For a foreign student wanting to enter a university in China ,it’s very important to make a schedule listing all the things to do and the deadline of them.Normally,schools in China adopt a two-semester system,including an autumn semester and a spring semester.So if you are to apply for a Chinese university,please check out the related information at least half a year earlier.

Autumn Semester

For either local or international students,the first semester of a year always starts in autumn,usually on the first days of September.In this case,students can start applying for the courses they are interested in as early as late February.About one month later,most of the programs will be open for apply,thus all students could seize the chance to make their decision.Remember, for those most attractive courses or programs,there are not always enough opportunities for everyone.The earlier you submit the application,the better chance you get.

All application can be submitted by the end of July,which is the official deadline for most universities.Students who have already received admission letter need to prepare for a valid passport and Chinese visa for the departure.

Further request for a course can be made after the beginning of a semester,however,it depends on whether there are still vacancies in a university and its regulation.

Spring Semester

Spring semester normally begins in late February or early March,which asks the international students to apply for the ideal school in the year before.

Application can be started in late October,and in the following November,most programs are available for students to apply for.Like applying for the autumn semester,vacancies are limited too,so please make sure there are enough positions in the program you plan to take.

When you have received the admission letter(mostly in January),you can start preparing the passport and visa.It’s still possible for one to enter a program after the starting date,as long as there are vacancies in the universities.

Next,we are sharing some basic information about learning Chinese for a beginner,so that you can start the new life in China with more ease.

First step--learn how to greet

Not just for international students,greetings are useful for a tourist too.It’s no doubt that saying ‘ni hao’,a word equivalent to ‘hello’,to some local people can narrow the distance between you at once.For the same reason,you may also need to know how to say ‘thank you’,’bye bye’ and some other greetings in Mandarin Chinese as well.Oh,you must learn how to say the sentence ’chi le ma’(means have you eaten yet).Though weird and may be not understandable to a foreigner,it’s the most authentic way to greet someone in some parts of China!

Apart from the benefit of a better relationship with other locals,handling some greetings can also be regarded as a efficient way to expand your vocabulary.For example, ‘ni hao’ is consist of ‘ni’ and ‘hao’ , which means ‘you’ and ‘good’ respectively. By this way, i’m sure you can master at least dozens of new Chinese characters.

Secondly--value the importance of Pinyin

When it comes to the pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese,the first thing comes to one’s mind is always the unfamiliar four tones.Although it’s true,we can not neglect how easy it’s for one to say some Chinese words (despite the accurate use of tones)with the help of Pinyin system.

Pinyin,a great system bridge the gap between foreigners and Chinese language ,makes it possible for anyone to know the pronunciation of Mandarin in the form of Latin alphabet.However , you may still need to spend some time getting used to the correct articulation of the consonants—like ‘Zh,’ ‘Ch’ and ‘J.’

Next,learn some characters

Being able to read a newspaper may require you to acquire a vocabulary of 3000 Chinese characters,so if you want to be a experienced Chinese speaker,this is a difficulty you have to tackle.But just as people say, ‘ a thousand mile journey begins with the first step’, don’t be frightened when face the problem,just work on it step by step.

As a matter of fact,many Chinese characters can be used as a component in another character,which makes acquiring new characters more easily.Additionally,conjugations can not be found in Mandarin Chinese---another encouraging aspect for the Chinese students!