Hi,

I am thinking of moving to Kunming or Dali and would like to study Chinese at a (no to expensive) private school there. However, a school that has more Asians students than westerners would be preferable. Probably a coincidence, but in most of the Chinese classes I've been to so far, I've found it a lot easier to advance steadily in class if i am around people who don't speak English.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Then don't speak to the Westerns in your class. I doubt that in KM you will find some class with only boring, evil white people in them anyway. Hey, why don't you actually just go out on the street and speak Chinese! This is good city for the locals not knowing how to even count to ten or tell the time in any other language. Basically all they can say is "Helloooooo" to your back or bye bye. So you get down and dirty with your high level language needs here. Sounds like you want to be the only white guy in a class of Asians and be the center of attention and another white boy or girl might take some of the spot light off of you. If your language skills are so high and precious then how could a guy from Nebraska struggling with trying to learn Mandarin in the back hinder your now legendary advancement and the acquisition of all the gold stars for being the best students in the class?

Someone needs to drink a little pu'er tea and relax...

I think the question probably relates to being in a class with so many Westerners that the teacher winds up speaking in English (or French, Spanish, German, etc.) too much. Although the suggestion to immerse one's self in the street to learn language is a good one, it also takes some structured study to learn grammar, syntax and vocabulary well, especially in Yunnan where so many people can barely speak Putonghua.

There are so many private schools in Kunming, and with less westerners. And it's easy to find out. If you want to learn more out school, please contact us. We can teach you Chinese and Chinese culture and tradition, personally.

Yunnan university has a large community of Asian students because almost of them are scholarships. This is hard for you if you are beginner level because those students can't speak any language in the world except their own which definitely not Chinese. The teacher will have a hard time to explain to them using body language not Chinese language.It will be fine later in intermediate levels because they show much progress in the way .

I studied Chinese with Japanese national SS in Shanghai. Because of the shared written system, the Japanese were streets ahead in a few weeks.

To be honest, I think someone wanting to be in a class with no other "westerners" has some serious self-esteem, hatred of one's own background or westerners in general (if not a westerner themselves) or other issues. Even if he/she is a westerner themselves, this is a strange question.

Incidentally, there are far more students from regional countries studying in Kunming than westerners. If you don't want to see many westerners, Kunming is the place to be although there are more and more foreigners in Kunming these days.

But because they come in such large numbers, for example there might be 100 Thais studying at Minzu Daxue at any one time compared to say, the 2 Swiss people you might find studying at Yunnan University and the 10 Americans, you'll find the Thais (and Laotians) etc. are able to hang around each other, making no (or very few) Chinese friends, speaking only Thai or Lao with each other and thus not really benefiting from their experience in Kunming. Many of them keep going on and on about how they would rather be back at home because Kunming is cold, the people are not as friendly as back home, the food isn't that great, blah, blah, blah...you get my drift. I've asked tons of Thai and Lao students about their experiences in Kunming and this is what they tell me.

From personal experience, it's the western students who are more likely to speak up in class due to being more confident than students from other Asian countries and when they do, they ask questions in Chinese rather than English (except during the first few weeks of a beginner's class).

Thanks for the info all.

Yuanyangren, it's just personal preference. I am a terrible student who lacks a lot of discipline

can be useful to be in a class with less westerners because you're less tempted to speak english (can feel a bit awkward to speak chinese with fellow westerners). also, in my opinion, in a class of asians you're less likely to have non-serious students (i.e people whose main reason for being in china is to have a good time, get drunk, and have sex with exotic ladies, rather than study the language) - i think people who come here from another asian country are more likely to have come here with the express purpose of learning chinese. this has been my experience anyway. others' may differ.

on the other hand, you might end up in a class full of thais all chattering away in their own language and you will feel left out, which frankly would be a shit experience. this is exactly what happened to my friend at normal university, although he was able to change to a more mixed class.

i think ultimately the key thing to learning well is not the race of your classmates but being around people who are highly motivated to learn the language, and of course having a good teacher.

Personally, I think the key thing is to be in a class where students have a similar learning style, and strengths/weaknesses to your own.

One problem many westerners face when learning Chinese is that the Chinese teachers use Chinese teaching methods. This does not suit most westerners. That is why one of the unis in Shanghai offers courses specifically designed for westerners, and has adopted a western teaching/learning style.