<p>Has anyone done a Study Abroad in China? How is it going? Did you speak any Chinese when you started? If no Chinese language, how intimidating was it to get around etc without any Chinese skills?</p>
<p>It depends on the program and requirements. If you take for example Europe, probably half the programs require you know the native language and the other half do not. You learn it there. In Asia, on the other hand, because the demand to learn English is so high, I wouldn’t be surprised to know that you don’t need to know any Chinese. If you’re unsure about the requirements and whether or not you would fit in without knowing the language, search for programs and speak with representatives. Studying abroad can be a scary thought, but more often than not is a very powerful experience. Enjoy!</p>
<p>I have a degree in Chinese and studied in Beijing during the second year of my degree. So I had some knowledge of Chinese but I certainly didn’t know a huge amount. </p>
<p>Even if you do already know some Chinese getting around can still be a challenge, particularly if you are based in an area where people don’t speak Mandarin or have a strong regional accent. </p>
<p>The key is just to get out there and talk to people. Most of the time you won’t understand what’s being said and probably they won’t understand you either! But I generally found people were happy I was making the effort to speak Chinese and plenty of times people (especially students) used to stop me in the street to practice their English too, so it was all good fun :)</p>
<p>If you can, try not to hang around too much with other native English speakers in China. It’s hard building a social circle in a new country when you can’t speak the language, but you will get better at Chinese SO much faster if you are forced to speak it as much as possible.</p>
<p>laylah makes a good point. Although you’ll want to make friends, you will have a better chance of learning Chinese if you are around natives or are dedicated to practicing it with your fellow students. That is a big problem in Europe, as many students go to socialize and see the sights and not so much learn the language. Regardless, it should be an amazing experience!</p>
<p>Beijing is great but I wouldn’t take advice from a UK student on Chinese studies considering their methodology of teaching is different (us asia programs encourage junior year abroad while UK schools do 2nd year and because of this many of the uk students I met while in Beijing were at a disadvantage even the supposed stellar SOAS and Oxbridge students couldn’t handle a candle to American university students in actual communication in China, knowing obscure characters they got it, actually communicating with locals, not so hot) the best thing I can suggest to you is join some clubs at the university you are studying in. The one wall you will meet is that Chinese students can be very intimidated by the supposed language barrier and may not want to try with you not because they don’t like you but are scared of losing face by failing at it. The best way to avoid this is join a mutual interest group, photography, basketball, etc. This should help overcome that said barrier.</p>