Intensive Mandarin Courses in SG- anyone done one?

[AmadeusCho]

Hi guys!

I'm thinking of doing an intensive Mandarin course and wondering if anyone here has done one, or knows someone who has, and what their opinions of it was.


I've found 4 courses:

*NUS/NEX (4hrs/day, 5 days per week, 10-11 weeksSGD$3,800)

*Hua (3hrs/day, 5 days per week, 20 weeks, SGD$2,600)

*Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce. (2 evenings a week, SGD$?)

*Ikoma Language school (4hrs/day, 5 days per week, 6 weeks, SGD$750)


Working out which is value for money is easy. But getting opinions for actual attendees is hard.

I'd be much obliged if anyone could let me know what they thought of their experience at one of these places.


Kind regards all.

[HQEV]

Perhaps you can try getting a private tutor too if you need intensive chinese lesson...

[sundaymorningstaple]

Perhaps you can try getting a private tutor too if you need intensive chinese lesson...

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[madura]

not exactly "intensive" but you might want to consider the NTU Confucius Institute too:

http://www.ci-ntu.com/ci/viewarticle/3703

[Tadex]

I've done level 1 at the SCCIOB - it's quite good, and pretty intensive (2 times a week for 3 hours - 7pm to 10pm) so you have to stay motivated. But it gives good results!

Actually, level 2 starts on Monday (March 23rd) so you can still sign up. The group will be small (right now it's 5 people) - actually that's why I'm writing about it - SCCIOB needs at least 6 people to start a class so I'm hoping one more person signs up

[AmadeusCho]

I've done level 1 at the SCCIOB - it's quite good, and pretty intensive (2 times a week for 3 hours - 7pm to 10pm) so you have to stay motivated. But it gives good results!

Actually, level 2 starts on Monday (March 23rd) so you can still sign up. The group will be small (right now it's 5 people) - actually that's why I'm writing about it - SCCIOB needs at least 6 people to start a class so I'm hoping one more person signs up

That's funny.

I went to SCCIOB 2 days ago on Wednesday and asked about that very course. The teacher I talked to, said the March23rd intensive 2 days a week didnt have enough people and she put me in the course which starts end of April instead.

Are you sure? If so, then I'll call them and ask to be put in the course you are in. Beats waiting a month and a half.

[maneo]

Two days (or nights) a week is not intensive.
However, it is an economical way to go for someone with lots of discipline to do required studying (and more) on one's own.

[Tadex]

That's funny.

I went to SCCIOB 2 days ago on Wednesday and asked about that very course. The teacher I talked to, said the March23rd intensive 2 days a week didnt have enough people and she put me in the course which starts end of April instead.

Are you sure? If so, then I'll call them and ask to be put in the course you are in. Beats waiting a month and a half.

Heh, you probably already one of the five I mentioned, then I called SCCIOB on Wednesday late afternoon and they told me that so far only 3 people wanted to sign up for it - so even including me and my friend that wants to sign up with me, we would still only have 5. And that is not enough. I asked them to let me know if a sixth person shows up but I guess there isn't much chance :-/ Too bad, cause I don't want to wait either, and I'm not even sure I can go for the next one, as I might be on a business trip abroad.

[Tadex]

Two days (or nights) a week is not intensive.

Well, I guess we use a different definition of "intensive" then For me, 6 hours a week is a lot - at least in Poland (where I come from) a typical language class would be 3 hours a week (two times for 1.5 hours).

And ask anyone in my level 1 group for that matter - most of them are signing up for the weekend course now (3 hours per week), cause they couldn't keep up with the intensive weekday one. It might be different if you are just a student, or a person looking for work, but after 10 hours at the office it's a bit hard for most people to stay focused for 3 hours in class in the evening.

[maneo]

Guess you need to consider what your objective is for learning the language and what your time frame is for the level of competency you wish to obtain.

If you are already busy working full time, the 15-20 hour programmes would be tough. You'd have no time for anything else.

However, to get the most out of the 3-6 hour per week programme, you still need to spend additional time doing homework.

I did the twice a week, 3 hour sessions at Hua many years ago, but did not follow through on the homework (I also spent 10-11 hours at the office each weekday plus half days on Saturdays back then).
Looking back, progress was slow.
Best thing was moving to China (immersion, mostly).

What you gain will depend on how much time you put in.
Wish you well on your endeavour.