Hello,
I'm considering studying Mandarin in Shanghai in February, maybe for around 6 months. I've done and read up on loads of discussions on this but was wondering if any Chinese person can answer these questions:
1. How do I watch Juventus in Shanghai? Do I stream, need satellite tv, etc? If I stream, from which website? I'm not sure how the censorship would work.
2. How do I get around the internet censorship/no facebook thing?
3. For a complete beginner, would 6 months suffice in holding up relatively lengthy convos? I am considering Fudan Uni in Shanghai.
4. I heard western stuff is pretty expensive here in Shanghai, even in terms of food, is it true?
Thank you
Good that i caught this post befo i leave for vacation.
Im no chinese but here is what i know.
1) In beijing and in cities around shaolin juve matches are mostly on CCTV 5 but they are in chinese. Should be the same for shanghai. if juve and any of the milan sides,real,barca,man u,chealse,arsenal,liverpool are playing at the same time they will not show the juve match.
The is a Bar named "West Wells" in sector 14 in downtown shanghai. The owner is a juve fan and His bar air all juve matches live and that is the best place to be during a juve match.
Here is the best part about the whole chinese censorship. It does not work and they NEVER EVER target online streaming links...only things censored/banned/getting attention is International top websites like google and facebook. China porbably is the best country to watch/download/stream anything for free. You just need to get a local geek and be friends with him.
2) Getting on facebook or other websites is easy using proxy sites. Search "proxy websites" on google and you get unlimited sites.
Example "hidemyass.com". You go on that website and past the facebook url on the homepage and abra-ka-dabra
3) I studied in Fudan for 6 months,you will love it there! What course are u applying to and how much are they ripping you off for? You know there are better and cheaper alternatives (or better cities to live in like hangzhou,Yunan,beijing).
If you are learning the language it all depends on how you learn it. I was a beginner too at first, i got fluent in very basic convos in 6 months. I could travell all around china with that much language grasp,shop,sign rent agreements,work etc. But there were guys in my university who lived there for 5 years and would still call me everything they had a problem with their appartment and they want someone to talk to their landlord. These are the guys who spent hours on books to learn the language but its useless.
Chinese is a hard language,very hard. But that's the trick. You don't start at the hard part (characters/alphabets) Just forget about reading and writing part and start with conversation skills. You are planning to move in Feb so you have a long time to work on that now. I am sure you are aware of what pinyin is (pīnyīn) That's basically chinese in english. Tones are the most important part in the chinese language and they have just 4 of them,the most basic starting point. I suggest you hire a tutor and start work on that.
Once in china my method of learning the language was basically finding local friends who could speak a little english (no problem find those in shanghai) The first couple of months were horrible for me,every night we would go out clubbing and i couldn't talk to any of the girls because of the language barrier
Basically the more you talk to chinese peeps in chinese the faster you will get better. Don't be shy of looking like an ass when you said pussy when meaning to say salad,the chinese peeps will immediately correct you and you listen and practice
6 months is more than enough for basic skills.
4) I dont know what you mean by expensive, i mean i dont know what it costs you where you live. Good nightlife and anything branded is very expensive. The thing about Shanghai,Beijing and Hangzhou is you need to find the right places. Getting a pizza in china will cost you 10$ at a nice located in the creeks cafes to 30$ on Pizza Hut. A double cheese-bacon Subway sandwich will cost 80 yuan (12$?).
Once thing that is VERY expensive in china are Clothes/shoes. I mean those branded ones you women are crazy about. But then again there are equally good knock offs
Since you are a foreign student i am assuming it is compulsory for you to live in the hostel for the first 6 months. If not(not likely) then lemme know,i'l guide you through some sweet localities to live in.
I hope this answers your questions,if you need anything else let me know.
Buy on AliExpress.com
Did someone ban you?
