Ghost in my room? The Conference Centre mystery.

A couple of nights last week, the TV in my room turned on by itself.
No, I did not sleep with the remote control on my bed, so I couldn't
have accidentally turned the TV on. I did turn off the TV before bed
and left the remote next to the TV. At first I thought I imagined it
(or dreamt it) until another friend told me the same thing happened
in her room!
So I told the fuwuyuans (housekeeping ladies) about it and jokingly
asked them if there was a ghost in my room. They a little seriously
told me not to worry, there are no ghosts, and I should switch off
the TV (ie don't leave it on stand by) at night. No more problems
after that, but still a little strange!

Intensive Class or Regular Class?

A few people have been asking me this question. Obviously, it all
depends on you and your circumstances, but here is my experience of
the two type of classes.

Last year (2007) I did the intensive (6 hours per day) 12 week class
at BLCU. It was challenging, but I had the best time! Having more
contact hours per day means more to revise at the end of the day.
Ideally, it would be good to preview the next day's lesson but I
found that I hardly have time to do this…but it could be because I
also had a private tutor once a week and meetings with language
partners 2-3 times a week, plus going to the gym, etc. By the end of
it all we were all really tired! Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the
course and was very happy with it. The teachers and the classmates
were wonderful.

This year I came back and decided to do the 20 weeks regular course
(4 hours/day), so did a few people I know who did the intensive
course last time. Some also came back to do the Intensive class
again. Initially I didn't know what to do with myself, but I'm
finding I'm quite enjoying the afternoon off! I go to the shops (good
chance to practice mandarin), study, go to the gym, etc. There are
also extra course that can be taken eg. Pronunciation, writing
Chinese Characters, Calligraphy, learning Chinese songs, etc, that
can be taken. I'm also having a private tutor twice a week. Some of
the other students have 2 hours of private tuition everyday.

I think having private tutors are helpful in re-enforcing what was
learnt in the lessons. With my tutor, I would prepare a topic and
write it down, then during the lesson, the tutor would check and
correct what I have written. I would then talk to her about the
topic, thereby practicing my oral/speaking skills. What you do with
the tutor would depend on your circumstances and the problem you have
with learning mandarin. Some students want to study more or have
different needs (eg studying Business Chinese) so they also go
through other text books with their tutors.

If you have been to BLCU, please tell us your thoughts/experience via
the "comment" section below.