I know you visited this page because you plan to study in BLCU University but you have this question in mind, should you take up the Chinese Intensive Course or the Basic/Regular Course? What is the difference between the two? Since I am a Beijing and Language Culture University intensive course student, I can think I can give you more information about the Intensive class, but I did some research about the Regular Class as well. I will try to compare these two courses the best way I can and I hope I can help you decide which one suits you better.
First of all let me give you a brief background about the Intensive Course. This course is comprised of 30 hours/week which means that you have classes from 8:00 am - 12:00 noon and 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm from Mondays to Fridays. You can choose to study for a length of 4-20 weeks depending on your preferred length of stay.
The 20-week program is equivalent to 1 semester and usually begins from September to January (winter semester) and March to July (summer semester). I will discuss further about the 1 semester stay in BLCU since it is the program I took.
Advantages
- Since the Intensive Course is designed for you to learn in 6 months what a regular student can learn in 1 year, your vocabulary is definitely going to be wider and more comprehensive than a regular student.
- You have an extra 3 hours of class everyday, so you will literally be "forced" to study Chinese and not sleep in the afternoons!
- Usually, you will spend every Friday afternoon for each of these extra class activities: visiting the Great wall, going to Summer Palace, learning the Chinese Culture (Calligraphy, Chinese Painting, Opera Mask making, Knot Making etc.), Watching the Beijing Opera, Meeting Chinese Friends.. the list goes on.
- Since you have only an hour to spend for lunch, you will usually eat with your classmates everyday so you will soon become really close with them.
- Your tuition fee includes 1 free long distance trip (about 5 days) to different places in China, usually in Nanjing-Suzhou-Hangzhou-Wuzhen-Shanghai for the Winter Semester and in Zhengzhou-Luoyang-Xi'An for the Summer Semester. (I have to admit, this was my reason for taking up the Intensive course.)
Disadvantages
- Since most of the day is already spent in the Classroom, you have less time spent to practice your Chinese in the outside world.
- You need to do homework after class! Sometimes you have a lot, and sometimes you have more than a lot! So yes, it will exhaust you at one point. You'll need to keep yourself motivated.
- It's hard to juggle your time. If you are a gym buddy, it will be hard for you to schedule your time to the gym especially during the weekdays.
- Hard to fix meeting time with a Chinese Tutor because of your schedule.
- Too many things to learn in one time. Sometimes you just cannot pack in everything.
- You only have the weekends free. It's hard to go out shopping or travelling during the weekdays because of, again, your schedule.
- If you plan to get a part-time job like teaching English, I suggest that you do not take the Intensive course!
Now that you know some things about the Intensive Course, let me talk about the Regular Course. This course is comprised of 20 hours per week which means that you only have classes from 8:00 am - 12:00 noon from Mondays to Fridays. Your afternoons are free. The length of program is still between 4-20 weeks.
Advantages
- Your schedule is so much more relaxed. You still learn Mandarin but the teaching method is at a slower pace so there is not much pressure on you. Learning becomes much more natural.
- You have the afternoons free so you can either choose to still study Mandarin (in a different school), go shopping, go to the gym, travel around Beijing, take a nap or just do whatever you want. You're free!
- You can have more time to spend with a Chinese tutor (If you want to enhance your speaking skills more or if you want to learn business Chinese since it is only taught to more advanced students).
- You can also look for Language Partners. Apart from having a Chinese tutor, you can spend your time meeting Chinese Friends who want to learn English, French, Spanish etc.
- You can take in Part-time jobs like teaching English and get paid while you learn.
- You have more time to do your homework!
Disadvantages
- If you rely solely on Classroom learning, you will be behind students in the Intensive course. Unless you take 1 year Regular Course.
- If you don't have a Chinese language partner or tutor, it will be harder for you to be conversational. This is because You have less time in class (so less learning) and no practice!
- It comes out to be more expensive because you pay for your daily living expenses and it's advised that you spend at least a year if you take Regular classes to learn Mandarin.
- No Long Distance Class trip and extra Friday activities (except for a trip to Great wall).
- Not that close with classmates because you separate ways as soon as you depart class. (Debatable)
The choice of taking up either the Intensive or Regular Class will always depend on your priorities. Have you decided which course to take and why?
If you are or have been a student of BLCU, please don't hesitate to give comments below and help out other students to decide!
First of all let me give you a brief background about the Intensive Course. This course is comprised of 30 hours/week which means that you have classes from 8:00 am - 12:00 noon and 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm from Mondays to Fridays. You can choose to study for a length of 4-20 weeks depending on your preferred length of stay.
The 20-week program is equivalent to 1 semester and usually begins from September to January (winter semester) and March to July (summer semester). I will discuss further about the 1 semester stay in BLCU since it is the program I took.
INTENSIVE COURSE
 |
| Some books used in the Intensive Class - for A Level Students |
Advantages
- Since the Intensive Course is designed for you to learn in 6 months what a regular student can learn in 1 year, your vocabulary is definitely going to be wider and more comprehensive than a regular student.
- You have an extra 3 hours of class everyday, so you will literally be "forced" to study Chinese and not sleep in the afternoons!
- Usually, you will spend every Friday afternoon for each of these extra class activities: visiting the Great wall, going to Summer Palace, learning the Chinese Culture (Calligraphy, Chinese Painting, Opera Mask making, Knot Making etc.), Watching the Beijing Opera, Meeting Chinese Friends.. the list goes on.
- Since you have only an hour to spend for lunch, you will usually eat with your classmates everyday so you will soon become really close with them.
- Your tuition fee includes 1 free long distance trip (about 5 days) to different places in China, usually in Nanjing-Suzhou-Hangzhou-Wuzhen-Shanghai for the Winter Semester and in Zhengzhou-Luoyang-Xi'An for the Summer Semester. (I have to admit, this was my reason for taking up the Intensive course.)
Disadvantages
- Since most of the day is already spent in the Classroom, you have less time spent to practice your Chinese in the outside world.
- You need to do homework after class! Sometimes you have a lot, and sometimes you have more than a lot! So yes, it will exhaust you at one point. You'll need to keep yourself motivated.
- It's hard to juggle your time. If you are a gym buddy, it will be hard for you to schedule your time to the gym especially during the weekdays.
- Hard to fix meeting time with a Chinese Tutor because of your schedule.
- Too many things to learn in one time. Sometimes you just cannot pack in everything.
- You only have the weekends free. It's hard to go out shopping or travelling during the weekdays because of, again, your schedule.
- If you plan to get a part-time job like teaching English, I suggest that you do not take the Intensive course!
Now that you know some things about the Intensive Course, let me talk about the Regular Course. This course is comprised of 20 hours per week which means that you only have classes from 8:00 am - 12:00 noon from Mondays to Fridays. Your afternoons are free. The length of program is still between 4-20 weeks.
REGULAR COURSE
 |
| Some books used in the Regular class - for A level students |
Advantages
- Your schedule is so much more relaxed. You still learn Mandarin but the teaching method is at a slower pace so there is not much pressure on you. Learning becomes much more natural.
- You have the afternoons free so you can either choose to still study Mandarin (in a different school), go shopping, go to the gym, travel around Beijing, take a nap or just do whatever you want. You're free!
- You can have more time to spend with a Chinese tutor (If you want to enhance your speaking skills more or if you want to learn business Chinese since it is only taught to more advanced students).
- You can also look for Language Partners. Apart from having a Chinese tutor, you can spend your time meeting Chinese Friends who want to learn English, French, Spanish etc.
- You can take in Part-time jobs like teaching English and get paid while you learn.
- You have more time to do your homework!
Disadvantages
- If you rely solely on Classroom learning, you will be behind students in the Intensive course. Unless you take 1 year Regular Course.
- If you don't have a Chinese language partner or tutor, it will be harder for you to be conversational. This is because You have less time in class (so less learning) and no practice!
- It comes out to be more expensive because you pay for your daily living expenses and it's advised that you spend at least a year if you take Regular classes to learn Mandarin.
- No Long Distance Class trip and extra Friday activities (except for a trip to Great wall).
- Not that close with classmates because you separate ways as soon as you depart class. (Debatable)
The choice of taking up either the Intensive or Regular Class will always depend on your priorities. Have you decided which course to take and why?
If you are or have been a student of BLCU, please don't hesitate to give comments below and help out other students to decide!
Hi Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteI came across your blog while searching for information on this very topic! How helpful! Thank you so much for good information.
I didn't realize that the intensive course and the regular course used different textbooks, or that the intensive course was intended to cover a year's worth of Chinese in a semester! So I guess the two types of courses have to cover different materials.
I am thinking of going to BLCU for a year, starting this September. I am hoping to place into C or D level but am not certain whether I should go with the intensive course or the regular... On one hand, I want to learn A LOT and improve my Chinese to the level at which I can read newspaper, understand news, and converse with people on a variety of topics. So the intensive curriculum sounds appealing. On the other hand, I also want to take some electives (such as business chinese or news listening) and have ample time for language partners/Chinese friends and tutors. So then I feel like I should go with the regular course in order to accommodate for all that. Hmmm... what do you think, Stephanie?
Hi Susie! Thanks for dropping by!
ReplyDeleteI can see that your aim is really to master Chinese so I would suggest you take up the Intensive Course - especially that you want to know how to read the newspaper. I think those levels (c and d) focus on more complicated Character reading and comprehension.
In the intensive course, You will also have optional classes, one of those is business chinese ;)
I think with your goals, it would be better to pick the Intensive class (tiring, yes) but you will learn a lot:) There's so much free time with the regular class, and you might not exactly meet the expectations you have with the tutor you'll meet.
That's just my point of view though. :) I hope I helped.:)
oh I see! thanks so much.
ReplyDeleteso then for the intensive course, i take classes from 8 am to 3/4 pm, and then would also take optional classes afterward (after 3/4 pm)?
would you say that the class atmosphere differs too? for instance, i heard classes for long-term students tend to have more committed/driven people. so i am guessing the intensive course also draws a similar crowd (although there seems to be no long-term intensive option).
The optional classes are incorporated in the program. Some days your class won't have the main subjects, but rather the optional ones. Mostly in the afternoons (1-3 pm). ;)
ReplyDeleteI would say that depends :))BUT, since you aim to be in the c or d class, most students there are already taking up their 2nd or 3rd semester so I'd say they must be driven to learn :)
I see! Sorry, just one more question (^^;;). Aren't optional classes (like business chinese, newspaper reading, etc.) also free for the regular Chinese program (as in, included in the basic tuition)? So people could take the 'same' classes for less tuition fee if they enrolled in the regular program and signed up for these free electives? (But then, maybe the tuition difference is explained by the more 'intensive' workload and the 2x amount of materials covered in the same length of semester??)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Stephanie!
The Regular Course also covers the optional classes you've mentioned :)
ReplyDeleteActually, I think, what makes the intensive class a lot more expensive... is the 'Free' class trip to around 5 different places outside Beijing. The extra class hours and Friday activities are just a quarter of the cost. ;)
Hi,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your information in this blog. For the intensive course the long trip 5 days is that include on the tution fee?
I am confuses to choose study at BLCU or CNU. What you think about CNU?
Thanks ;)