Lotus Educational Foundation

[Brantavius]

Can anyone here provide firsthand information regarding the integrity of the Lotus Educational Foundation? To me, it seems legitimate. I've arranged a 21-week homestay in Beijing using LEF, but since I must pay the $1000+ for this homestay fairly soon, I want to make "extra sure" that others haven't had too many undue difficulties with LEF. Thanks.

[Nikita]

In the next two weeks I am finishing up my 12 week homestay in Beijing through LEF. Before coming, I would have felt a lot better talking to someone who had worked with the program, too. But they were waiting for me at the airport and arranged the perfect host family for me. I have had no problems whatsoever, and their Beijing staff has really gone out of its way to help me out. They send me occasional e-mails to make sure I'm doing OK. On the way to meet my family from the airport, I just mentioned that I was interested in teaching English and they contacted me shortly after with a teaching opportunity. I couldn't ask for anything more from their program. My host family has been very concerned with me feeling comfortable, and we quickly became life-long friends. Actually living with a Chinese family has given me the opportunity to experience the Chinese culture in a way that is almost impossible otherwise. Hope that helps!! Good luck, you should be excited, you'll have a great time!

[bucko1014]

Brantavius: What program are you doing with LEF? I am in thinking about registering with them to do 12 weeks of a tutor and then the 12 weeks at BCLU. It seems to be the most affordable of the programs to China.

Nikita, can you tell us a little more about:

Your average day

Your homestay

Classes at BCLU (or whatever school you are at)

How good the tutors are (if you have one)

The progression of your Mandarin learning

Any tips you might give to someone about to go on a LEF program

Thanks

[Brantavius]

Bucko,

I'm only doing a homestay through LEF. My Chinese family will provide me with some help in learning Chinese. Also, based on what others told me before I left the US and my experiences so far in Chengdu (been there almost a month and will leave in two days) and Beijing (was there for three days before going to Chengdu), I believe it will be extremely easy for me to find people, especially students, willing to help me with my Chinese for free. Perhaps taking classes would be more effective than this and, thus, worth the money. I can't make this determination since I've never taken Chinese language courses in China. I just know that the type of money spent on Chinese language courses will go a long, long way in China, so I'm going to try my best to get by without them.

If I could go back in time, I'm not even sure I would do the homestay through LEF since I've encountered people willing to let me live with them in exchange for English lessons and/or a much smaller fee than LEF charges for the "free" homestay. I've also had people offer to let me stay with them for free for various lengths of time. You'll probably find plenty of such people in China if you say "ni hao" to enough people, and there are a few places on the internet that you can visit to find people offering homestays for very cheap (none of which I can remember).

[jiangshipei]

Two years ago I was a part of Lotus' 3 month Homestay Program. I was really impressed by the personal attention I got throughout the entire process. I got a personal tutor for the first half then attended BLCU for the remainder of my stay. The teaching was good and the homestay was great because I was forced to use Mandarin everyday. Lotus' staff was helpful and concerned about individual student needs. My favorite example is my friend decided he didn't want to study at the BLCU anymore and wanted to go traveling instead. So, the program got back his tuition from the school and helped find a personal tutor to go traveling with him.

Also, this past summer I did a research project in Beijing and Lotus helped me find useful contacts. They also helped me organize a trip to Tibet to teach at an orphanage. It is a great program, one of the best out of a ton of really shoddy ones.

These two links are from Lotus' site. The first are honest student reviews of the program (including mine) and the second is about my trip to Tibet through them.

http://www.lotuseducation.org/studentStories/

http://www.lotuseducation.org/cip/Teaching.aspx

[roddy]

And you don't think it's prudent to disclose that you are currently Marketing Manager for Lotus as you post this?

[Dalioux]

Hi,

Thank you so much for everything you've posted !!

My parents were worried about sending me with lotus by myself and now they're completely reassured !

I'm actually doing the volunteer-only program and was wondering if anyone had already done that... If so any information/anecdotes would be greatly appreciated !!

Also, the price for 4 weeks is 2000, which seems a little high considering all it is is the homestay and telling me about the orphanage they are affiliated with... Has anyone ever bargained with them ? Are their prices final ?

One last thing : if I get there before the classes start, will anyone be there ? Will there be activities and excursions ? Or should I try to plan my dates to coincide with the classes ?

Thanks again everyone !!

-Dalia.