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I'm graduating from high school this year and I'm looking to go abroad to learn a language. I've been considering between Seoul or Shanghai.
A little language background about me now. I'm Chinese Canadian, born in Canada, lived in Hong Kong, and moved back when I was about 7. I speak English and Cantonese, illiterate with in Chinese. I started learning Mandarin two or three years ago, but I was never really into my studies until recently. I'm still pretty bad in Mandarin, as in I can only read every other word in newspapers(can't read simplified at all). I can speak conversationally, very slowly though; but I have a hard to listening (Mandarin is so fast in comparison to Cantonese). Through Starcraft, I've found interest in Korean pop culture (ya, I'm a Kpop fan, don't hate). I've started learning Hangul (thanks to MizU's blog and all the commentors) and I would like to learn Korean. I haven't been back to Hong Kong or China since I moved to Canada 11 years ago. So in either cities, Shanghai or Seoul, it would really be a new place to explore for me.
So now I'm looking to go abroad during the summer before I start university so that I can hopefully either become fluent in Mandarin and learn to read and write (I can't write Chinese) or start on learning Korean and lay down a solid foundation by the end of summer hopefully.
The programs I found are a combination of language programs and sightseeing/vacation. Links:
To Korea : http://www.centerforstudyabroad.com/hankuk-university-of-foreign-studies/
To Shanghai: http://www.centerforstudyabroad.com/fudan-university-shanghai/
If I go to Korean, I wouldn't be going to any famous national university. I don't think at least, the top ones are SNU, KU and Yonsei right? Fudan University if a fairly famous university in mainland China, and it's a partner institution with the university I will be attending in fall (University of Toronto). I can get university credits from the program, I don't know if UofT will accept any if I go to Hankuk University, but I'm fairly certain I will get credits if I go to Fudan. I might not even receive the credits from UofT actually because even though I'm accepted, I'm not really studying there yet (not until fall at least).The credits aren't important to me though to be honest, it's just a bonus, as I'm going on the trip to learn a language and, for the first time, vacation in Asia.
I have a lot of questions so I guess I'll just start listing them:
Should I finish up with Mandarin first and then move on to Korean or should I start on Korean?
What's there to do in Shanghai and Seoul respectively? In either programs, you take lessons in the morning and then they set you free to do what ever you want in the city. There's a trip/excursion every week.
If I go to Shanghai, I have the option of 4 weeks or 5 weeks. The fifth week would really be just for vacation and I go do w.e. I want. I don't know if I would want the extra week though, it's only 100 dollars more, really cheap. I'm afraid I might become homesick and really want to go home after the 4 weeks and feel like I'll be trapped for another week.
Has anyone had any experiences with these sorts or programs? Any comments, I don't really know what sort of answer I'm looking for, just information in general.
Oh and does anyone have estimations for costs for living in either cities for 4-5 weeks? I have accommodations (I'll be living in the university campuses covered but I still got to buy meals on my own and of course I would need extra money to buy souvenirs and have a good time in general (it is a vacation after all).
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Well, you've probably come to the wrong place with this question seeing as TLers have a natural bias towards Korea. If you want to learn to read and write mandarin, it will take you much longer than 4-5 weeks, although I assume you already know that. That said, you're also not going to become fluent in Korean in 4 or 5 weeks, although you can learn hangul pretty easily in a few days. My opinion is that since you've taken the steps to learn mandarin, I think 5 weeks there might really help your conversational skills.
As someone who did a study abroad program to learn a language from scratch, it would've been much more helpful to have done so with maybe a year's worth of classes, as you really will not gain that much from spending your first month of learning korean in Korea as opposed to classroom back home. However at the same time these trips can really be an invaluable insight into foreign cultures, and can help shape your decisions about what language to study for the future.
So I guess it really depends - I have never been to either Seoul or Shanghai so I can't talk about those cities, but coming from a similar situation it really all depends on whether you want to really commit to Mandarin, or explore alternatives.
Hope this helped.
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I haven't been to Shanghai, but I hear it's pretty fun. Now if I had a choice, I'd probably go to Tokyo for the summer, but it's too expensive. I know a bit of Japanese, which is why people were curious as to why I chose to study abroad in Korea. I guess you'll have to decide, which one you want more. I don't want to say this but, disregard the language. It's only a summer, you'll learn a bit, but probably not enough. (like in a semester or year) Do you want to vacation in Seoul or in Shanghai?
You're actually pretty lucky the Uni in Korea is in Seoul. Mine is an hour away. :[
But have fun either way, sounds pretty awesome. When I went to Beijing everything was pretty dirt cheap. The conversion rate is kinda hard to wrap your head around though, but you'll get used to it.
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Well since one can't learn enough in a a month to become fluent, I guess I'm go to Shanghai. I already know some mandarin so I would get a lot more from going to Shanghai and refining my Mandarin rather than going to Seoul and learning from basically nothing. I'm thinking of taking Korean language classes while I study in university during fall and winter/spring semesters this year and then going to SNU or KU (they're partner institutions for UofT in Korea; ya UofT is the awesome, connections with all the big guys out there) for year two so I stay long enough to become fluent.
I don't really like the whole concept of modern vacation. I prefer the old school 19th century variation of the vacation where you stay in the place for 3+ months. With that in mind, I'd much rather live/vacation in Seoul than Shanghai. So I guess this goes with the semester abroad during university plan I have.
I never really thought about Japan. I'd like to go there but not as much as going back to China or going to Korea. I'll probably pick up Japanese in the later years of university though.
@MizU So where are you going in Korea? Going in the fall? Should write a blog with detail about your anticipation. All you got so far is about paperwork, come on that's a bore.
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On April 26 2011 08:09 The_LiNk wrote:
Well since one can't learn enough in a a month to become fluent, I guess I'm go to Shanghai. I already know some mandarin so I would get a lot more from going to Shanghai and refining my Mandarin rather than going to Seoul and learning from basically nothing. I'm thinking of taking Korean language classes while I study in university during fall and winter/spring semesters this year and then going to SNU or KU (they're partner institutions for UofT in Korea; ya UofT is the awesome, connections with all the big guys out there) for year two so I stay long enough to become fluent.
I don't really like the whole concept of modern vacation. I prefer the old school 19th century variation of the vacation where you stay in the place for 3+ months. With that in mind, I'd much rather live/vacation in Seoul than Shanghai. So I guess this goes with the semester abroad during university plan I have.
I never really thought about Japan. I'd like to go there but not as much as going back to China or going to Korea. I'll probably pick up Japanese in the later years of university though.
@MizU So where are you going in Korea? Going in the fall? Should write a blog with detail about your anticipation. All you got so far is about paperwork, come on that's a bore.
I'll be at KU: Sejong campus in Jochiwon. Yes, next semesterrr. I'm pretty sure I have other blog parts where people answered some questions that I had. Look at the older posts. :3
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I tend to agree that you should work on the language you've already started, since you won't be there that long.
As for that final week, idk what to tell you. I have never been homesick in my life, but then I did not have the kind of home you really want to come back too haha. Consider how long you have been away from home before and if you felt really homesick by the end of those. (If you felt really homesick after a week at summer camp, probably you will want to skip that extra week.) If you've been away from home before even for shorter times, and not had any problems with homesickness, definitely take advantage of your chance to explore another country a little longer! It's a great experience that not everyone gets to have, and it sounds super cheap.
Also, unless you're planning on living at home while you go to university, this is a good way to ease into growing up and getting out on your own. You will be within the safety net of the program, but have a lot more freedoms and responsibilities than maybe you are used to.
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Yea I think going to China would do you better in the future. Don't listen to anyone who goes: "Omg Korea of course, so you can watch Starcraft"
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Considering you only have 4-5 weeks I would say go to China. I think those 4-5 weeks will be better spent honing your mandarin instead of developing basics in korean. You will definitely get more utility out of your mandarin after 4-5 weeks than you would with korean.
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korea so u can watch starcraft
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You're going to UofT in the fall?
If you go to Shanghai this year, think about maybe going to Korea next summer through UofT. You can maybe get into Sookmyung Women's University (숙명여자대학교) for a 1 month summer exchange thing. I went last year and it was pretty awesome as a male. You can choose to do 2 courses, which combined give you 0.7 credits which will give you a one semester credit overall. You can take language and one other thing. You probably won't get very far unless you study a lot which you probably won't.
If you decide to go to Korea, I'm going to be there May-November if you want to chill.
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Ha necroed.
Ya University of Toronto in the fall.
I'm planning on going in 2nd or 3rd year for 2 semesters actually. My school isn't partnered with any sort of Women's University so getting credits would be harder. 0.7 credits is an odd number. UofT goes by 0.5 or 1.0 i thought, wouldnt this complicate things when I try to get credits?
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Shanghai. I'll save Korea for a long 2 semesters of fun.
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Awesome!
Have fun, study, but have fun!
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On May 12 2011 17:22 The_LiNk wrote:
Ha necroed.
Ya University of Toronto in the fall.
I'm planning on going in 2nd or 3rd year for 2 semesters actually. My school isn't partnered with any sort of Women's University so getting credits would be harder. 0.7 credits is an odd number. UofT goes by 0.5 or 1.0 i thought, wouldnt this complicate things when I try to get credits?
Yeah it's a little wonky. I just went for fun so I didn't care that much about credits but make sure you get things sorted out with the international office at home before heading out.
I took summer courses. If you're taking full semesters then it will probably work out differently. Each of the courses counted as a 0.35 credit (I don't know why Uoft values them like that). Uoft basically just took the 0.7 credit and turned it into a 0.5 credit so I got a half year elective out of the way. If I was to have taken 1 more course I would've been at 1.05 credits and given a full year course elective.
I went for a full year exchange to Australia (well, I ended up dropping out and going back to Korea but this is still relevant). How UofT decided to go about it was I believe 48 credits in Australia was 5.0 credits at home (ie a full year of 5 full year courses or 10 half year courses). The courses I took in Australia had varying values but overall equated to the 5.0 at home.
I was in engineering though and it was kind of a pain in the ass due to Canadian Engineering Board regulations and such. If you're in engineering you should keep that in mind. It's much more difficult and annoying to get equivalencies at the 3rd and 4th year level of courses as there will be overlap in content among courses. (For example you might do Rock Mechanics as one course at UofT but your exchange school might have that content included between 2 courses such as Soil Mechanics and Rock Blasting. From my experience you basically have to either have a really easy going faculty head or be very convincing to him/her.) If you're not in engineering I believe everything is pretty straightforward and you shouldn't have a problem.
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Your one post has been more insightful into the exchange system at UofT than their website -__- hahaha.
I'm going into economics so I guess I get the straight forward credit aquisition process.
So you go to UofT? What year?
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ooooo. This is tough. I hear Shanghai has some "unique" foods that are worth trying. But you can't go wrong with Seoul (less than 30 USD cent PC bangs, traditional korean restaurants, and to top it off, STARCRAFT BW and STARCRAFT 2 with Tasteless and Artosis). It will be a tough decision and whichever country you end up choosing, you won't regret it.
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From personal experience, submerging yourself in a foreign land will only help your language skill if you have something to work upon.
Since you already have a foundation for Mandarin, you'll be able to learn more Chinese in that month than you would in Korea.
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On May 13 2011 09:27 The_LiNk wrote:
Your one post has been more insightful into the exchange system at UofT than their website -__- hahaha.
I'm going into economics so I guess I get the straight forward credit aquisition process.
So you go to UofT? What year?
Yeah I'm at UofT. I should have just graduated last month but I took a year off to travel and I just failed a class which holds me back another year. So I have to take a class in 2nd semester of this upcoming year and then full 2012-2013 year.
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EPT
