Hey guys,

I want to join a Chinese language course for one semester, or two, this autumn.

At the moment I think YNU, YNNU and KUST are some good universities to learn chinese in Kunming. I can't decide yet, which one is the "best".

Maybe you can give me some information about studiying atmosphere (class and private lesson), dining, accomodation, service etc. As I am living in Niujiang since nearly one year, I don't care about not that luxurious accommodation. But please tell me, if there is hot water, wi-fi etc.

That's all for now.

Thanks for your answers!

I can only speak for KUST.

I believe out of the three you listed it is the cheapest by a few hundred RMB.

Admin is quite slow and can get frustrating as with the other two so I have been told.

Classes are quite small, between about 4 to 10 students per class. Teaching style can be boring (depending on your teacher) with no activities or language games really, again, as with the other two you mentioned.

Text books are decent. Though, if like me, your speaking/listening is good but your reading/writing suck, so decide to take only the speaking/listening class to improve on that, you'll be surprised to know that even though you took the speaking/listening class you will still be expected to read and write Chinese AND there will be reading/writing in the final speaking/listening exams. Go figure...

Will you be living in the dorms? If so, expect trouble with the water - it's solar powered so if you get a rainy day/week, no hot shower for you. Also, you need to pay for a full year rent up front, even if you only study for one semester. You get whatever you are owed back the day you move out.

Wi-fi is decent.

Gates close at midnight, so if you like night-life, expect to either climb the gate or pay for a hotel. Living out of the dorms obviously eliminates all of these problems. However, if you really want to practice Chinese then the dorms would be good as your roomies will probably be from SE Asia, so you will be forced to speak Chinese.

Canteen food is average and super cheap.

Location of the campus for language students is right in the centre of town, so very convenient.

Hope this helps!

Why choose to study in a university? I'm not sure the language classes there are better than those at some private language schools, especially since you are apparently not looking to get a university degree (1-2 semesters). Perhaps it's cheaper?

KUST is definitely cheaper than the private schools, but only by a couple of hundred.

The first question you should address is your legal status - will you have a tourist visa or a student visa. If you need a student visa then a university is your best bet. If your visa is not a problem than laguage exchange or private tutor is the best way to go.

But plenty of private language schools can still arrange visas, can't they?

Yes, the private language schools can arrange visa's if the banner ads on this site are anything to go by.

@mPrin Thank you for your information. Yeah I think I will live in the dormitories. Only cold water is no problem. I am living in Nujiangs, Gongshan County since nearly one year and the water was so f***n cold in winter.

@Alien I haven't searched for language schools yet, but I don't think they are cheaper.
@HFCAMPO At the moment I have a F-Visa (Non-Commercial-Business-Visa), but I am planning to travel to HongKong before the University starts, so I will maybe have a Tourist Visa when I reenter China.

I thought cold water wouldn't be a problem, but after a month of constant cold water, it gets a bit much, lol!
Not sure about the F visa but I know for sure you can can change from a working and a tourist visa to a student visa here in Kunming. I have some friends who did this recently.

Depending how intent you are on actually learning Chinese it may honestly be a better option to go with a language school. I have friends at the other uni's you mentioned and to be honest, they all sound pretty much the same. There is really no more than about 500 RMB in it. Also, language schools seem to be a hell of a lot more efficient with visas/ administration etc. My friend waited almost two months to have his visa processed at KUST. At a language school, another friends took less than two weeks!

Anyways... Good luck! Let us know how it goes and which one you finally choose! : )

I would probably say they're all the same, as they all roughly teach the same way. It's hit or miss on the instructor - but preferable to find a Beijinger teaching the class - although everyone's putonghua is roughly the same - the Beijing dialect (depending on the listener) sounds "nicer" (to me).

Other ways to choose - nicest campus - if you can get into the chenggong campus or the Dianchi campuses - those are quite nice. Chenggong is more modern, so you shouldn't experience too many discomforts - aside from being REALLY REALLY REALLY far from the expat streets around Yunda (green lake).

Although all of these schools have been processing student and teacher visas for decades - it still seems as though they kind of guess their way through the system - they have a system - just not very good system - NO process improvement here. Also, the visa rules recently changed somewhat - so that may exacerbate things for you - but overall - as you're only shooting for a semester or two - go for the newer campuses.