[creztor]

Hi,
basically just looking for any schools that I can study Chinese (mandarin or cantonese I dont mind) in HK and they can provide a student visa. As I would like to stay at least a year or more and I have seen people having problems leaving and coming back on a visitor visa after doing that a few times. Does anyone know of any schools that can provide a visa and approx cost? Id be after 2 hours a day Mon - Fri at most. Im also aware some schools may not be able to provide a student visa to stay long term, but at least if i studed at once of them, leaving/coming every 6 months on a visitor visa at least I can prove that I am studying Chinese and have a reason to stay/come back in HK. Any info would be appreciated, thanks.

EDIT: I am really am looking for the lowest price/cost as possible.

[echance]

Originally Posted by creztor

Hi,
basically just looking for any schools that I can study Chinese (mandarin or cantonese I dont mind) in HK and they can provide a student visa. As I would like to stay at least a year or more and I have seen people having problems leaving and coming back on a visitor visa after doing that a few times. Does anyone know of any schools that can provide a visa and approx cost? Id be after 2 hours a day Mon - Fri at most. Im also aware some schools may not be able to provide a student visa to stay long term, but at least if i studed at once of them, leaving/coming every 6 months on a visitor visa at least I can prove that I am studying Chinese and have a reason to stay/come back in HK. Any info would be appreciated, thanks.

EDIT: I am really am looking for the lowest price/cost as possible.

Why not study Mandarin in Mainland China i.e. Shanghai or Beijing or some smaller city? Tuition and cost of living will be much lower. In Hong Kong you may not get the language immersion you would in China. Plus Cantonese in the long run may not be that useful relative to Mandarin. Otherwise, in Hong Kong you should check out the university language programs, I would imagine they offer visas for full time language study.

[creztor]

I am just comparing China and HK, personally I would prefer HK. Ideally I am after 2 hours a day at most, and even if they cant provide a student visa thats fine, as I cant see a problem with leaving and coming back, on a visitor visa as long as I was legimately studying the language. Im not sure if one would be allowed to study chinese on a visitor visa. I have checked a few university programs out but they are a little too intensive for me and costly. If anyone knows of any other relatively low priced schools I would appreciate it, thanks

[HK Guy]

Try HKU Chinese department they have full-time 1 year courses in Putonghua and Cantonese.
http://www.hku.hk/chinese/

[creztor]

Thanks for that, I did contact them and its 16 hours a week at a cost of about 6500 HKD per month, too many hours Im looking for 10 hours and that is rather costly. Many thanks tho, if anyone knows of any others please let me know

[tstexpat]

Do you really want to study the lingo...or are you looking for a loophole to get a HK visa. Unless you are willing to cough up some serious $$s and sign up for something full time with a local Uni or Poly you will not get a student visa.

[creztor]

As far as Im concerned there are no loop holes to get visas. I would like to move to HK, stay for more than a year and continue my study of Chinese. If I could get one from a school that would be great, or at the very least if they cant provide me with a student visa, if I was studying there, at least I would have a legitmate reason to stay in HK when I left every 3 months or so and returned, thats what Im hoping anyway. I currently study Chinese here in Taiwan because I want to and also it lets me stay in Taiwan without having to leave every 3 months. I'd like to move to HK for a change of scenery and continue my studies with as little hassle as possible. As with Taiwan, there are schools that offer very intensive and expensive programs, and others which target students not made of gold So Im just wondering what kind of schools/programs there may be on offer in HK.

[echance]

I am studying Cantonese at the YMCA for HKD880 for 10 sessions. Fours hours a week. They only have three levels though and do not offer a visa. I think it is the cheapest program in Hong Kong.

[tstexpat]

Crez
I beleive that the schools in Taiwan and China are a LOT better than HK. Also I think HK would be a bit too expensive for you.

Good Luck

[fashioncath]

Originally Posted by echance

I am studying Cantonese at the YMCA for HKD880 for 10 sessions. Fours hours a week. They only have three levels though and do not offer a visa. I think it is the cheapest program in Hong Kong.

hey echance, can u tell me more bout ur cantanese classes at YMCA, so its 4hrs each week and all the ten sessions total up to $880? also can u tel me wot its like so i can get a rough idea, how many people per classes, do u enjoy it?
thankyou,

cathy