I'm on the eve of my one year anniversary in China. I'm currently planning another year here, likely teaching and pursuing Chinese in the off time, although perhaps studying full time if that is financially viable. My question: for a student serious about becoming 'fluent' in Chinese, what combination of methods work best? As I see it there are the following...
Full time university - paying anywhere from 2000-13000 RMB a semester depending on your location within China (Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen vs. 2nd tier cities).
- Pros: a full time and planned curriculum. Testing provides a easy to stick to incentive system (especially when you've paid for it!). Some sort of certification, be in 6/12 months or more. Possible job opportunities afterwards? Unlikely I bet. Surrounded by other students.
- Cons: Surrounded by other foreign students. High costs. Inability to work full time (i.e. you're likely seeing a net drain on your account). Recognition of your certificate, anywhere, may be nil.
Tutoring, Training Centers, 'Buxibans' - paying anywhere from 20-100 RMB per hour and up, with whatever curriculum they come up with... likely with scoring decently on the HSK as the long term goal.
- Pros: Tailored more to your needs and schedule. New tutoring opportunities over Skype (for around 50RMB/hour) provide ultimate in convenience. Possible to work full time to support your education. While they may not offer a certificate taking the HSK at some point should balance this out...right?
- Cons: Inability to determine legitimacy of the program prior to entry (although this is true of university as well). Pay as you go system provides flexibility, including an easy way to say "ah that's too tough" and pack up early. Much more responsibility is placed on the student to push him or herself towards personal goals.
Language Exchange Parters - free
- Pros: Free. Able to develop a more social atmosphere and have fun with your partner. Language may stick better when the learning environment is less rigid.
- Cons: Burden is entirely on the the student. In many cases a low level Mandarin student can't get much out of a language exchange - their partner's English level makes it too easy to 'revert' to asking questions in English. Teaching the absolute basic (pinyin, tones) is extremely boring for a free language exchange partner and this is likely evident in their attitude and eagerness to meet frequently. Scheduling and meeting can be infrequent and prone to cancellation as Chinese citizens generally work high hours. Many Chinese are eager to learn and teach languages, yet finding common ground can make it difficult to simply "converse" for a hour.
Of these, I dabbled in tutoring for about a month with great results (but he got a new job) and language exchanges I have a long running love/hate relationship with (without much to show for it besides reading pinyin and boring my partners to death, who similarly bore me when they read in English). If I lived in a more convenient part of Shenzhen I'd be all over a tutor, but out in the sticks here it gets fairly expensive to pay a tutor's taxi ride out and back for a hour or two of class. I just was solicited by a Skype-based tutoring service in Beijing that charges around 40-50 per hour... I was really impressed with their initial 15 minute demo and will report back on how the free trial lesson goes in a few days. Apparently they email materials and then go over it plus use online tests.
So, what are everyone's experiences? As I mentioned, I'd really like something to show from my couple years in China beyond just a fun time (which it certainly has been to date). The most obvious thing to pursue is Chinese, and now that I've gotten serious on my own in the last few months (up to about 500 characters) I feel like taking it the next level, I'm just not sure what the wisest path to pursue is.
Also, is anyone familiar with the HSK? I recall LE mentioning this some time ago... For me having tests or goals is really important to focus my studies - i.e. I languished for my first 6 months here with very little to show for it. In the last 3 months I've been meeting with a class at my school just once a week, but the expectation of a test each week on one chapter (30-50 hanzi) really keeps you motivated. Taking the HSK next spring or summer seems like a good milestone to me, but I know very little about it...
Looking forward to your opinions.