ADB65,
I think Kunminghua is very hard to understand Chinese people from another province need about 5 months to fully understand Kunminghua. My girlfriend is a Kunming'ren, when she talks Kunminghua i only pick up the words like: Shillema, re'endelah, ge shi. The meaning of a sentance is very hard to figure out. Anyway i guess 1 on 1 is easier, but following a bunch of kunming'rens conversation is very tough.
So Kunming locals will rarely talk putonghua in a group.

ADB65, I study at KUST so I don't really know anything about YunDa. Sorry.

FURST POAST BE GENTLE

I just got here from Beijing and I'm looking for a program more focused on writing than speaking, because assburgers. Am I wrong to presume that private language centers, as opposed to universities, would be a bad choice for someone who actually wants to focus on writing and reading characters?

Hi, I would suggest a uni. As far as I know language schools focus more on spoken English.

At my uni we focus on all three, but a lot more emphasis is put into reading and writing characters.
Good luck whatever you choose!

YunDa seems like ~5,000 zhongbucks a semester for just a couple of classroom hours a day. And I am already donging the pinyins, which is what one of the basic textbooks starts with. I ain't needing none of that, because I dutifully read the signage in the Beijing subway er'ryday.

What's the story at KUST, @mPRin pengbro?

Sorry for being pushy and obnoxious. I've got a week before my visa expires so I gotta make a decision soon.

If you go in at beginner level you learn more pinyin, intermediate mostly characters, and they have an entrance exam to see which level you should start. If you are not happy, you can always talk to them about that, and change levels. KUST is currently 3600 for ten hours a week, one semester. but you have to buy med insurance at 500. Or 5200 for twenty hours but they buy the medical insurance. It's cheaper if you pay for the full year. I forget how much. But they are on holiday now, I am not sure you'll be able to get in touch with someone before your visa expires. They are back at work on the 26th.

That sounds far better than what I know about the YunDa program, but I hadn't considered that admissions folks needed holidays—the outside recruiters I spoke to said to just show up and they'd handle my visa stuff.

Damn. It's not like admissions has fuck-all to do when classes are actually in session. I thought there would at least be a skeleton crew of mid-level administrators. 我肏.

Can somebody take care of my PS3 while I fuck off to Laos?

I can PM you the person in charges number if you want? I had some questions I needed answered today and she replied, so maybe you'll be in luck. If not, i'll take care of your ps3! :P

Either or!