Group Classes

At LTL I chose the small group classes. It turned out to be a great choice for me. Before the start of the classes my level in Chinese was very low. I had some group classes (in very large groups of 20 persons) many years ago in Belgium. At LTL I was in a small group of 4 people. We were all at a similar level but from different nationalities and ages which provided for a great mix. There was one German, a Briton and an American. This made it really fun because we could compare how each person would say or do things in their own country, or help each other out when needed.

Frederic and his Small Group Classmates with Teacher Lucy

Each weekday we had a 4-hour class. 2 hours in the morning and 2 more with a lunch break in between. It’s perfect because you don’t feel too tired after each session. During lunch break we ate together and discussed some of the things we’d just learned.
The teacher follows a handbook to teach us the basics in Chinese which is exactly what I needed compared to my starting level. Besides that she also did a lot of preparations such as pictures, particular exercises and role-plays.

LTL Social Event at Hai Di Lao Hot Pot

On Tuesdays and Thursdays we learned about the Chinese characters (structure, strokes, radicals,…). I really liked the stories behind some of them. For example, I’ll never forget the story behind the word ‘lake’. There’s the ‘water’ radical and the ‘moon’ radical in it referring to the ancient Chinese who went to the lake to watch the moon over the water.
Our teacher also made sure that there was enough room for personal accents and questions. For me it was definitely the pronunciation (‘b’ and ‘p’) so she made me repeat a lot of times and I finally got it right!

In general she really encouraged us to speak, read and write. After each class she gave us some homework. Most of the time it was to help us review what we’d learned that day.
So in conclusion I would say that I’ve made real progress. A lot faster than I would have in Belgium and on top of that learned a lot about the local culture and habits and met some great people as well. I can’t wait to go back for a third time. Thank you LTL and xiexie laoshi!

We wanted to come to Beijing together to learn Chinese. We had limited time so we needed a flexible program and LTL could offer that to us. The classes and the organisation and how things were explained suited both of us very well. The teachers repeat things a lot focusing on the pronunciation, and correct us when we say something wrong. I really like this. Chinese, especially the tones can be tricky so it is important to have teachers that focus on the details and who are not afraid to tell you what you are doing wrong.

Cristina & Annalisa enjoy the LTL welcome breakfast

We liked the LTL lessons a lot. We both really enjoyed Beijing, it was so beautiful and we ended up liking the Chinese people as well.

Few people spoke English which on one hand is a challenge, but on the other it forces you to use the Chinese you learn in class. Both of us would like to return to China and to LTL next summer. Maybe Shanghai, to see more of China?

Studying Chinese as a Mature Student

Having self-studied Mandarin on and off and being ok at reading but never making much progress with listening and speaking, I had meant to undertake language immersion in China for a long time. In my 30s and a full time accountant in the UK, it had been difficult to find the time to do this. An opportunity arose when I moved jobs last autumn but I had only two weeks available for the trip and so I wanted to make the most of this limited time. Homestay seems the best way to do this and was one of the main reasons I was interested in LTL, which consistently emphasises homestay as an important part of the language learning experience.

It was only the week before the planned trip that it was confirmed I could take the two weeks as annual leave. This meant some fairly frantic last minute visa arrangements (which LTL supported helpfully although it is clearly not an approach they would encourage) and some anxious moments waiting for confirmation that everything was in place. It was only after clearing immigration at Beijing that my heart was finally set at ease and I felt this long-awaited adventure was actually going to happen.

Once in Beijing and being unable to even have much of a conversation with the taxi driver on the way into the city from the airport, I realised my spoken Mandarin was even worse than I had thought. However, my homestay family, in the south of Beijing, were kind and encouraging right from the beginning, making an effort to speak clearly and to draw out coherent sentences from me. The father of the family in particular also took time to talk with me over dinner (excellent food, by the way) about all sort of topics. While a homestay can be a little nerve-wracking if like me you’re not already at a reasonable level of fluency, and you will find yourself looking up a lot of household items in the dictionary, this is the quickest way to improve fluency and I very much recommend this approach over a hotel or lodgings with other students.

The school itself is as other bloggers have described; bright, friendly and in a convenient part of town (and close to some nice restaurants). The group classes, being small, work best with a lot of conversation in Mandarin and limited use of learners’ home languages (typically English and German). It must be said, the school is not cheap but teachers are qualified and experienced and they care about their students’ progress which on balance I think is probably worth paying for. There is a sociable atmosphere and I particularly liked the fact that teachers and students ate lunch together. While some of the students are university students (or straight out of high school), age was not nearly as much of an issue as I had expected, and with students having a variety of backgrounds I was reassured not to be the only ‘oldie’.

Since returning to the UK I have tried to continue studying in my spare time. I recently passed my HSK4 exam and this is largely thanks to those two weeks in Beijing which gave me a much stronger base of listening and speaking from which to continue self-study.

I look forward to one day going to Chengde for the even more immersive program!

11 weeks at LTL have flown by and it’s been a great experience that I’d recommend. If you are on the fence, just make the jump.

I decided to sign up for the Small Group Classes with some individual as well, at LTL Beijing. My Chinese lessons were great fun. I really enjoyed the group ones and the diversity of each teacher was useful for learning the language. Overall I had three different teachers. They were great and each excelled in their own little areas. The group classes I actually found more fun than an activity or learning. You build up strong rapports with your teacher and your classmates that it makes it genuine fun.

You learn about more than just the language as well. Culture is a big thing in China and you are taught that accordingly which comes in really handy in real life situations.

This was useful for my homestay, you get to understand the differences between living in China and the west. It took me some time to figure out if he family were arguing or just conversing with each other! The lessons and day to day living mean you get to grips with this quickly.

There’s never a dull moment in China and I’ll be looking at coming back to LTL to try and achieve the HSK 6 in the future.