Language Schools in ChaoYang Park, Lido, CBD - share information

[crjcrj]

3 June 2008

10 June - Updated (with comments on each school I saw)

I am looking for a private school that offers intensive courses about 3-4 hours a day, Monday to Friday. My goal is to learn to learn properly from the beginning - reading, writing, speaking and listening. I already speak okay conversational, but realised to progress I need to start from scratch!

A university or truly intensive programme is out, as I have two young children and can't be away all day. So that left private language schools!

A lot of other schools don't offer an intensive M-F programme, or weren't in a convenient location for me (I live near ChaoYang Park), so I have been looking for a school near ChaoYang Park, Lido or the CBD (only because I didn't find many in the first two areas!!)

I have looked at the below, and am doing sample lessons at some, I will report back what I find in case others also want this information.

These don't do 5 days a week:

http://www.capitalmandarin.com/

http://www.frontiers.com.cn/

These do 1:1 only, and don't really have group classes except rarely:

TLI focuses on 1:1 - 110 per hour

BLI http://www.blichina.com/ focuses on 1:1 - 180 per hour

Civil Aviation Management Institute

http://www.camic.cn/

http://www.camicec.cn/english/main.asp

This is right near the Lido Hotel, but technically in WangJing

I'm not keen on 20 students in a class, so passed, but I hear it is very good.

So for someone looking for a university setting in this part of town, this is pretty much what there is!

Cheapest to more Expensive:

Diqiucun

http://diqiucunschool.co.kr/introduce/ditu.php

Mostly Korean students, apparently super cheap and very flexible, but I don't think it is suitable for me at the moment. Do a search on this forum for lots of info on this school

Jun Cheng

http://www.junchengedu.com/

1200 per month for 4 hours a day, they use Spoken Chinese as their text book and do the first book in the first 3 months term, I like that the students are very international (not all English speakers)

I visited the school near ChaoYang Park West Gate and sat in on a beginner class, that had been studying for 11 weeks already, I didn't get the sense that they were learing to write, but they could recognise some characters, also the speaking wasn't so confident. The teacher was not very good at getting them to interact or speak. But maybe I was there on an off day? Other comments on this site say the school has a lot of serious students and it is very good, but I only saw one class. I got the feeling that this would be fine for someone who was really self motivated, but I need a teacher to help motivate me, so I will look elsewhere.

Splash

http://www.splashfun.com.cn/

30 rmb an hour for group class, 75 rmb an hour for 1:1, they also use Spoken Chinese as their text book.

In the end, I decided not to do a sample class at this school, although I think they would be fine for speaking for their price. The reason I didn't do a sample class, is I want a school that focuses more on reading and writing, and Spoken Chinese book is not the right book for that.

More Expensive:

That's Mandarin

http://www.thatsmandarin.com

unfortunate name, but interesting teaching method, one branch in JianWai SoHo, 8 weeks is 10,000, 18 weeks is 19,980. 2 hours of group and 1 1.2 hours of 1:1 per day.

This was a very interesting school. They use no books, they have a method of teaching through stories. The class started with the teacher giving me a basic beginning of a story (three people standing on the side of the road), and I had to make up the story, with her guiding me in certain directions. I certainly spoke more than any other sample lesson, and learned a variety of vocabulary that I would be likely to remember. She would write some things on the board, or help teach me words when I didn't know them. If I said something that was okay, but not the best way to say it, she would teach me how.

At the end of the lesson, she gave me a print out, with some phrases and sentences from the story. It was in Chinese, and I put it into pinyin with her help, and reviewed them.

It was very interesting, and absolutely gets you speaking and probably remembering... but it is not what I need right now, I need to go back to the beginning and learn how to read and write, and I am looking for some structure.

I think this would be perfect for someone who has studied in a university for a year or so, and has a good solid foundation in reading, writing, etc... but hasn't had much opportunity to speak. This method would probably get you speaking faster and more confidently than anything else I have seen thus far.

CLE

http://www.chinaledu.com

They have 2 hours of spoken/listening based on Spoken Chinese then 2 hours of reading/writing based on New Practical Chinese Reader. 3,720 for 4 weeks, 7,400 for 8 weeks, 9,200 for 12 weeks. A friend goes here and likes it, she also said the students at the SoHo branch are very motivated to learn.

I did a sample class and was very impressed! The students were from multiple countries and not all English speakers. The class I saw were beginners and had been studying for one month. Their written pinyin was perfect, and their character writing was pretty good too. The teacher was excellent at getting them to speak Chinese and had creative and fun ways to review. I was very impressed and have shortlisted this school! In addition, the director Sally Zhang was very helpful.

In the end, I decided on CLE, and I am very happy with my choice. I start in July 2007, and if I progress quickly they might advance me a level, so they have enough classes to be flexible like that, which is great.

ACLS

http://www.acls.com.cn/

Are expensive as well and don't do sample classes - 4,465 for 4 weeks, 8775 for 8 weeks, 10,425 for 12 weeks. but they have had good reviews from a friend of mine. They use New Practical Chinese Reader as their text. I can't see a sample class (not allowed) but I get the feeling they would be of a similar type to CLE, ie., very good.

Beautiful environment. Half of the school is an English school, the other half the Chinese school. The common room is in the middle and is very nice, even has a pool table! In addition there is a coffee shop and a huge outdoor terrace.

ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS/EXPERIENCE OUT THERE TO SHARE??? OR COMMENTS ON THE ABOVE??

Ideally, I would like a school in this area, that uses New Practical Chinese Reader as their text, and doesn't cost something crazy... but it seems the cheaper schools use Spoken Chinese and the more expensive ones use New Practical Chinese Reader... at least so far... the search goes on!

I'm okay paying more if I see a huge increase in quality, which I did see with the schools I have looked at thus far.

[roddy]

First, thanks for putting all that information together.

Second, you say a university is out due to time pressures, but that you're looking for three to four hours a day - which is what I would expect a university to be, four hours a day. Location could be a problem as you are in Chaoyang, but perhaps UIBE or . . .er . . . one of the other universities in Chaoyang