Semester program at Peking University Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The professors were wonderful. I did the Immersion Program and I HIGHLY recommend enrolling in the Immersion Program. It was a lot of work, and a lot of hours, but it was 100% worth it. We took a placement test the first weekend we were there, and were placed according to Chinese level in classes capped at 5 people. We were in class Monday through Thursday 9am-12pm, 1:30-3:30, and then an additional 30 minutes. This means we were on campus (keep in mind we didn't live on campus) from 9am until potentially 6pm-- long day! Then on Fridays from 9am-12pm we either had a Language Practice or an exam; we had exams every other Friday. Every day in each class (morning and afternoon) we had quizzes on characters (tingxie) with up to 35 characters on a tingxie. We had homework every night, but the workload actually became easier as the semester went on. The teachers for Immersion were WONDERFUL. They cared a lot about our progress, our stress levels, and our overall happiness! They were so sweet and really helped us progress in Chinese.

On-site administration of your program

The administrators in Beijing were helpful, but sometimes provided too little or information later than I would have liked. They were very nice and usually right on top of things, but there were some things (like when we needed to be OUT of the apartments, or about visa matters at the beginning of the semester) that as a study abroad student I was anxious about, and they weren't because they knew how it worked. But they were very competent and organized fun weekend outings as well as a fantastic study trip at the end of the semester. I really appreciated all of their help and their organizational skills.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Our apartment was in Wudaokou which was fantastic. It was a great, fun location and I liked it. We had a teacher from the program live with us, which was fine. It was a 30 minute walk from campus but there were buses and cabs we could take also. It was pretty safe and pretty good quality, I guess, by China standards.

There were lots of places on campus to eat, "fast" China food, as well as dumplings, baozi, noodles, it was fine. There was street food also. Our teacher never made food for us, but that was not part of her duty, so that's fine. There are some good (but comparatively more expensive) Western places in Wudaokou. (Lush, Subway, Pyros, Bridge Cafe, Sculpting in Time Cafe, etc).

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

We had five great one day trips (Tiananmen/Forbidden City, Great Wall, 798 Art District, Olympic Park, New Summer Palace) that were great. We had a fantastic two week study trip as well as a 3/4 day trip during Spring Festival.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Beijing is pretty safe. There are ALWAYS people walking around the city and so many police officers and guards. They can be useless for asking directions, though, but most people on the street were nice when I asked for help. Some students got sick, from the cold, lack of sleep, or other reasons, and the program assistants would take them to the on-campus hospital. I brought some antibiotics and other things from home, which was great because I wasn't too eager to go to a Chinese doctor (that practiced Chinese medicine). There were some good Western hospitals in Eastern Beijing, in Chaoyang district. Also, DON'T eat uncooked/peeled vegetables or fruit. Just don't. You'll get sick. But I didn't get food poisoning/sick at all.

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

My Chinese skills improved drastically. Midway through the program, I was able to understand peoples' conversations on the subway, on the street, and I could communicate with local Chinese people with about a 90% or 95% comprehension rate. It was amazing. My listening skills definitely improved a lot, because all of our teachers only spoke to us in Chinese. Non Immersion students improved as well, but not as much and their listening and speaking skills remained below those of the Immersion students. Living with a teacher provided an additional opportunity to practice the language.

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