EPTChina or Japan - Page 9
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PeT[uK]
United States412 Posts
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Gingerninja
United Kingdom1339 Posts
For the people discussing difficulty of language, they're only as hard as you make them. If you really want to study it, and put in the effort its not difficult at all. The more you put in the more you get out. It's not difficult just different, you just need to get out of the English speaking mind frame and you'll be ok. | ||
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Cambium
United States16368 Posts
On September 25 2010 13:26 dybydx wrote: @Caphe, holy shit... kudos dude. i didnt expect some TL pubber would make it into SJTU. Why is this surprising...? TLers go to top schools all over the world... doing what nerds do best... | ||
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DuckSausage
United States83 Posts
Anyway, as a long-time Mandarin learner / China expat, I can't help but give me two cents about the situation in China. First, the language is ridiculously hard as you may or may not know. Literally, it will take years before you can pick up a newspaper and even hope to understand an article, or listen to a tv show and understand what they're saying. Of course, if you've already invested some significant time learning Mandarin, then the language barrier might not prove too too difficult. Also, regarding the language difficulty, if you really want to learn the language, do some hard research. If the university / program you want to accent has a strict language pledge, then you may have a hope of seeing some significant progress on your language skills. If not, then there's little hope that you can make progress. This is because, unless you manage to make some really good Chinese friends (specifically, Chinese friends who are either unwilling to or do not speak english, which is rare in the higher-tier Chinese universities), then you'll be stuck in the foreigners-in-China bubble, and they all speak english, all the time--that is, unless there's a strict language pledge. If you want to see two really good programs, look up ACC and IUP, both in Beijing. (Another quick note, the father away you deviate from Beijing, the worse people's Mandarin becomes, to the point where it's almost unintelligible. Shanghai / Hangzhou / Qingdao / Harbin are okay, but not the best places to learn, because their heavy accents) So, about the people and culture: The vast majority of Chinese people are racist and/or ignorant. So, if you're black, good luck. If you're white, be prepared to be cheated on a day-in day-out basis. If you're Asian, be prepared to defend yourself against the multitudes who will inevitably be offended that you don't speak perfect Mandarin. No exaggeration. There's a notable dearth of interesting pop-culture in China. The TV shows are all incredibly boring, the news media is all incredibly biased (think Fox News x100, minus some IQ points), and the music is good only for helping one sleep at night. This is different in Hong Kong or Taiwan, but it sounds like you want to go to the Mainland. Free speech and free internet don't exist in China, so be prepared for it. Sometimes the things you post online will disappear within a few hours, sometimes your internet will suddenly go god-awful slow when visiting certain websites, and oftentimes you will be blocked completely from visiting certain websites. In particular, facebook, youtube and a plethora of blogs are permblocked here. The girls are really cute. Many look at you as if you're a walking greencard, but hey, they treat you like celebrities, so I guess it evens out.  Just a tip: the girls in Shanghai are incredibly, incredibly superficial. I was in a club once and talked to a random girl, and the first thing she asked was 'What kind of car do you drive?"Things are cheap at the moment, but currently there's a wave of inflation sweeping the land, so I wouldn't say it's going to too cheap for too much longer. China's communist in name only nowadays. The situation here on the ground is that it's the most cutthroat, capitalistic place imaginable which, depending on who you are and what kind of mood you're in, can be either refreshing or really really depressing. Anyway, just my two cents  | ||
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Drowsy
United States4876 Posts
I'm kind of surprised people say that China is more accepting of foreigners. I'd thought the Japanese were less xenophobic, though pretty much all asian cultures have xenophobia of varying degrees which blows the U.S. out of the water. | ||
thedeadhaji
39489 Posts
Also, study as much programming as possible along with your EE discipline. I regret not doing so (I'm Japanese and was an EE major). | ||
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hellokitty[hk]
United States1309 Posts
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Manifesto7
Osaka27181 Posts
On September 24 2010 21:12 Ruien wrote: As a guy who came from the USA to study in China in 2007, ended up staying, and later marrying a Chinese girl and being fully accepted into their family, I think I have some pretty good insight on the matter. China is awesome; and Beijing specifically is excellent for language study (I studied in Renmin University -- avoid the Beijing Foreign Language University -- and then joined a bunch of clubs when my Chinese was decent). I made a bunch of friends and it never stopped being awesome. There's not much more to it than that; I would never go back and choose Japan. As a guy who came from Canada to study in Japan in 2005, ended up staying, and later marrying a Japanese girl and being fully accepted into their family, I think I have some pretty good insight on the matter. Japan is awesome; and Osaka specifically is excellent for language study (I studied in my festival group). I made a bunch of friends and it never stopped being awesome. There's not much more to it than that; I would never go back and choose China. Sharing your experiences is one thing, using them as evidence is another. On September 25 2010 01:18 SgCloud wrote: Haha, why, is there such a big asian minority there? It is a majority now. Before Hong Kong switched back to China in 1999 there was a mass exodus. Most of them came to Canada rather than America because the dollar was so much weaker there. They got a much better rate on their savings. My friend in high school was the only white guy in his class. On September 25 2010 10:10 dybydx wrote: there is a saying that Japan isnt part of Asia, its just an extension of the West. So if you really want to experience what Asia is like, go for China. if you arnt willing to go all the way, then go for Japan. That is a pretty dumb expression haha. | ||
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haduken
Australia8267 Posts
On September 25 2010 11:28 dybydx wrote: i m Chinese and when I came to Canada, i wtfpwned everyone else in my class in practically every subject other than the arts n sports. the school there isnt sub standard, its just that no one recognizes them overseas. Chinese students pwn hard in international competitions at all levels. However when it comes to things that require alot of capital investment, Chinese results showed poorly. Part of it is lack of R&D funds, part of it is lack of marketing capabilities. Yes, yes.. We've all heard about the mystical Chinese kids that are suppose to genius or something and own every other country at some random Math competitions. Where are they now? The bright ones are all in America or trying to go to America. We are talking about post graduates here. Like it not and you have to be honest, Chinese graduate academics SUCKS hard balls. There is a reason why bright and smart Chinese all trying to move out. | ||
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archaik
Sweden32 Posts
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ioldarnech
France36 Posts
Plus learning a language in total immersion goes surprisingly fast. For crying out loud a good Japanese friend of mine moved to Germany when she was 18, on her own, to study organ music. She did just fine and is now perfectly fluent in German & an organist in Bremen. I can give you at least a dozen similar examples taken from people I know closely or friends of my wife. I have high-school friends who now work in China too, and learned the language. Learning a foreign language really isn't as hard as some people put it, especially when you're learning it through life, not on a school bench. If you really want to do this, do it, and you will succeed. Don't listen to all this "don't jeopardize your education" bullshit, it's the other way around. I'm not saying it will be a walk in the park, it won't. It will be intense, for sure. But who knows if you'll get the same opportunity twice in your life? | ||
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Masamune
Canada3401 Posts
There is a big difference between studying science--especially at the graduate level--and the performing arts in a completely different culture and language. Not to mention that organ music developed in the West, and so it would make perfect sense that your Japanese friend traveled to Europe to study it. This kid from Norway is counting his chickens before they have hatched. He has just entered university for engineering and is making plans to finish his graduate degree in either China or Japan. Also make note that I never discredited Japanese post-secondary institutions or the quality of their education (I did of China's, though); I just believe that Westerners are better off postponing their Asiaphilia until they grow up and actually have a firm grounding in their life. Then they can move where ever they please afterwards. | ||
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ZERG_RUSSIAN
10417 Posts
Get out there and see the world, man. Go to Japan though, it's a free country. | ||
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Masamune
Canada3401 Posts
Not just that, but a graduate degree in ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING. There's a reason why many university arts programs offer exchange programs all over the world, whereas science ones usually don't do too many, let alone one's with languages completely unrelated to English (at least here in Canada). College is a big deal btw, which is why he shouldn't fuck up his degrees by trying to complete them while all the same time trying to get accustomed to a completely new culture/language. | ||
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Scoop
Finland482 Posts
I'd have more to do in Japan as well like hanging out in all day long in arcades. (omg not playing Starcraft?) I don't know why people ask these questions on forums. You just get personal experiences about what random people have experienced that usually contradict each other and often have to be taken with a grain of salt (example if you were first in Japan and then went to China, I think your preference would be Japan, and vice versa). Either that or you get some opinions on what people think it will be like. In the end only you yourself can affect what the experience is going to be like. Which interestest you more is what you should pick. Some say 'China because that's more useful', well did you choose your occupation because it's the highest paying job there is? No, probably not. If you have no interest whatsoever in China, I don't think you'll enjoy yourself there. | ||
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dybydx
Canada1764 Posts
On September 25 2010 21:54 Scoop wrote: I think Japanese girls are way cuter so I would choose Japan. Don't Fuck anything else :D Fixed? | ||
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Pandonetho
Canada321 Posts
Sharing your experiences is one thing, using them as evidence is another. How exactly is he using it as evidence for anything? His whole entire post is just a summation of his experience in China, and why he prefers it over Japan. In fact, he didn't use any of his experience in China to make any claims against Japan. | ||
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kaisen
United States601 Posts
If you can handle that, then by all means, go to china. | ||
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Scoop
Finland482 Posts
Not really + Show Spoiler + I hope you were just being funny. | ||
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yandere991
Australia394 Posts
On September 26 2010 04:59 kaisen wrote: Just to let you know, google and youtube are banned in china. Pretty much anything that exist in free country is banned in china. If you can handle that, then by all means, go to china. The oppression of freedom in china has been kinda exaggerated hard (i know this since i go there every year to visit relatives.) they dont really give a damn if you talk bad about government stuff unless you do it in a very very public manner or write a wall off text on a blog that reaches high publicity status and most citizens just use a proxy to bypass that lolfirewall. At the end of the day just ask yourself this, do you like undertaking public protesting often in your current residence, if so china isnt for you if not then its no difference. | ||
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