Would go back to China, but would not recommend this program Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Incredibly rigorous, but not in a productive way. Not in a way conducive to learning Chinese in China. Program does not make good use of being in China. Besides the roommate exposure (we had Chinese roommates) and the fact that our teachers were Chinese. We did not have enough opportunities to engage with the locals. We spent the majority of our time memorizing characters. The workload was so extensive that we didn't have enough time to actually explore Beijing. We also were not given the opportunity to do so.

On-site administration of your program

On-site administration was lacking. I didn't feel comfortable seeking help when I needed it. I wanted to seek psychological help and didn't have anywhere to turn to. Many on our program wanted to seek psychological help and there was no one to go to. Program was good in that it was tailored to each individual quite well. However we were mislead by the administration on campus in the United Sates. We were told we could study the courses we wanted to in Chinese language and this was not the case. We could really only continue our study of Chinese. Which we might as well have done in the US.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Got very limited exposure to Chinese people because we lived in the international dorm. There were more Russians than Chinese. The Russians boys would accost all of the other girls in the program. I felt very uncomfortable at times and would get hollered at on a daily basis. These students were rude, obnoxious, much older than us, and infringed on our personal space by approaching us and intimidating us. They were almost always drunk. The roommate aspect of this program has the potential to be wonderful and very enriching; however, I only know of one person on our program out of 13 people who had a good experience with their roommate. My roommate left me one month into the program. She never told me anything about why she had left, but I can guess it was because she moved in with her new boyfriend. There is not a system set up to give feedback on the roommates because if you were to get your roommate replaced then the next one would know that you had requested a change, which would make the new roommate situation very tense. The on-site Administration didn't seem to give any of us the opportunity to really change our roommates. One Chinese roommate of my peer had a massive drinking problem. One roommate was a graduate student and therefore also not there. The roommates would all spend the majority of their days in bed playing video games and didn't really want to engage with us. There needs to be a better system in place to ensure that the roommates aren't coming into the program just because they want the nicer living quarters. (they are provided nicer living quarters because they are living with foreigners). The roommates should be people who want to engage with international students and show them around. This was not the case for 12 out of the 13 roommates selected for this semester. Something is wrong.

Loved the Food.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Almost not integrated at all. No one there felt integrated. Even if we all looked for ways to integrate ourselves. It was almost impossible. The roommates or on-site staff did not help.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

program? I had no issues. I don't think I am well enough informed about the Chinese medical care available to say anything. I had extreme trouble applying for a reentry visa because the only hospital that provides them is 1 hour from campus and only open between 9 and 11 am twice a week. Right when I had class.

very safe. No issues. Always ripped off by everyone all the time, but that didn't make it unsafe. China its self is not unsafe. The dorm room felt unsafe because of the Russians who were rude to women.

I felt that I could have studied the way I did in China through this program in the US. This program made very limited use of actually being in China. The way the program is designed does very little to stimulate the mind. There is an enormous focus on Memorizing. A better job needs to be done of integrating the learning of Chinese language and the learning of China and Chinese politics and culture and society. You should be able to accomplish both those goals through a program like this. But the way it is designed you are just learning vacab, grammar, and sentence structures to the exclusion of learning any content. Regardless of the negative aspects of this program was, my Chinese certainly improved.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Very easy.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

intensive language study.

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• Dorm

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• Local Students
• Americans
• International Students

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• Local Students

• Food
• quality of professors
• traveling

• The method of teaching
• the integration with local students
• Provision of mental support resources