I am currently studying Chinese at NTNU, going to complete my first term very soon. The university is very good, but the writing is causing me problems and may stop me from progressing in the next term.
Can anyone suggest me a university which teaches the language only and not the writing aspect or a university which teaches the writing at a slower pace.
OK, one question before I try to answer yours: do you want to continue in your current program but just can’t keep up with the writing (in which case we might be able to make some suggestions you hadn’t considered that could help you) or do you just want to switch programs at this point? It doesn’t matter which – your call – but there are a lot of ways to keep up with writing even at an insanely write-by-hand program (which is insane, given how many things Taiwanese write by hand these days – nearly nothing.)
I am not aware of any university programs that you can take for a visa that would not emphasize characters for Mandarin courses (which is not to say there aren’t any, but I suspect the Ministry of Education has a hand in there on this one.) TLI has been very flexible for me in the past in letting me learn just what I wanted to, but they’re not a university. That being said, I think they can grant visas. Depends on whether you need university credit, a visa, or what.
I’m sure others will have better suggestions for you as well.
At this point I think it may be best for me to try and find an alternative school which is more relaxed in its teaching methods. If you have any tips with improving my character writing please share.