Study Chinese in Beijing, China!
Study Chinese in Beijing, China!
"But we have always done it this way." Traditional Chinese teaching methods are not always suitable for non-Chinese speakers, nor do they take advantage of the ever-increasing technological tools and advances in learning methodology available. Students at C.L.I.B. will learn to type Chinese characters on the computer as opposed to writing by hand (to see why writing Chinese characters by hand is antiquated, read "Concerning Writing Characters by Hand" here. C.L.I.B. avoids commonly used Chinese learning materials that are often out of date.
Example: In the United States, The Practical Chinese Reader is still the standard textbook used in the majority of Chinese courses, despite the fact that it is nearly 30 years old. Students who learn the antiquated language in the book sometimes have a hard time when they get to China. For example, the Chinese word they believe means "comrade" commonly means "homosexual" in modern-day Chinese!
We focus on teaching you what you need to know when you need to know it. We give you the structure and context words so that you can quickly build vocabulary that makes sense.
Example: In the English sentence, "New York is bigger than Chicago," the key phrase is the phrase of comparison "is bigger than."
Basic pattern: "is ____er than" (biggER/smallER/cleanER etc.)
So if foreign students are trying to learn English, it would be better for them to learn the key phrase of comparison "is + adjective+er + than" rather than to try and start out by memorizing all the adjectives.
In this way, learners have a contextual queue from the structure which allows them to look up specific meanings more easily. Chinese uses many such structures.
C.L.I.B. thus avoids the traditional method in which key structural phrases needed by the student are not encountered until the second year or second book, in which case, the unfortunate student cannot effectively communicate or understand unless the situation is exactly the same as studied. C.L.I.B. focuses early on transferable knowledge.
Modern data harvesting techniques have shown which words and phrases are most frequently used. Our approach gets you speaking quickly by combining structure/context words with the most frequently used words first.
Example:: Why do Chinese textbooks often ask students to memorize the names of famous writers, poets, old emperors etc., when these terms are seldom if ever used in modern Chinese? We are not against studying culture and history, of course. We just believe that such studies can be more effective and enriching when the student is able to learn these things through conversation after first learning to communicate with others on a competent level.
We heavily employ assistive Chinese learning technologies for your benefit. At C.L.I.B., we have spared no expense in purchasing the software packages, equipment, and Chinese training tools that go far beyond simply learning from a standard book.
Example: Our computer lab is integrated into the training, and students will take advantage of several software tools that greatly enhance their learning. Our PalmPilots incorporate learning programs for on-the-go study, dictionaries for fast reference, and the ability to record actual situations that your personal tutor will then transcribe for you.
Chinese is a special language because of the homophones (similar sounding words); therefore pure immersion is NOT best. (See "Concerning Immersion" to see what one professor says here). Any program that claims immersion as a technique is taking the easy way out and overwhelming students. Our "Modified ImmersionTM technique guides you by filling in the blank spaces with our expert coaching and specialized Chinese learning programs and is complemented by our outside-the-classroom excursions.
Unlike many other schools, we do not rely on a single textbook series. We are in the business of finding and producing proprietary content that helps our students learn faster than with less-effective traditional methods.
Example:: Data are gathered from students about situations encountered, and we replicate the situations for them. The PalmPilot's recording ability allows students to record the conversation outside the classroom and bring it to instructors/tutors later for analysis and explanation. Materials are thus in a continuous process of improvement and adaptation.
Some other schools include arranged trips, but these are not integrated with the curriculum. We take it a step further. At C.L.I.B., the teaching staff are a part of the outside excursions and such trips are used as both recreation and a continuation of the classroom learning.
Example:: Expect trips to the local store, restaurant, and parks to interact with natives while accompanied by teachers/tutors. Travel to some of Beijing's most-famous tourist attractions every weekend (Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square etc). C.L.I.B. students don't just see these sights. They converse about them in Chinese, with their tutors or other staff on site.
The management saying goes "What you don't measure, you don't manage". We care about the progress of our students and will assess and reassess your progress. We will continually monitor and improve upon our teachers and methodologies. Unlike the majority of Chinese language schools, students will evaluate our teachers for effectiveness.
Many schools find any teacher, give them a book, and tell them to go teach. We do not believe this is conducive to effective Chinese language learning. Our teachers are better because they are:
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3 Easy Steps to enroll in our study in China programs.
Nationality: American
Occupation: Graduate, Brown University
Jessica's Experience
People consistently are surprised that I knew so many words although I only studied for one month. I began another Mandarin program and was placed on the same level as a student who had been studying for six months...
