Immersion classes in Beijing...

Absolutely the key immersion. You'll find being totally immersed in the language for a few weeks (if you USE IT so you have to be motivated and talk to people, and don't be afraid to say something wrong), can take you further than 6 months of haphazard study without the benefit of using what you learn. My recommendation is always to start off with some classes or learning materials like here on Chinesepod, learn for a few weeks to a few months so you build up a solid foundation in the language, you have some understanding of and familiarity with the sounds, pronunciation, tones grammer, and logic behind the language. (I also recommend learning Chinese characters right from the start). The next step would be to go to China and start using everything you know with the locals. Find excuses to talk to people, talk to the cabdrivers, waiters and waitresses, the people in places you go to eat, the tourguides, other people on the tours with you. DON'T take the easy way out and go on the English speaking tours, go on the Chinese speaking tours. DON'T take the easy way out and let people who can speak English (and who want to speak English with you) draw you out of speaking Mandarin. Use every second of the time you're in China to exercise what you have learned. Before you know it the Chinese people will forget you're not Chinese, and see you as one of the crowd...and that's when you know you've arrived! Have a great trip!

对对。 Even though my travels are still 5 months away, I have a real anxious anticipation about immersing myself in the language and culture... knowing that there will likely be tons of awkward 说错 and 不懂. However having gone through similar trials learning other languages, I've come to realize that taking advantage of those opportunitites to interact are the best way to grow with the language. By the way... for anyone else considering a similar short language study course in Beijing, here's a link to compare the options.... no fewer than 50 of 'em! http://www.languageschoolsguide.com/China.cfm

True, what Xiaoxu and tvan say. Only sometime I wonder why after years of immersion I am still nowhere near where I would like to be with my Chinese... Maybe it is because I am coping with two languages at the same time???

Thanks for the support, but maybe I should rephrase my question... there are specific language schools in Beijing, some of them being "Mandarin House", "Capital Mandarin", "1-Month Mandarin", etc. Can anyone recommend either of these (or others) to help me improve fluency before I begin my travels?

never heard of those. I guess it is guided immersion. Sounds good in any case

Yea I believe there are some in Shanghai as well. You sign up for different levels of intensity which determines how many class hours per day and you live in a dorm and speak nothing but Mandarin all day. You are charged by the week and you can start only at certain times in the cycle if you are a beginner. 2-4 weeks is the usual stay but you can stay as long as you want. I think it was in the neighborhood of 2500 dollars for 2 weeks. I could find it again if you are interested. Anyway I would think these programs are useful especially if you have some ability to start with. Expensive though. How critical is it that you speak well before you start your travels?

Mandomikey, I strongly second what Xiaohu says above. I went to China with no Mandarin background and lived in 1981 Shanghai for six months. Nobody spoke English and, in contrast to today, many people were afraid to speak to you. Regardless, when I returned to San Francisco, my conversational Mandarin was better than many four-year students. Nothing beats living in-country and having to speak Mandarin.

I went to Executive Mandarin this year for two months in Beijing, took 4 hours a day one-on-one. This was in Feb and March. Afterwards I kind of continued on and off with a teacher and ChinesePod etc. I liked the program they had, but one thing is key: Put the time and effort in while you are there ... they will push you, but they have lots of lazy students, so they will only push you if you show that you want (and deserve) to be pushed. I liked the school overall, had some good quality teachers (which is key), but I believe others are not that different.

I went to Beijing Mandarin school a year and a half ago: http://www.beijingmandarinschool.com.cn/ and did 3 weeks at 4 hours a day. I would recommend them. It might be worth calculating whether arranging your own accommodation (hostel maybe) and booking in as a 'normal' student to one of these schools would be cheaper. I do agree that 2 weeks is a good length of course for what you're planning. Maybe taking a long weekend between week one and week two would help.

Thanks Dominic, Tstox, RJB... thats the kind of feedback I was wanting. Those are three new additional options next to the 5 or 6 I've already uncovered... hard to make a decision on one or the other. Price is a factor, but quality of instruction even moreso. Surprisinlgy, not many reviews or boards on the web to compare them side by side. As far as accomodations, I'd prefer staying in housing with fellow students if it meant having nights to socialize and study/practice together... as opposed to staying in a hostel that was filled with travelers that didn't really have an interest in the language, which has been my experience at most internatinal hostels. Could anyone attest to this???

mandomikey, I've never stayed at a Hostel before, so I can't help you there, but really the hotels are pretty cheap, some around $18 American dollars per night with decent accomodations. Remember, use EVERYTHING you know, don't worry if it's not perfect, you'll get better more quickly than you ever imagined possible if you use it! By the way, when you get back let us know how the trip went. 小虎

Mikey - heres a link. They have classes in SH and Beijing. I think this is similar to what you are talking about. http://www.firststepworld.com/language_schools/chinese_courses.php