Like Ismail Kassim, another Singaporean, Shirley Tong — who recently retired from GP Industries – has been investing good time and money to improve her knowledge of the Chinese language. Here she shares about the course she is taking and the reasons why:

My Chinese course is organised by the NUS Extension, a business unit of NUS Enterprise.  The Intensive Mandarin course I am taking is under their “Personal Enrichment” programme. 

 There are 3 levels with each level further divided into sub-levels; thus Elementary 1 & 2, Intermediate 1 & 2 and Advanced 1 & 2. 

 Each sub-level is for 11 weeks duration and the classes are from Mon to Fri, 9 am to 1 pm.  Course fee is S$3,500 for each level and course material is S$100. There is a registration fee of S$50 for Singapore citizen & PR.  There is a 10% discount off the published fees for alumni members. 

The course at each level is normally conducted 4 times a year – in January, March, July and September. 

Of course, there must be a minimum number of students before a class can start but normally there is no problem for the Elementary classes.  At the higher level, there may be people who drop out for one reason or another.  For me, I will probably complete up to Intermediate 2 at least.

The course is well structured and the teaching staff are from Beijing, Shanghai and Taiwan though there is a Singaporean who had studied in Taiwan and China as well and she is good.  I find that they are really dedicated and able to motivate students. 

 Owing to the hefty fees one has to fork out, you really have to have the passion to learn/master the language and be prepared to put up with lots of homework and tests before you sign up.  

However, speaking from personal experience, I find it very enriching, I learn very fast and the best part is the friendship and camaraderie amongst the “students” who normally hail from all over…different nationalities, age range etc but we all started as “equals” …trying to learn a language almost from scratch!

More information can be obtained from their website, http://www.nus.edu.sg/enterprise/nex or simply call their Admin Dept at Tel: +65- 6338 8400. 

 For those really interested, pay them a visit at #12-01 Park Mall, speak to Kim at Reception or arrange to speak to one of the Chinese laoshis to assess the level at which you can start. I chose to start from scratch as I believe it gives me a better foundation and I have no regrets.

Students receive a Certificate certifying they have completed a particular level with their detailed results.

If you want an internationally recognised certification, you will have to take the HSK exams which are conducted in Singapore. 

I understand from our laoshi that there are students from NUS Extension who did that and later teach the language, especially in Japan and Korea.  The website to check for this information is hsk@crestar.com.sg.

I took up this course because I am pretty ashamed that as a Chinese, I am unable to understand or more so, to speak the language.  I believe it will come in useful when I  travel to places like China and Taiwan. 

 Of course, it will be a bonus if I can later on give private English tuition to PRC or Taiwan nationals as I would be able to communicate more effectively with them in their mother tongue!