Where to study mandarin?

[jolog1]

I'm in manila. Does anyone know where I could enroll to learn to speak and write mandarin?

I've studied in chinese schools up to 2nd year highschool but never took it seriously. Hangang 2nd grade lang ata ang chinese comprehension ko. Now I want to actually learn and I really don't know who teaches these things to adults.

[GlennSter]

ung mga top tutorial centers, try mo...dati may nakikita nga ako pero hindi ko na matandaan.

tama yan...di magtatagal hindi na english ang world language...

i took up basic mandarin in school....2nd yr college pa yun.herhehrehr

[gretzy]

saan ba location mo?

i think meron sa Languages International sa katipunan. meron sa UP every weekend pero sabay sa start ng sem din ang umpisa

[Tiny]

Chiang Kai Shek College has their Language Center which focuses on Mandarin. It is located near Abad Santos, Tondo. Although my recommendation is if you really wanted to you need to have people around you who speak this language so that you learn it naturally. (2 years in China should do )

[notEworthy27]

this is true. to be really efficient in communication, you should be able to practice it everyday. I used to know how to speak Arabic.But ever since staying here in the Philippines, I've never used my arabic. Same thing with English, if you don't use it everyday you'll notice a slight "barok"ness in it.

[jolog1]

gretzky, I'm in Ongpin actually. I'm looking for a daily chinese classes and not just once a week.

Tiny. Can you tell me more about Chiang Kai's language center? Are they designed for adults or am I going to be sitting right next to a 10 year old? I really want a real language school. The chinese school I went from grade 1 to 2nd year hs was worthless. Lahat puro memorization lang. Basa lahat, photo it in memory, when the test paper comes you pour it down without knowing what it means. When I went to Chiang Kai in highschool, they speak fukinese while teaching. That's big problem because I can't understand it.

[jolog1]

Any other suggestions? I'm stumped. I don't even know where to begin to look for. Searching the web came up empty. Aside from Chiang Kai, I don't think there's anything else. I think Chiang Kai teaches mandarin with teachers speaking fukien to you. That's going to be a problem for me because I can't speak fukien.

From looking at the yellow pages, I found Language Internationale. Their website is down and I'm not sure it's a legit school.

[wowiesy]

languages international is legit.. i enrolled in their pasay road branch i think last year to refresh my mandarin ( i graduated from st. jude but haven't really got the chance to use it )... now with bigger responsibilities in the family business (dealing with suppliers from china, taiwan)... i'm getting practice especially when i accompany my boss in trips to china/taiwan...

about schools for mandarin.. if you do have the money (or your parents are willing to spend for you) and you've got the time.. there are a couple of mandarin schools in china (yup, in china) .. Beijing Language University is one of the more popular ones...

basically you enroll there (depend on the length of the course you choose), you get housed in a dorm (or you could prefer to rent a condo) and have daily lessons of mandarin.. not just spoken but even written... your classmates would be from other countries also (korea, japan, some other filipinos from time to time) .. on vacation time or weekends, you can choose to visit other places in china... courses i think start around aug/sep... i think they have a 6 month, a year and a 2 year course (i'm not really sure)... tuition depends on the length of your chosen course....

yung high school classmate ko took that 1 year course ata, ended up spending a total of 5,000 USD for the whole year (including tuition, everyday expenses, condo rental, leisure travel during vacation, etc.)

it's quite a good investment actually.. i want to take this course sana but my responsibilities in the family business keep me from doing so... i guess i just have to be content with accompanying my boss on his china/taiwan trips...

[Tiny]

If it were me I wouldn't recommend language schools, because it is simply insufficient. The best way to learn another language is to go to that country and live there for about a year.

[odell]

i speak chinese mandarin and fookien.. you really need to practice it para hinde mo makalimutan... hehehe..

kasi dito sa house we speak either both...


OT:
wowisey,
anung batch mo?
kick out ako ng st. jude

[Tiny]

Originally posted by odell
[/B] kick out ako ng st. jude [/B]

Goodjob!

Seriously, I also come from a Chinese family and can't imagine myself learning Mandarin and Fukien without living with people who use the language.

[badkuk]

if you have cable, manood ka rin ng chinese channels and try to figure out what they're talking about

[nickbay]

I think it's like a sort of learning a programming language lang rin...

You first start with 'Hello World'... and so on..

[nickbay]

I think it's like a sort of learning a programming language lang rin...

You first start with 'Hello World'... and so on..

[nickbay]

I think it's like a sort of learning a programming language lang rin...

You first start with 'Hello World'... and so on..

[wowiesy]

batch '91 ako...

the best bet talaga is to keep on practicing it..

for a few months i was assigned in jakarta last '97.. got to learn their language (bahasa indonesia)... but ever since i got back here in manila... nawala na hehe...

kailangan talaga is you practice everyday...

kaya nga d best is if you study in china.. aside from the formal learning of the language sa classroom, you're right smack in the country so talagang ma pra practice mo yung tinuturo.. pwera na lang kung puro kayo pinoy na classmate mo at malamang na puro kayo din ang magkakasama sama sa mga lakaran...

[Chip]

i agree with wowiesy
my sis will be heading to china next month to study mandarin.. im just not sure which school hehehe
it really is a good investment because aside from being taught the language, you will be immersed in a place where no one speaks your native tongue and hence, you will be forced to use what you have learned. Better if you could go there and live for 2 years but in lieu of that, studying theres the next best thing

[theveed]

IMO walang kwenta masyado schools other than teaching you the basics... To be able to converse well, you need to use the language.

Ako I used to speak fluent Cantonese (I'm from HK), Mandarin (due to school) and Fookien (again, sa school)... Araw araw ginagamit yung 3 dialects.

After I moved to Brent, wala na ako kausap na Fookien and Mandarin. Sa bahay I still speak Cantonese with family kaya ok pa, I watch quite a bit of Mandarin movies kaya di din nawala. But Fookien ko I forgot most of it in a span of a year and a half or so, basta before I graduated grade 12 wala na akong alam sa Fookien.

Yung maid namin dati dinala namin sa HK, in a year's time, she can speak Cantonese well enough to watch TV and converse in everyday tasks.

If you don't use it, you'll never learn it.

Kaya daming di marunong mag English (salita) sa Pinas kahit magaling magsulat or makinig... Di ginagamit eh.

[CLAVEL3699]

Im half chinese. Mother ko chinese kaya marunong ako nung nabubuhay sya kaso nung nawala na wala na akong makausap sa bahay, Mga relatives ko di ko naman masyado makausap.

Kaya ngayon di ko na alam papaano magsalita, gusto ko din sana matuto ulit.

Papaano kaya na, I can afford lang dito sa Manila.

[Ungas]

Magtawagan kayo araw-araw ni theveed.

Alam ko dati tambayan ng matatanda sa Maxim's Ongpin, walang ginawa yugn matatanda dun kundi magkwntuhan tuwing umaga. You could join them and sit in. :D