CUHK Mandarin

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  1. #1

    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Mid Levels
    Posts
    9

    CUHK Mandarin

    CUHK has a two and a half month course that begins in April. It looks very interesting, albeit expensive. Has anyone taken any of the beginner courses there for Mandarin (or Cantonese)? Any feedback?


  2. #2

    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    94

    Considering it!

    Hi

    Am considering taking the course myself so would also be interested to know if it comes recommended. Or should I save the money and spend it on a good text book and a night out in LKF instead? lol

    Noely


  3. #3

    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Mongkok
    Posts
    1

    Current Student

    I am currently taking the full-time Mandarin course at CUHK. It runs three hours a day five days a week. I find the program to be well developed and the instructors are approachable. I definitely suggest it for any serious students.

    In my personal search I found that many Mandarin classes at the local colleges were geared toward the local Cantonese speakers and not very useful for me. I also took a class at the YMCA. The YMCA price was much more agreeable, but content was also scaled down. YMCA would be a good choice for a casual learner or someone with a few hours a week to burn. A problem I had at the Y was that they had to cancel a class on me due to low enrollment. Not their fault, of course, but still annoying.

    I personally find that a class atmosphere challenges me to advance. I have had very little luck with self-study books.

    Overall if you consider the actual instruction hours and class content the CUHK program is a good value.


  4. #4

    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    435

    I took its Cantonese classes which is expensive but you get what you pay for, IMHO.

    The evening courses have different teachers vs. the daytime class though. The evening class teaching staff is good; the daytime even better, ie even more articulate/knowledgeable.

    Weak points are materials, ie textbooks, which sorely needed revision as it was written in the 80s some word/sound does not exist/use in that way any more. However, nobody there wants to undertake this project, AFAIK.

    Last edited by boblam07; 02-03-2010 at 07:17 AM.

  5. #5

    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Mid Levels
    Posts
    9

    The course I'm considering taking is two nights a week for two hours each - and its really a hard-core beginners course. Would also prefer a course that enables you to meet others with an interest in languages, etc.


  6. #6

    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    435

    Hard-core? Relative to most offering out there, I guess.

    "an interest in language"... some classmate are, of course. It's more expensive than courses out there so chances are they are relatively more in to it