Finding the Right Tone

When studying any foreign language, one must eventually come to grips with the anomalies, exceptions, and eccentricities of said language. Having been a student of Mandarin for a number of years and having been raised in a bilingual family, I can confidently add that being able to think coherently in a foreign language is a lifelong endeavor. One real difficulty lies in trying to understand grammatical patterns that simply do not exist in your mother tongue/s (although studying while listening to Ella Fitzgerald's sultry voice singing "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" may be considered a form of encouragement).

The real conundrums in Mandarin for the native English speaker lie in the multifaceted usages of "le" for example, or the various vocal exclamations: "o," "e," and "ya," not to mention the infamous "resultative complements." Are you shang qu-ing or xia lai-ing?

There are, at present, a variety of ways to learn Mandarin in China: student exchanges, registering at a Chinese university through intermediate companies (like EducAsian or World Link Education), intense language programmes (like Princeton in Beijing or China Educational Tours), and teaching English in an isolated yet somehow bucolic Chinese village where the only regularities seem to be the insufficiencies in plumbing, heating, and/or transportation. A burgeoning yet less well-known option is "homestay" (for example the Lotus Homestay Foundation). There exist, although not discussed in this article, a plethora of travel-as-you-study programmes that don't strike me as being terribly convincing linguistically or academically.

"Homestay" programs are quite pricey; the cheapest stay (one month) I could find on the Web cost a minimum of US$1,998, while an academic year costs US$9,980. While there are undeniable advantages to living full time with a Chinese family, US$10,000 seems pretty steep. That's at least 160,000 bao zi, 80,000 bus tickets, or 10,000 DVDs… and if the family contains an English student, one might reasonably question the amount of time that would actually be spent on your Chinese.

At the opposite end of the cost spectrum is the English teacher option. This option is, with the exception of a few small expenses, free. A Canadian I met in Xi'an signed on to teach English in a town of 900,000 where she was the only foreigner, deep in a province that shall remain nameless. Upon arrival in China she was told her salary had decreased (by 2,000 yuan) and all her benefits gone with the exception of the clause in her contract allowing her to terminate her employment at any time. She said she lived in a huge apartment with faulty plumbing and heating but that her DSL connection never failed her. She couldn't manage to have her employer supply her with fresh drinking water but had access to a flawless Internet connection. Oh, the irony. Being the only English speaker in her town, speaking Chinese became near impossible; everyone practiced their English with her. When we met, it had taken her almost two days just to arrive in Xi'an. Enough said.

Somewhere in between Homestay and that far flung province lie intense language programmes, the most famous being Princeton in Beijing whose two-month programme (studying Mandarin at Beijing Normal University) costs a minimum of US$3,500. A similar deal is offered by China Educational Tours that is run by CET Academic Programs in Washington, D.C. An intense summer programme with CET begins at US$2,700-$3,900. Both Princeton in Beijing and CET require a language pledge ("I shall speak no English"), among other things. CET offers two programmes: one in Harbin and one in Beijing at Capitol Normal University, and in some cases, they allow foreign students to live with Chinese roommates.

My second trip to China was as a student at Beijing Language and Culture University through World Link Education, which is essentially the same thing as the slightly more well-known EducAsian. In most cases, organizations such as these are built solely to take care of students while the Chinese university is responsible for language instruction. WLE had an office, a student "common room" (complete with TV and DVD player), English books, free Internet access, mailboxes, couch, chairs, and a message board. The staff was bilingual (although levels of fluency varied widely) and seemed genuinely concerned with the well-being of their students, which is almost worth the premium in and of itself. Just having someone to listen can be surprisingly helpful.

The serious disadvantage to such a system is the lack of "immersion" inherent in the nature of WLE and EducAsian. Both of these cater mostly to English speakers making for a distinctly non-Chinese atmosphere. And whereas this is sometimes a legitimate haven for beginning learners of Chinese, it can, in the long run, be considered somewhat of an obstacle.

Registering at a Chinese university is quite painless, and on my most recent trip to China, that was the option I pursued at Beijing Normal University. But let me back up a bit.

I took the HSK (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi) in October 2002 and was notified I had been awarded a full scholarship in July 2003 for the 2003-04 school year beginning September 1. Born and raised in a country where replies to applications are sent out about five months before the beginning of any school year, having to prepare for a full year abroad beginning in July, and having to be in China two months later, was somewhat of a cause for panic, and, in the end, turned out to be impossible. Letters and abundant e-mails were exchanged, or rather, sent from me only to discover that Chinese institutions still mostly rely on faxes. I would urge anyone considering dealing with a Chinese university to acquire a fax machine. But I digress…

Postponement eventually secured, I arrived on the date requested in the correspondence, in January 2004, to find the campus completely empty (all the students had gone on vacation). I was unable to locate the International Student Office because the campus map they sent me was incorrect in more ways than one. And this was just the first of several "misunderstandings," all of which eventually led to a sort of low-level disquiet and mistrust which I have found to be fairly common among foreign students taking these programmes. My "cure" involved forcing myself on several expeditions, most of which seemed to eventually lead me to the classics section of the French aisle at the Wangfujing Bookstore. After that adjustment period (about 3 months) and with a half-dozen Korean friends in hand, Beijing turned out to be an extremely liveable place in a sort of unlovable way. Ordering food has became a fun routine, and the waitresses at the jiaozi place around the corner from the East Gate now know which dishes I like best (which is always cool when you've been dying to be able to say: "the usual" at any eatery).

In summary, all methods have their advantages and disadvantages. The Web is a good place to find the stories of those who have down the various roads, before making your own decision. Having tried two of the above, the only piece of advice I feel qualified to share is this: If you find yourself paralyzed by the ambivalent emotions of wanting to cry and wanting to beat your problem to a pulp, that's a good sign. Don't let spitting, defecating babies, or public transportation wounds make you call the whole thing off. Your romance with China isn't growing flat; it's just getting started. Accept that in the world there are some things that just can't be changed, and once you've done any of the above programmes, your love for China will be one of them.

We hope you enjoyed Part 1 of our two-part "Learning Chinese in China" series. Next month we cover your options for part-time study.

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Helpful Sites

List of programs with short summaries: http://www.expatsinchina.com/life/education/cnlist.html

List of language programs: http://www.studyabroadlinks.com/search/China/Learn_Chinese/

Companies mentioned in the article

Lotus: http://www.lotusstudy.com/chinese_beijing.html

Travel & Homestay: http://www.princetontravelers.com/index.htm

Travel & Study: http://www.usexperiment.org/index.html

EducAsian: http://www.educasian.com/

World Link Education: http://www.worldlinkedu.com/

Princeton in Beijing: http://www.princeton.edu/~pib/index.html