Kunming Travel Forum

ni hao ma? I am thinking about going to Yunnan Normal University for the summer to learn mandarin. I am not sure the university is good for students that have little exprience with mandarin, aka, me. I am planning to go when the classes had already begun in Yunnan. I am worried that I might not be able to catch up with the classes missed.

Also, are their accommodations and learning environment suitable for international students? This is the first time I am travelling to Yunnan is there anything useful I need to know before i embark on this journey. I would really appreciate it. Thank you.(xie xie ni)

Ni hao!
I was staying in Kunming with my old friend who studied Chinese at that university. She took advanced lessons in a small class plus private tuition. But she had to wait for the semester to start. There were also foreigners who attended beginners course. The best way is to wait for new semester and start the classes from beginning, specially if you are not sure about the level of your language. They make language tests before the semester starts and according to result they put you in certain group. However, more people were studying at Yunnan Da xue, but was of course more expensive.
We were living in rented flat, which is the way the most foreigners did in Kunming and also students. Student dorms are probably cheaper, but also crowdier and we didn't like what we saw. Anyways, it isn't expensive to rent a flat at all. First: either you find advertisments in frequently attended caffees on Wenlin jie-near Yunnan daxue- (which is the street where many foreigners and expats meet, lots of them in English (as sometimes there are people looking to share flats in order to lower the expenses))or second: you go to any real estate agency and they take you around until you pick the flat you like. If you can speak some Mandarin, it shouldn't be problem. Mostly in agencies they don't speak English...
The parks around universities are very nice!
Well, that's all I can remember at the moment. Kunming is nice and relaxed place to be.
sO, I hope you will be able to find yourself good teachers at Uni and enjoy your life in Kunming.
Vesna

I don't think you should go there when the classes have already begun. The courses in china's universities usually cater to long-term study and they are not flexible. and if you are just a beginner, maybe you shouldn't go to a uni course - they don't focus on speaking. if you just do a suumer course, you should go somewhere the course focuses on speaking and conversation. why don't you consider going to language schools instead? their courses will be more flexible and dynamic. the language schools in china mainly concentrate in beijing and shanghai. there is a good one though in hangzhou, which is as a nice city as kunming, and even nicer than kunming. the city has cultural and historical heritage as well as breathtaking natural beauty. oop, the name of the school in hangzhou is called MANDA http:www.mandacenter.com