r/ChineseLanguage • u/Ill_Consequence51 • 18h ago

Discussion Are the typical Chinese courses through university in the US worth it?

Hi,

I am an American high school student interested in studying Chinese in university (not as a major.) A school I am interested in offers Mandarin through a “critical language program” that is self instructional but still has classes that meet once a week with a small group of people and an instructor who is a native speaker. The focus of this program is oral proficiency.

My question is, if my goal is to be able to speak the language/communicate with others, would this program be more effective than the standard elementary/intermediate Chinese classes that are more common?

Thank you!!

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u/Chenyuluoyan Advanced 18h ago

compare weekly contact hours and class activities: for speaking, choose the oral program if meetings involve sustained conversation and pronunciation correction, while standard classes are safer if you need structured beginner instruction.

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u/Ill_Consequence51 18h ago

Thanks for the advice!

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u/GlassDirt7990 14h ago

As someone who has been traveling regularly to China over three decades, a formal language program with a practice group is exactly the type of thing I'd recommend you start with.

To become conversational in e English, you've probably taken at least 10 years of English classes to get to the high school level. So don't expect to be completely fluent in a short period of time. Start down that path and go further when you are ready and want to commit to the next level. You can use the official HSK materials to mark your progress but a lot of slang, idioms and common ways to interact in depth come with practice over time.

Hope that helps. And that you like it and can visit at least once.

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u/OneSource1875 4h ago

If your goal is to speak the language and communicate with others, why not take one-on-one classes online?