Email: [email protected]
Phone: +86 (0) 10 65129057
Mon-Fri: 9am-6.30pm China Time
Beijing CBD, Jianguo Rd. 88 Xiandai SOHO
Building B, 5th Floor, Room 504
建国路88号现代城SOHO B座 504
Shanghai Email: [email protected]
Shanghai Phone: +86 (0) 21 3368 0866
Taiwan Email: [email protected]
Taiwan Phone: +886 0905028430
Mon-Fri: 9am-6.30pm China Time
Study at a high school in Beijing, become fluent in Mandarin, make friends with Chinese high school students and have a year full of adventure in Beijing.
If you want, you can also get your Mandarin skills up quickly with a Chinese course at our Beijing Chinese language school before attending a high school in China.
Students live with a Chinese host family while studying abroad and experience the international Chinese education system first hand.
Beijing South West High SchoolGreat education – attend a top High School in China
School facilities – football field, running track, swimming pool, gym
International – classes are taught in both Chinese and English
Friendly – you will quickly make friends with your class mates
SupportThe LTL family – join our little study abroad family & make friends quickly
Homesick? – Call us, come by for a chat or join us for lunch at any time
Local – our team is in Beijing and always available
24/7 – in case of emergencies our support is available at all hours
Learn Mandarin FastFluent – become fluent in Mandarin within your high school year
Learn Mandarin – take a Chinese course in Beijing before high school
Study – additional 1 on 1 Mandarin classes while attending high school
Speak – many will know English, but at school everyone speaks Mandarin
ExperienceEstablished – China’s first professional China high school program
Beijing based – we are right in the heart of China for you
Support – we are always there for you before and during the program
Planned – pre-departure briefings, great homestays, fully organized
IMPORTANT – The Beijing South West High School accepts international students between 14-16 years old interested in attending one or two semesters.
Studying at a high school in China is a once in a life time opportunity.
You will experience a completely different culture, people, education system, and language while living in one of the world’s most exciting and fastest changing cities, Beijing.
A Chinese high school might be quite different to the education system you are used to, yet in many ways quite similar too.
Beijing Southwest High School is an elite school that prepares Chinese high school students for attending university abroad, usually the United States.
Classes are taught in either Mandarin or English, however because all teachers and most students are Chinese the common language throughout the school and most of the classes is Chinese.
The school has excellent facilities, with a football court, swimming pool, track and field courts, two canteens, modern class rooms and a highly qualified teaching team.
There are many after school activities and clubs, including music, sports, dancing, painting, calligraphy and so on.
Students eat lunch together at the school canteen, but breakfast and dinner will be eaten with the homestay family.
Your class will have approximately 20 other students in it and most likely you will be the only non-Chinese student. This means you might be a very popular person to sit next to, as there is usually quite a bit of competition who will sit next to the foreign exchange student next semester.
Getting into this Chinese high school is quite competitive and your class mates will be performing academically quite well.
However, the general atmosphere is a bit more relaxed than at most other Chinese high schools, because the students plan to study abroad.
This means they will not have to take the super competitive Chinese Gaokao university examinations that most teenagers between 15 and 18 spend almost all their time studying for, leaving little time to enjoy life outside school. Most students will have traveled abroad and speak comparatively good English.
To give yourself a bit of time to settle into China and improve your Mandarin before starting high school, most students do several weeks of Chinese language course in Beijing first.
Depending on when your summer holidays start this can be for anything from one to eight weeks.
During the Chinese course, you will be studying four hours of Chinese in small group classes with other international students and be staying with a homestay family.
NOTE – It is also possible to add an additional two hours of individual Chinese lessons to the group classes to get ahead faster.
At the language school a lot of social activities are offered and you will very quickly meet other students from all over the world who also came to China to learn Mandarin.
English is widely spoken and this is a very good first step to ease into China before immersing yourself fully into the culture and language in your new Chinese high school.
Once you are at your high school it is also possible to take individual Chinese classes during the weekends to help you to improve your Mandarin.
You will be living with a friendly Chinese family that will be looking after you during your stay.
Your room will either be shared with your host sibling or you can book the single room upgrade to have your own private room.
The homestay is really the most fun and interesting part about spending a year abroad in China.
You will eat daily freshly prepared Chinese food and be part of a Chinese family where you will practice your Mandarin every day and really get to know Chinese culture.
At the same time there will always be someone to help and support you. Our families are famous for going out of their way to make sure host students feel comfortable.
| Duration | Price (in Chinese Yuan) |
|---|---|
| One Semester | 76,343CNY |
| Two Semesters | 124,501CNY |
Includes
Additional Costs
Accommodation is already included the price. You will live with a Chinese family in a shared room, with maximum 45 minutes travel time to the high school. WIFI, air-con, heating and all other bills are already included.
Upgrade Single Room: 15,000 CNY/semester net
Here are a list of further add-on’s which include additional Chinese courses and customised accommodation options. Do contact us if you have any questions about the following:
| Add-On | Description | Price (in Chinese Yuan) |
|---|---|---|
| Preparation Chinese Month | 4 weeks of Chinese lessons (20 hours a week) | 8,528CNY |
| Preparation Chinese Homestay Month | Private Bedroom at a Homestay | 10,388CNY |
| Spring Festival Break | 4 weeks, Homestay Full board (breakfast, lunch and dinner) | 10,320CNY |
| 1-on-1 Weekend Chinese classes | 40 or 80 hours of Classes | 9,216CNY / 17,544CNY |
| Single Room Upgrade | (subject to availability) | 15,000CNY per Semester |
| Season | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|
| Fall Semester 2020 | 31 August 2020 | 3 February 2021 |
| Spring Semester 2021 | 04 March 2021 | 09 July 2021 |
Note: Small changes in the dates are possible, as the Education Ministry sometimes adjusts school starting dates by a few days.
We will communicate any changes in dates with you in as much advance as possible.
Yes there are but they can vary from seasons and years.
Generally you can expect activities such as Sports, Calligraphy, English, Drama etc.We can help get this set up if anything takes an interest.
While this of course depends on each person, students studying at a Chinese high school in Beijing for a year usually reach full fluency.
What definitely helps is a preparation Mandarin course in Beijing at the beginning – the longer the better.
Once you are at the high school, all your class mates will be Chinese and you will be speaking Mandarin every day. You will also soon discover that outside the tourist and expat areas in Beijing basically nobody speaks English and you will be speaking Mandarin pretty much all the time. You will discover that learning Mandarin is actually not as difficult as many people think it is.
Once you got your tones under control and learn how the Chinese character system works, Chinese grammar is actually quite simple.
While everyone sometimes misses home, surprisingly homesickness has never been much of a problem for our China high school program participants.
Beijing is an amazing city and once you are in it you will not want to leave.
However, usually in China the first two weeks can be quite challenging. The food is different, nobody speaks English, Beijing is a very big city and often even smells differently.
During that time many students require quite a lot of support from our team both practically and sometimes a bit emotionally too. We are here for you at all times, whatever you need.
This is the great thing about having the whole LTL support team being based in Beijing.
We will see each other regularly for school events, trips and dinners while you are at the high school and even more so if you do a preparation Mandarin course in Beijing before going to high school.
Yes of course they can visit you.
Your parents are welcome to visit you in China at any time. We can also help them with their visa invitations and organization of the trip.
Our homestays are lovely places to be but of course, general tidiness, politeness and genuine etiquette around the house are important.
You may help around the house with little chores here and there but just being kind and respectable on a daily basis is all that will be asked.
We have been doing this for many years and the process is actually a lot simpler than many people think.
Send us a message to let us know a bit more about you, when you want to come to China and ask any questions you might have. We will then organize a WhatsApp or phone interview with you and your parents to go through the program together and get to know you a bit more.
After this you and your parents will have to fill out our registration forms, we will register you for the program, apply for the visa, you book your flight and you are on your way to China
Yes all Chinese schools have their own school uniforms.
No, this is strictly forbidden during class but before or after any class this is no problem.
If there is any emergency at any stage, the school phones can be used.
Students can decide to travel home during the break or stay in China. The break of Spring Festival lasts four weeks generally but these dates are always subject to a little change each year.
As accommodation is not included for the Spring Festival Break we can arrange a homestay during this time (a great time to experience these celebrations over the holidays) and additional Chinese classes to reenforce their Chinese knowledge.
Likewise, travel home of course is a possibility. Communicate with us and we’ll make sure whatever solution you are after, we resolve.
The dates of Chinese New Year/Spring Festival Break are different every year, but it is usually either in late January or early February.
Us of course.
In addition to your high school, you will be part of the LTL social community here and we organize events, dinners and trips every week. We will see each other regularly, but if you have a problem, call us or come by our office at any time.
Many issues we will be able to help you solve over a cup of tea in our office, but for anything serious we of course also offer 24/7 emergency support.
Firstly, you will definitely need a WeChat account when living and studying in China. This will be your “whatsapp in China“.
For your other apps that are banned, you will need a VPN.
The best thing we can recommend here is getting a VPN sorted out before coming to China.
We’ve covered VPN’s extensively on our blog. Take a look and your questions will be answered there.
Likewise we also recommend getting things like a Chinese SIM card sorted out and of course with the powers of technology these days, we are closer to home than we ever have been before.
I always wanted to go abroad, since the 6th grade, like maybe America, but I discovered other possibilities like China and it always stuck with me. After a while I thought, yea, why not!
When you come to a High School in Beijing you have to start very early, I was really nervous before but I can say it's not as hard as I imagined. The people are really nice.
I was surprised how much everyone wanted to make friends and how nice and welcoming everyone was. Nobody is excluded, it doesn’t matter how old or where people are from.
I’m Anna, I am from Germany but my parents are from Poland. I am 17 years old and I go to the Beijing High School.
I’ve been here for almost 10 months.
I always wanted to go abroad, since the 6th grade, maybe America, but I discovered other possibilities like China and it always stuck with me.
After a while I thought, why not?!
Find out more about Anna’s story...
I’m Ronja and I am 15 years old From Berlin in Germany.
I would say the LTL group course I did before coming to the High School was one of the best ways to learn Chinese. The teachers are always really nice too. They try to get the best out of you.
When you come to a High School in Beijing you have to start very early, I was really nervous before but I can say it’s not as hard as I imagined. The people are really nice.
FIND OUT MORE with Ronja’s video interview…
Shelley at LTL Beijing
The first day was challenging with the time difference and moving into a Chinese family that spoke very little English, plus being homesick.
I was not so happy.
However the minute I walked into LTL school on Monday morning I started to feel at home.
I was surprised how much everyone wanted to make friends and how nice and welcoming everyone was. Nobody is excluded, it doesn’t matter how old or where people are from, everyone talks to each other.
After a week now I feel like I am settled. I know how to navigate the Beijing subway – which was quite a challenge at the beginning as it is huge, got better known to my homestay and it now feels like I have another family here in China, and made a lot of new friends.
You can see how the rest of Shelley’s year went with her video interview here
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