<p>If this should be in A/T or the Business/Careers forums, I apologize.</p>
<p>I am a senior at UC Berkeley who will graduate in 2009 (hopefully) with a degree in Economics. I will graduate with about a 3.2 GPA and I have no experience successfully learning foreign languages and speak nothing but English.</p>
<p>I am Chinese but because of my upbringing, I lost all knowledge of the language growing up and now know nothing but a few words.</p>
<p>My mom has been suggesting I learn Mandarin for years but I brushed it off because I tried before with little success. However, now she is offering to pay for language education in China for an extended period of time. I'm convinced that immersion is the only way for me to learn a difficult language like Mandarin. With the economy being as horrible as it is, especially in real estate and finance which were my two career prospects, this is now an attractive option.</p>
<p>I am seriously considering becoming a military officer regardless of what happens with my learning Chinese.</p>
<p>A study abroad program for complete beginners is offered by my school next summer at Beijing Normal University. However, since I would likely be graduating or graduated by then, I would like to stay in the country longer if I make an attempt to learn Mandarin at all.</p>
<p>My questions are:
-Is this a good idea?
-Would I be able to get into a masters program for economics in China? What about an unrelated field like history?
-Would I be able to become decent at Chinese in the meantime if I do not concentrate solely on learning Chinese but stay in the country for up to 2 years?
-Would teaching English in China provide enough income to break even? I would rather not have my mother pay for my education if I could avoid it, though it would not be much money for my family.
-Any recommendations for a specific program or degree?
-Is living in Shanghai/Beijing fun? Part of my desire to explore this possibility/jump off this particular cliff is because I am dissatisfied with my current lifestyle.</p>
<p>Nope, a maser program for economics in china is totally pointless.
If you want to study classical Chinese literature and such, china would be an awesome place to study, but not if you want to study business and technology. Let me just spit it out for you, Chinese education system sucks when compare to America's.
um, some ppl take 10+ more years just to get some basic Chinese.
Teaching English in China would NOT provide you with any meaningful income in terms of U.S dollar.
I recommend you to study in Beijing Normal University for a year or so, and then come back to State, becomes an officer in the army or working for some big corporations.
Living in Shanghai/Beijing as a foreigner could be very interesting, you get the ladies, but you also get haters everywhere.</p>
<p>Anyways, go army, uncle sam wants you, join the big army, big army will take care of you. Do the OCS thing, it will take up some time, but the commitment is only 3 years, i mean, why not.</p>
<p>I think the guy above is a little misinformed. You can definitely become proficient, if not fluent, in Chinese in two years of living there if you work at it. Also, if you have a TEFL certificate, which is very easy to get, you can get a nice salary and a house provided for you so that you don't need to spend any of your own money.</p>
<p>My S lived in Shanghai last year, taught English in a middle school and teacher's college. He was placed there by an American program, and though did not make great money by American standards, was able to support himself, pay off loans and travel at a lower end level. He enjoyed Shanghai, though wanted more of an immersion experience and is now in a more remote part of China. Shanghai is fun, and with your background, you might in time be able to find employment in your field, as long as their economy stays strong.</p>
<p>Learning any language well depends on your initiative. Learning Chinese well is quite the project, if studying both spoken and written. But you can certainly gain spoken proficiency just by living there after an introductory class.</p>
<p>My S lived in Chongqing in Sichuan Province for 1 1/2 years. Chongqing is a very large metropolitan area of about 35 million; there are few Westerners here. He taught English at a school attended by kids, elementary through high school, mostly on weekends. He managed to save some money and travel in less touristy places; he also went to Hong Kong and the Olympics.
He learned spoken Mandarin well enough to travel on his own, make train/bus reservations, and order food in restaurants. His school provided an apartment for him.</p>