Learning Chinese in Chengde: LTL Chengde reviews, discussions and information

[zhouhaochen]

@zander1

Thanks a lot for the review (finally someone wrote something - I was getting worried!) and I am very happy to hear that you really enjoyed the experience, found the homestay family lovely and your teacher good and professional (I will pass on the compliment). I agree that this family cooks amazing food .

You are also absolutely right that Chengde is an extreme immersion experience without any foreigners around you and no opportunities to speak English, so this is definitely not for everyone. Though in my experience it is more about the attitude than the Chinese level. For a beginner complete immersion is of course too advanced though and starting with a course in Beijing first is definitely the right way to do it.

Great that you passed the HSK and hope to see you soon in Beijing / Chengde again.

[zhouhaochen]

We are teaching classes online in Chengde now too for this week. We currently only have one student there (the one unfortunately decided to fly home last weekend) so it's not too much of a change.

Hopefully can go back to normal next week. There are no cases (even suspected ones) in Chengde city, only one guy who had come back from Hubei in village that administratively belongs to Chengde but actually is pretty far out. I suspect Chengde will be the first school to go back to normal classes as there really is no need for alarm there.

[zhouhaochen]

First Covid Virus free LTL School City: Chengde.

 

While the same restrictions as all of China still apply of course, there are now ZERO Covid cases in Chengde. Finally some good news - lets hope we can report similar numbers for the other LTL school cities soon.

[laoban33]

Hi, 

I would be interested to take a gap year in my studies and study Chinese. From what I researched, it seems like Changde would be a great place for me. 

I have currently HSK 2 level, lived 4 months in Beijing at PKU as an exchange student (part of my bachelor's degree). I would do this gap year next year so I believe I could easily reach HSK 3 by then. Could I get more info?

 

[zhouhaochen]

@laoban33 Thanks so much for writing on here, I was starting to get the feeling I was just talking to myself on this thread

 

I am Andreas, I work for LTL and I designed the whole Chengde program about a decade ago, so I am personally quite attached to it.

 

I personally believe there is no better place to study Mandarin than Chengde, so for my perspective you made a great choice there. With four months experience of living in China you are probably also aware what to expect culture wise. Though do keep in mind that Chengde is the "real China" so any of the western amenities from Starbucks to western bars and pubs you will not find there. Also if you went to Beijing University you were probably used to being surrounded by thousands of foreigners and plenty of people speaking English in the university district. This will definitely not be the case in Chengde and you need to be ready for this if you want to go there.

 

One great thing about Chengde is that it is the official birthplace of Mandarin (they call it 普通话老乡) and Mandarin was codified based on the pronunciation of six school boys in Chengde just after liberation in the 1950s (one of them is still alive), so the Mandarin there is very standard. You could also see it the other way round, what is today considered as “standard Mandarin" is what people speak in Chengde. There are of course some people with a Hebei accent there too, but overall the pronunciation is very good, especially for a "smaller" city.

 

I would be very happy to help with the planning, but would need a bit more information:

 

- From when to when do you want to do your Gap Year?

- Which Chinese level do you want to reach?

- What are your main challenges (tones, characters, speaking etc.)?

- Any thoughts on accommodation yet?

- Would you want to only go to Chengde or maybe combine the course also with other cities? More information on other options on https://ltl-school.com/chinese-course-china/

Another very good option for immersion is our school in Beihai. However, from an immersion and quickly becoming fluent in Mandarin learning point of view, Chengde is the gold standard and no other program can compete with it there.

- Where are you from and a few more details about you？

 

You can reply here, private message or email me on andreas@ltl-school.com

 

Not sure if you already saw it, but I quite like this article in the Telegraph about Chengde. It is a bit older, but it is pretty much the same today. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/artsandculture/8752950/China-Language-lessons-in-Chengde.html

 

 

 

[laoban33]

Thanks for the fast reply! I'll email you

[zhouhaochen]

20 hours ago, laoban33 said:

Thanks for the fast reply! I'll email you

 

Received your email just now, you will have a reply within the next hour.

[Mage2016]

Thank you for creating and maintaining this thread. 

I am still at a beginner level in my Mandarin studies, but I hope to study in Chengde in the future.

[zhouhaochen]

@Mage2016 thanks a lot and it would be great to have you at LTL Chengde ?

This year a high speed train line from Beijing to Chengde has been opened so it is even more convenient to travel there now, which is great. 

Currently it is only possible for students who are already in China to study in Chengde because of the border closures. Germans can travel to LTL Singapore to study and some visas are possible to go to LTL Taiwan, but mainland China for the moment is still closed and most of our students now study Mandarin online with us. Can also work well and we got several students from 0 to HSK 5 this year with online study, but the aim in the end of course is to travel to China.

Chengde is one of my favorite cities in China, you will like it.

[language_lover]

I studied with LTL in Chengde this year. What an experience!

 

I met Zhongwen, her friends and some family members too. My favourite things:

 

- The food (home made Chinese cuisine is the worlds finest IMHO)

- No English. I was sceptical about this quote from LTL before. However, it's 100% correct. You actually think in Mandarin which is wild to me.

- The city. So calming, so easy going, a world away from the hustle and bustle

 

The new train line between Chengde and Beijing is a great plus too. Just a 1 hour journey now.

 

Will be back soon.

[Jan Finster]

On 11/7/2024 at 12:56 PM, language_lover said:

studied with LTL in Chengde this year. What an experience!

Would love to read a more detailed report if you find the time 

[zhouhaochen]

On 11/7/2024 at 6:56 PM, language_lover said:

No English. I was sceptical about this quote from LTL before. However, it's 100% correct. You actually think in Mandarin which is wild to me.

Oh, I just saw this, thanks so much for the feedback. I will pass that on to Zhongwen, (for anyone who doesnt know, she has been the LTL Chengde coordinator for almost 15 years and is the heart and soul of LTL Chengde; she often takes students out with her friends, go to family events or have them stay with her) she will be super happy. 

And yes everything is in Mandarin in Chengde.

Do you have any good pictures to share from Chengde? @language_lover