I had a good experience with a language school in Dalian

[eion_padraig]

So I just wanted to say if anyone is looking for a good private language school in Dalian, I ended up taking classes for 2 weeks at Dalian Panda Chinese Language School (大连朌达汉语学校). They're located just north of Friendship Square (友好广场) I decided to go north (I live in Guangzhou) after my vacation started to get out of the heat and rain, plus I figured folks in Dalian would speak a lot better Mandarin (they do).

I ended up taking private lessons for 2 hours a day and a one hour speaking class with 2 other students (Korean). They rotated the teachers, so I ended up having 3 different ones. One was excellent, and the one two were good. I focused largely on filling in the gaps in my knowledge of grammar. I also attended a few free lessons on Chinese sayings, which were not quite as good as the other classes, but they were free. I think I paid 2400 RMB for 30 hours of instruction. 

Dalian's weather in June was really quite pleasant. Warm without being cold. I didn't end up using the air conditioning in my apartment during the whole time, but I kept the windows open with screens. I found local people I met on the street to be quite friendly. 

I found a few places I'd recommend. Bon Bon Cafe, which has great owners and a cat, is at Wuhan Ave and Duli Ave ( 武汉街，独立街). I spent a number of hours studying there and speaking with the owners and other customers in Chinese. I also went to the two locations for Brooklyn Pizza as I was craving a bit of American food. They have one at Bulao Ave （不老街) and one on Tianjin Ave (walking street; 天津街).

 

While I was there, I went to a number of the tourist spots (Xinghai Square, Labor Park, Fujiazhuang Beach, Haizhiyun Park). I thought it was a good place to do some hiking and walking around. I was warned by locals that it gets windy and cold during the winter, but they said it doesn't snow much. So not a flashy city, but I have a pretty good impression of the place. I had some good seafood there too.

Eion

 

 

[michaelS]

Thanks eion_padraig. That's worth knowing - I'm currently resigned to staying in Dalian a couple more weeks than I wanted to this summer, so maybe I'll take the opportunity to do some study.

 

Do you have any contact information for them? Are they the kind of school that will do business via email, or is that asking too much?

[abcdefg]

What did you do about lodging?

[roddy]

Thanks for the info. I spent a year in Dalian back in 2007/08 and enjoyed it - not the most exciting of cities, but clean, friendly and very liveable. 

[roddy]

Will people from other Chinese schools please stop downvoting Eion's post. It's like kindergarten in here sometimes. 

[eion_padraig]

Hey ABCDEFG,

 

I found studio apartment through AirBnB. It wasn't super inexpensive (about 150 RMB), but I think it was less expensive than the decent hotels in the same area of the city. It also had a small kitchenette and a washing machine.

 

Eion

[abcdefg]

Sounds like a good move. (Was just wondering if the school had a dorm or apartments of its own.)

[eion_padraig]

I don't think so, but then again I didn't ask. The only other two students I spoke with were just taking classes part-time and had lived in Dalian a while.

[GregorSamsa]

eion_padraig  thanks for sharing man!