a constructive and customized curriculum for short-term study is far from ready, not to mention a carefully designed curriculum for long-term study. On the other hand, the university programmes have much longer history and are better developed, especially for long-term study.

Onto curriculum - to know more about the quality of chinese programmes at the Chinese school or uinversity, it is important to enquire about their curriculum in details, and how they implement it. Well, most likely they will just tell you they are following this or that book - if you know of one school/university which says they are developing their own curriculum by combing materials in an appropriate and creative way, it might just well be worth your attention.

1. BLS Shanghai
Descriptions found on their webiste:
Located downtown, in the former French Quarters behind the Bund, our school is based in a very nice newly-built group of houses, overlooking a central Chinese style garden square in a peaceful residential area. The complex is particularly well placed and makes an excellent setting for the school.

Within a couple of minutes walk away, you’ll find restaurants, cafes, embassies, nice hotels and busy streets… The French atmosphere still flows in the air… Your accommodation is also nearby, only a couple of minutes away on foot or by taxi for the less energetic!

2. Mandarin House
Descriptions found on their webiste:
Mandarin House provides six centers are all centrally located in the convenient areas of the city. Each of our centers is located on major transportation routes and has up - to–date facilities, offering an excellent learning environment for our students. Ensuring that students can enjoy not only the language lessons, but also the vibrant city of Shanghai.

If you have took lessons with above schools, please feel free to post your comments and feedback to share with us. If you know any other schools in this area, please also post it to share with us. Thanks.

My husband and I are considering sending our children, aged 12, 10 and 8 to school in Shanghai for the coming school year, in June 2004.

Currently, all three children are taking Mandarin classes in school but the level is very basic and listening comprehension is almost nil.

We would like some guidance as to which schools in Shanghai are accepting foreign students who are interested in the regular Chinese education system.

Thank you and looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Best regards,

Lucy Co
Philippines

——————–

Dear Lucy,

We are delighted to hear that you’d like to have your children educated in China, and we can recommend Shanghai High School to your family. Following is some useful reference information:

About the Campus

Situated in the south west of Shanghai, Shanghai High School, covering 300 mu (20 hectares), is a high school that is famous at home and aboard. In 1993, the Shanghai High School International Division was set up with the approval of the Education and Health Department of the Shanghai Municipal Government.

The students of Shanghai High School International Division come from Asia, America, Europe and Australia. According to statistics, SHSID has accepted students from America, Japan, Korea, Canada, England, Italy, Germany, Yugoslavia, Iran, Egypt, Venezuela, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. There are about 900 students in the school.

Get more information from the school website: http://www.shs.sh.cn/index.htm

International Division: Tel:021-64765516/ 64768691 FAX:64535008

excerpt from:China.org.cn

Raffles Lasalle Shanghai

Andy says:

You will work long hours for little personal reward or recognition. You MUST work a nine hour day. They have a questionable evaluation system and even more questionable curriculum.
The people in charge of you know nothing about ESL teaching and do not really care if students are learning or not as long as the wheels keep turning.
The rules and systems and policies, such as they are, will change on a daily basis. Your contract is worthless.If you are sick, you must teach the classes you missed upon your return.
Oh yeah, each class is four hours long. Look before you leap man or the water may just be too deep.

They pay on time. Every time. You get a legal work visa and all other necessary paperwork. Your colleagues are generally wonderful.The students are sweet (if somewhat unenthusiastic about English)

This is not an English school. They use the HEADWAY text books. I will say no more.
The Singaporean entrepreneurs who pride themselves on running this pseudo educational institution care ONLY about money.

Shanghai Normal University, English First Shanghai (EF Shanghai) Shanghai Shanghai

nativespeaker1 says:

Foreign teachers at Shanghai Normal University–even relative oldtimers–were given only one-semester contracts this past September. The reason now seems to have emerged: the school on Guilin Lu in south Shanghai has contracted with corporate English First to run its one-year mandatory oral English course for third-year students. It appears that English First not only will supply the curriculum and supervision but also will have an HR function in determining what teachers will be rehired for the spring semester . . . And, of course, who won¡ät be rehired.

TEFL Jobs Consulting Ltd Company (TEFL.CC)

Dos says:
I agree with the post about TEFL CC. We hired a teacher using them and an agent. The school paid the agent his fees but the agent then wouldn’t pay the teacher his salary.
The school withheld further payment that was requested, as he had failed to pay the teacher. Don’t use!

CHEERY ENGLISH

Richard says:
The company likes to tell “white” lies and will bend the contract rules. They also made me work extra hours, more than stated in my contract, and I was NEVER paid for these extra hours!
They are not legally licensed to hire foreigners, so instead of getting us our Z visas like they are supposed to, they instead make us pay extra money for other documents so they can just extend the visa. They wont and they cant get teachers a foreign expert certificate because they are not a legal company.
Not worth the time, PLEASE, when working in China, make sure the company or school has a OVERSEAS EMPLOYMENT LICENSE.

Michaelangello says:

This company is just a middleman. They are not legally licensed to hire foreigners and they do not follow contract. They will bend the rules and not pay you correctly. You will not be paid for overtime or for covering other teachers. If you are a substitute teacher, they will not pay you for it, rather they will tell you to collect the money from the other teacher you worked for!
The do not follow contract and will cheat you if they can. They go through many Chinese and Foreign teachers quickly because of their dishonest ways.

English First Shanghai (EF Shanghai) // Shanghai Shanghai

Anonymous says:

I clear almost 9,000 rmb a month and my contract is 30 ach (40 mins each) any more has to be mutually agreed and is paid overtime.
Half my flight money has been paid and the rest will be at the end of my contract.
Accomodation is satisfactory without being luxurious!
I average about 27 ach a week and don¡ät have to come in when not working.

Enlighten / Enlightenment Consultants // Shanghai Shanghai

Steve says:

I have just received a phone call from Enlighten / Enlightenment Consultants this afternoon (the company that I work for) saying that they are firing me and I have to leave my accomodation by tomorrow.
All through last term I was on time for every lesson and didn’t have 1 single day sick leave.I also did o/t each week at Kindergarten’s to help them out and to boost my poor wages.

Gold Apple Bilingual School // Shanghai Shanghai

Kris says:
My experience at Shanghai Gold Apple Bilingual School was good at times and bad at others. The pay was relatively low yet they always pay on time. There was a travel bonus which was nice and they paid for my round trip ticket from the U.S. They paid for travel visas and work visas. Accomodations and meals were free. Accomodations were not fabulous in terms of a kitchen but we did have heat and AC. The children were good and other teachers were extremely kind. “The Chinese way” is something I never learned to deal with and ultimately made me decide to leave after one year. Promises by the school for Chinese lessons were not honored. I only had to teach 18 classes a week with most of them 40 minutes and a few 30 minutes. Bring your own teaching materials!!!!!!

Kongjiang High School // Shanghai Shanghai

Daniel says:
- Accommodation - Forget about an apartment or anything like that, even by SH standards of apartment living.
- There is a telephone that will accept calls, but they have steadfastly ignored my requests for a line that calls outside the school to be installed.
- What you agree upon with administration will probably be ignored.

Shanghai is a wonderful city with many good schools. However some are just too dishonest for words and should be avoided.

I am a university professor and only teach English in my holidays. I have made it a policy to avoid small private schools, who may get into financial difficulties, and then not pay you, but last summer I was caught out by a big school in Shanghai.

Post-SARS, there were few native English teachers available in Shanghai and I worked extended hours for Learning Education centre, (L-E-C), which was desperately short of teachers. They made a mistake with my salary the first month, which they promised to fix the next month. They had paid me at a rate of 150 RMB per hour, instead of the agreed 220 RMB. The next month produced no change and I was underpaid again. During the final month they were to pay me a combination of back pay and the total for that month. NOTHING!!! They paid me nothing at all!

When I contacted the owner he informed me that I would be physically beaten if I complained, to teach me respect for Chinese, and then he would have me deported. Almost a year later I am still out of pocket for more than 16,000 RMB.

What can I do? The Education Bureau is in his pocket and the school is prepared to say anything to discredit me. Lawyer friends say there is little that can be done except warn others, or take a large group of men and beat offer them violence.

I have since discovered that many other teachers have sufffered delayed and incorrect payments. Even Chinese assistants complained to me they were not paid on time.

This is a re-repost of an item that was originally found on “Nate’s Chinese School Review”. Courtsey of: chinaschoolreview.net

Shanghai is probably the most evocative city for an outsider in the whole of China. Beijing may be more purely, mysteriously Chinese but only Shanghai offers such a heady brew of half-digested images and preconceptions.

For the second city of the world’s oldest surviving ancient civilization, Shanghai is surprisingly new. Literally ‘On the Sea’, Shanghai is a port city on the Huangpu River, where the Yangzi River empties into the East China Sea.

The area was marshland until the Song Dynasty (AD 960-1126), when refugees from Mongol and other northern nomad invasions settled the area. By 1291, Shanghai had become a county capital.