Education First in Beijing

[KellyCMI]

I'm thinking about learning Chinese with EF International (http://www.ef.edu/ils/destinations/china/beijing/). Whould anyone recommend their courses? Pros and cons? I'm concidering "homestay" offer (living in private home with native speakers). Thanks for any information.

[Demonic_Duck]

Full disclosure: I used to work at an EF Kids and Teens English training center in Beijing, though I no longer have any professional affiliation with them.

 

Can't comment on the contents of the course - I actually didn't know EF had a Mandarin teaching center in Beijing. They're a large and well-established international for-profit education company, so I'd expect their courses, teaching and service to be fairly professional, but beyond that it's difficult to say. Glancing over the webpage you linked to with a sceptic's eye, the only claim I'd take issue with this paragraph:

 

"Guaranteed results. You’ll advance one level every six weeks – thanks to our innovative and personalized learning method that blends classroom lessons, interactive tools and cultural immersion."

 

Well yes, it's not really any surprise that you'll advance one level every six weeks if the course levels have been designed with the aim of fitting into six weeks each. This could also potentially be problematic if you or some of your classmates are very slow learners - if they've signed up for a few months of classes, they could find themselves lagging behind, not to mention holding up lessons.

 

On the other hand, this kind of system is rarely a problem for quick learners, because they can just skip levels here and there as needed. If the course has been designed wisely, they'll be conservative with the gradations in difficulty between each level.

[ChTTay]

Each lesson is 40 minutes. Isn't 50-60 the norm usually with private lessons?

Ten minutes difference will add up to considerable amount if taken over the whole study period.

I also don't like the fact you need to contact them for a "quote" - why can't they just display set prices? (Even with a disclaimer they could fluctuate would be okay) . It makes you think they could alter prices depending on the applicant.

As for this course that works in 6 week blocks. Does this mean that they designed their own textbooks? Or are they using someone else's then just artificially dividing them into levels? Like lesson 1-6 counts as level 1 and so on.

The course could be okay and the website is very appealing/professional... But a lot of questions.

Worth checking out competitors and comparing price/study time.

There has been a very positive review of LTL school on here recently from someone on their homestay course.

[KellyCMI]

Thank You Guys for Your opinion!

 

I'll consider LTL School - do You know more offers like EF and LTL ones?

 

I forgot to tell You, that my Chinese language skills are about HSK3 - that may be important ;)