Most Worthwhile and Difficult Experience Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

ACC is the program to go to if you really want to learn Chinese. Just to give future students some references ACC's competitors are the Princeton in Beijing ( PIB known lovingly by some students as Prison in Beijing) and Middlebury programs. The teachers strictly uphold the language pledge and are serious about their students upholding it as well. Every night there is an average of about 80 characters to memorize and there are tests every Friday. The good part is that characters are repeated and studying becomes much easier as you learn strategies to learn that amount of new characters daily. My Chinese was raised from being rudimentary to conversational. The students are all very very self-motivated.

On-site administration of your program

I loved the teachers in charge of the program. They took the language pledge seriously, but were also very friendly and I made friends with many of the teachers. The teachers are very encouraging of those students are still struggling with Chinese as well. The teachers made the program that much more enjoyable.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

ACC students stay in the international dorm, which is very nicely equipped and modern. The dorm comes with a telephone, television, nice bathroom, air conditioning, heating, and a fan. Each student has their own full size bed and a their own desk. I found the rooms to be very comfortable and livable.

Since students are not allowed to cook in the dorms they are forced to go out to the restaurants every night or eat instant noodles. Hotplates are allowed though. The restaurants around the university are very cheap by American standards but health can be a concern for some students so choose wisely. There is a lot of variety in cuisine surrounding the university because of the ethnic diversity of the students.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

ACC students spend a lot of time studying and attending class during the week and as a result they tend to want to hang out with each other on the weekends and in general relax from Chinese for a while. The housing is also very comfortable and this may contribute to students desire to stay in their rooms a lot. However, Chinese people are very nice and are interested in foreigners making it very easy to become friendly with Chinese people in a short amount of time. If you simply try will make local friends.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

The most prevalent health issues that people in my program experiences were colds, or throat related issues, and eye infections. Colds are very common in Beijing and can be aggravated by the very prevalent pollution in the city. The pollution caused me to come down with tonsillitis, gave other people allergies, and in general will aggravate the throat. When I needed to go to the doctor for tonsillitis the RA, who is required to speak fluent Chinese by the program, accompanied me to a hospital that treats many foreigners. These kind of hospitals are best as they are well maintained and sanitary, although they are more expensive. The hospital system in China is very different than in the United States in terms of the general process. As a foreigner everything needs to be paid for in cash, but insurance companies will reimburse for the charge.

Beijing is overall a safe city. What is most dangerous to foreigners in Beijing is the chaotic traffic that plagues the city. You always need to be aware when crossing the street as at all times there are numerous bicycles, scooters, and cars that constantly neglect the traffic laws. Alcohol can also be dangerous as there is not drinking age in China and alcohol is very very cheap.

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

I typically lived on 50 - 100 weekly. Food is very cheap in China and so are many other products such as clothes and other trinkets. Because things are cheap this can cause students to spend a lot of money before they have realized how much they have spent. It is very doable to live on 50 dollars per week.

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

ACC is serious about the language pledge, although many students do break the pledge on the weekends but strictly stick to it during the week. The teachers will only ever speak to you in Chinese during the term.

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• Dorm

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• Americans

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• Americans

• Teachers
• Academic Satisfaction
• Independence

• Dining Situation
• Student Support

The Academic or Linguist