As soon as you arrive, the Go Abroad China team will supply you with a map of your university, your neighborhood, and other complementary materials, help you get around the university campus, as well as help you to get familiar with the neighborhood you’ll be staying in for the duration of your program.

The average class size is generally 10-15 students and no more than 20.

Classes are run daily, Monday-Friday. Students are usually placed in one of two four-hourly sessions with short breaks between classes: either a morning session (8am-12pm) or an afternoon session (1pm-5pm). After class, there is no substitute for putting in hard work to reinforce the lessons learned during class hours. Homework consists of character repetition and learning. Generally, two hours of out-of-class homework and revision is recommended to keep up with the class and to make good progress during your period of study.

See Daily Life of a Student for more information.

t’s really up to you, the student, how much you’ll learn. Learning Mandarin is a time-intensive process. Many hours of hard work are required, practicing character writing and learning new words. Each student’s progress is highly dependent on how much time is put in outside of the classroom to practice what is taught during class.

As a general guide, over the course of a semester, we would expect the average student to learn and master approximately 800 new characters (roughly 100-200 characters per calendar month of study)

To put this into perspective, mastery of:

• By knowing 200 characters, you’ll know enough to survive at a fundamental level on a daily basis, i.e., introduce yourself, give directions to a taxi driver, order basic food and drink.
• Knowing 800 characters allows you to hold a basic conversation in Mandarin Chinese, for example talking your likes and dislikes, about the weather, shopping and almost effortlessly getting around town.
• Knowing 1500 characters enables you to read a newspaper; although you may not recognize every character, you’ll be able to understand the overall meaning of an article.
• When you know 2500-3500 characters, you’ll generally be around the same level as a local Chinese high school student. At this point, you’ll be able to read and understand newspapers and television programs and converse easily on a wide range of topics.
• By mastering around 4500-5500 characters, you’ll be at a similar proficiency level as a local Chinese university student. At this point, you are expected to be able to speak fluently in any situation, be able to do the translation, as well as understand and speak as a well-educated ‘local.’
• Reaching the level of 20 000 – 30 000 characters will put you within a tiny group of academic linguistic experts who command a rare knowledge of all nonstandard vocabulary and subtleties contained in Mandarin Chinese. Not many people, foreign and even local ever reach this level, but there is no harm in trying!

We encourage our students to study as much as possible, especially as learning Chinese is a time-intensive process. Practicing Chinese Characters and memorizing your new words will lead to faster, more ideal results.

Go Abroad China partners with the top universities in China, who are internationally accredited; therefore most international universities outside of China will accept credits received from them. Many of our students have earned credits for their studies in China. GAC will help you obtain any information and documentation you need to support your request for course credits. The final decision to offer academic credit will be up to your university.

As every university is different, we encourage you to check with your university at home regarding your accreditation requirements.

Go Abroad China only works with Chinese Universities who are accredited by the Chinese Ministry of Education. At the end of each University Chinese language program, the university will issue an academic transcript which lists the courses each student has taken, the number of hours they’ve attended class, and their final grades. Grades are primarily based on the final exam, with some weight given to a midterm, homework, and attendance. Most students interested in transferring credit to their home universities will need to get the program approved in advance.

Because the programs consist of 20 classes a week, they’re considered to be the same as a full-time program (in reality that’s more than full-time study by western university standards!). A four-week program is approximately equal to one-semester Chinese course at a western university; a semester is several courses and should be awarded 12 to 15 credits in the US (a full semester's worth of classes). Why not come to China to study?

The grading system will depend on the course you have selected. Some courses will include assignments, while others have a final exam. You will not receive a certificate for your course if you are absent more than 25% of the time. Anyone who adds tutoring to their program will have a better chance of passing the course as the Chinese language programs are challenging.

Yes! Go Abroad China will provide students with a certificate of completion at the end of their program. For university program participants, each university will issue an additional certificate.

Go Abroad China recommends that you arrive on the specified arrival dates for each program, which are selected, allowing you a few days to settle into your accommodation, start making new friends and explore your local area! However, if you need to arrive before the stipulated time, or want to extend your stay after the program officially ends, then this can be arranged for a small additional fee.

Your lessons will focus on all the elements of the Chinese language: speaking, listening, reading, and writing Chinese. There is also an emphasis on skills which allow students to take advantage of the local environment so that they can communicate in everyday life. In the classroom, students generally go over vocabulary, practice reading, learn grammar and master Chinese sentence formation and structure, do some speaking exercises with other classmates and more. All these aspects will ensure a rapid knowledge of the Chinese language.

The professors are highly experienced native Mandarin speakers, with years of experience in teaching Chinese to foreigners and are considered as experts. They are highly capable in their chosen field.

Before you formally start your learning, you will take a placement test which will help us know which class to place you in, and what your current level of Chinese is.

If you follow the course from the complete beginner level to the end of the advanced level, it should take you around three years have the fluency of a native Mandarin speaker; this may include studying during the summer and winter holiday breaks. However, everyone is different. Some people can learn faster than others. It can be possible to skip some levels if you are a fast learner and work hard.
It isn’t necessary to go through all the levels from beginner to advanced or to speak like a native, a high and reasonable level is usually accepted to live and work in China. Students who complete the beginner level should be able to converse in simple Chinese already.

The Chinese language classes at our partner universities and language schools generally run from Monday to Friday with a total of 20 hours a week (for a standard program). Class periods are usually around 40-50 minutes long with a short break provided in between.

Students taking the GAC’s intensive Mandarin program have approximately 10 hours (unless you want something more intensive) a week provided in a one-on-one setting with an experienced tutor. See GAC One-on-One Tutoring for details. On top of regular class hours, you will have homework that you need to do most days.

The professors are experienced and qualified in teaching Chinese to foreigners and are considered experts in the field.

Yes. It's generally best to spend two to three hours per day studying and completing homework. If you want to accelerate your mastery of Mandarin, you’ll have to work hard. A great way to study and keep on top of things is to sign up for our Intensive program and have the One-on-One tutoring sessions focus on the homework set for you in class.

Before you formally start your learning, you will take a placement test which will help us know which class to place you in, and what your current level of Chinese is.

If you follow the course from the complete beginner level to the end of the advanced level, it should take you around three years have the fluency of a native speaker; this may include studying during the summer and winter holiday breaks. However, everyone is different. Some people can learn faster than others. It can be possible to skip some levels if you are a fast learner and work hard.

It isn’t necessary to go through all the levels from beginner to advanced or to speak like a native, a high and reasonable level is usually accepted to live and work in China. Students who complete the beginner level should be able to converse in simple Chinese already.

One-on-one tutoring has been found by many students to be helpful in advancing their Mandarin studies quickly. Not everyone likes to learn in a classroom environment, and this one-on-one private tutoring style is most suitable for these kinds of students. We have found that students who have difficulty with speaking and listening benefit more out of private tutoring. One-on-one tutoring is arranged to fit your schedule, making studying more convenient for you. Some students like to schedule their sessions around other activities, choosing a location they want, for example, at home, at a coffee shop or in our offices.

We have a selection of private tutors whom we have worked with for some time. We allocate tutors with teaching experience, who are fluent in both English and Chinese, flexible and will make learning enjoyable for you.

Your tutor will be responsible for selecting and recommending which textbooks would be most suitable for you to learn Chinese proficiently, based on how quickly you wish to learn and alongside any other requirements that you might have.

How fast a student learns will depend on the focus and the desire of the student to study while he or she is here. However, our GAC alumni agree that the Intensive Tutoring Program, or having class tutorial sessions after university will improve your Mandarin much faster than if you only take part in a university program.

Our tutors are native Chinese university graduates with at least two years’ experience in teaching Chinese as a foreign language. Most of them teach at renowned universities in China such as Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU), Tsinghua University, Peking University and Beijing Normal University. They will customize individual study plans based on the students' Chinese levels and desired study fields. Private tutoring start times, weekly schedules, and study durations are completely flexible.  According to our previous students' feedback, a private language course is the most efficient way to improve Chinese language skills in a short period.

We arrange a variety of cultural activities, networking, seminars, social events, tours and sightseeing activities. We try to ensure our participants meet other international students and locals that are of a similar age group.  We aim to organize around two to three activities a week. Transportation, entrance fees,  are included in the program fee.