Originally Posted by jiejie

Be realistic. You're not going to learn much in 4 weeks, at least much that "sticks." If you want to start learning Chinese, do it where you are now. I wouldn't advocate coming to China specifically to learn Chinese unless you're willing to put at least a full summer or equivalent of a semester in, minimum. And I recommend you don't come to China knowing zero Chinese. At the very least, in your current location, find a class or Chinese (Mandarin-speaking) university student now, and have them tutor you in the basics of sound system, pronunciation, common greetings, numbers, etc. You'd get more out of a China-based course if/when you do go. Chinese is not a good language for trying to learn completely on your own, as you'll likely develop bad habits of incorrect pronunciation and intonation without a native speaker to correct you and model speech for you.

BLCU was one of the first universities to teach Chinese foreign students, so it's famous. I attended in 1987 but it's not a good choice any more. Too many distractions and other foreign-language speaking students around....especially those that are just in Beijing to have a good time. If you want to be in Beijing, Beijing Normal University has smaller foreign student population that are more serious, and quality of instruction is supposedly better. Make sure that any University-based course you are considering is focused on speaking/listening if that's what you want...as opposed to reading and writing. I don't think any of the Uni-based courses are best for people with absolutely zero Mandarin. There are also private, non-Uni based language schools and some of them are pretty good. Advantages are that you get personal instruction (can set up as one-on-one or cheaper, join with a small group), and they tend to focus on speaking and understanding unless you specifically request reading/writing also. The schedules are more flexible and short courses they can set up/already have set up, but the per-hour cost is normally higher than Uni-based courses.

It's very difficult for a beginner to do complete true "immersion" classes in Chinese, as it's just not efficient to communicate instructions etc. to people who know nothing. Generally what happens is that after several months and increase in level/ability, the interstitial foreign language prompting/explanations go away and things are pretty much done in Chinese only. I say months, not weeks. As for general immersion, being in China should be enough as long as you are motivated and don't spend 100% of your free time with other foreign students. And there are other places you can go to learn Chinese besides Beijing (which has the disadvantage of being fairly expensive place to live), though I'd tend to choose something in the north for your first round, as Mandarin pronunciation is closer to "standard" and will be easier to understand when out on the street practicing. If you can stand the cold in the winter (or won't be there in the winter), Harbin up in the far northeast is a very good place to go and learn beautiful clear Mandarin. And you won't have the distractions of Beijing.

Again though, be realistic about how little Chinese you'll really know at the end of 4 weeks, though of course your opportunities to practice in the field will be unlimited. I think you'll be better off and cheaper starting at home and seeing if it's for you and how committed you really are....saving an in-China language course for later.