CUHK Cantonese Course & School Activities during June

[inspiration]

Hi. I'm considering taking up the short-term intensive Cantonese course at CUHK this June for a period of 3 weeks. Lessons are taught in English. I do not have a problem with that but as I am proficient in both English & Chinese (Mandarin), I'm wondering if the course is suitable for me as my focus is on speaking and reading fluently in Cantonese & I'm afraid I'll end up learning Chinese characters that I've learnt before without much emphasis on spoken Cantonese. If you have taken the short term course before, can you tell me how exactly are lessons carried out and do you learn to write Chinese words during lessons?

In addition, I would like to know how CUHK school environment is like during June. I'm hoping to participate in some school activities when I'm there so as to have a more enriching experience and to better understand local culture, but I'm afraid that there won't be many activities organised during that period as it's during school vacation. Besides, I'm not sure if I can participate in the activities as my course is only for three weeks. Can someone (preferably student/staff from the school) please advise?

Thank you in advance.

[PDLM]

Details here: Summer School-Summer Study Abroad Programmme-CUHK. The course in question is "S1", cost HK$6000, June 7 -25.

[er2]

Hi,

I dont know this 3w course but usually, the full time courses are taught with an emphasis on avoiding English as much as possible (many of the students are from Japan or Korea). Also, the Cantonese program skips the characters (you can opt to learn them, but it is not compulsory) and uses a form of Pinyin called orthodox Yale. However, if you are really fluent in Putonghua, there is a semester evening course for mainland students that focusses on the difference in pronunciation and grammar only - I guess that'd be much more helpful (if you are a expat here)

School life in June - 90% of the locals are at home, hence no queues at lunch for those who need to stay. I assume that program is part of the 4w international summer school - in that case, there'll be loads of overseas students around. They organise a lot of activities, but I always had the impression that most internationals very quickly start to organise their own. The idea of a 'party' ending at 9pm doesnt sit too well with most european and american students.

[inspiration]

Thanks for all your responses. Yea I'm referring to the course that PDLM stated.

Thanks er2. Now I know something new - Yale romanization. Well, actually I prefer learning things in English, but in this case, I think it's easier to learn it in Mandarin as I can instantly match the words to the different types of pronunciation. Anw, I'm just curious. Why are many of the students learning Cantonese from Japan or Korea? I mean... Why are they interested to learn it? Are they working in HK or sth?

As for the answer to my 2nd question, I'm actually quite disappointed that 90% of the locals aren't in school at that time, but I kind of expected it. 'Cos I feel that it'll be good to participate in activities organised by the locals to know more 'bout the local culture. I'm referring to activities like field trips, exploring places, workshops etc. I don't mind 'parties', but I'm not really into them. Sigh.