Which university to study Mandarin in Shanghai?

I left Shanghai on the 16th of June and came back to England. It had been difficult to adjust being back but I also made the decision to go back to Shanghai to study another semester at Jiao Tong.

Before I left I went with a friend to visit other universities to see if they offered a better course. The first one we went to see was East China Normal University which sounded promising because it is known as the "teachers university", where students wishing to become teachers go to study. Also, our reading teacher graduated from there and she recommended it. The university is located quite a distance from the nearest metro stop, Jinshajiang Road.

The campus itself is beautiful with many trees, grass, even a bridge over a small river. The foreign student buildings are located in the far corner of the main campus and as you get closer to this area it becomes more run down. The classrooms are in places like shacks and with blackboards and no air conditioning - we came to realise how lucky we were in Jiao Tong.

The other university we visited was the Shanghai International Studies University located at Hongkou. Again the campus was very beautiful, quite modern and closer to the Metro than ECNU. I was interested in this university because they offered an intensive course which I thought could help me learn Mandarin faster, but I was to learn that it was only available for those who had no previous knowledge of Mandarin. Checking out the classrooms we found that the rooms were very dark with little sunlight, blackboards were again being used, and generally very run down.

I would highly recommend studying at Jiao Tong because the facilities are much better as well as the location. Each classroom uses whiteboards, has inbuilt computers and projectors, air conditioning and are all brightly lit. I have to admit though I'm not keen on the teaching hours because 90 minutes is a long time to concentrate without a break which was part of my reasons for looking at another course but I think I would rather do this than study in an environment that I didn't feel comfortable in.

I know many students choose Fudan University but I already found Hongkou to be quite far out and Fudan is even further. If you had the choice I would choose a university over a smaller school/company as last year I considered to study at one of these but they couldn't help with a visa and suggested I keep coming in and out on a tourist visa.

At Jiao Tong we study 3 hours a day (plus a 20 minute break), 5 days a week. We study reading, listening and speaking skills. There are elective courses in many areas from tai-chi, calligraphy, painting, business Chinese, and idioms, as well as many more. There are public holidays but you won't miss classes and be prepared (as is the norm in China), you may be required to attend classes on the weekend to make up for missing time due to pubic holidays!

 Campus at ECNU

 Surrounding area of ECNU