Gatherdragons, Harbin

[Jason]

Hello, my name is Jason and I'm new to thses forums.

I am interested in a language study program based in Harbin. The program is called "gatherdragons" and was developed by a British fellow. I'm having trouble finding out much about the program other than what the guy who developed has told me. I am hoping there is someone out there who can give me some input about the program. Any and all information about the program would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!!!

Jason

[Dave]

I too got in touch with this org, but their internet site doesnt work and I cant find anything on these guys , anyone at Harbin taught or took any lessons with this company...

Let us know

Thanks!

[Jason]

I too have been in contact with this org. One of my main concerns is about the qualtiy of the language program they offer. My main goal is to learn Chinese, and I' ma bit worried that their "Chinese Languague Programme" won't be up to snuff. What I've been told so far is that you would get 2hrs. of language class a day, 3 days a week. I asked if the instructors were real teachers or not, and he responded with something like "no, they are younger females, blah, blah" Not sure what that even means; actually now that I've written this out I think I've made up my mind. It just doesn't sound like a very legitimate language program to me. Would still love to hear anybody else's opinions or experiences. Thanks.

[Catdiseased]

uh oh...I am not familiar with that organization, but from the facts you mentioned above, it doesn't sound like a trustful one... The "younger females" may be some university students who know some English and who want to earn some money during free time...

[Lord Farkward]

hey guys... so any news on this? my gf and i are very interested in this program, but 1. it sounds too good to be true (they arrange for u to teach english and blah blah and everything's included so u dont' have to pay much) and 2. i can't find anything solid (no website, no positive feedbacks, no nothing)...

so r u guys giving up on this? any other trust worthy programs worth looking into? thanks a lot!

[devi9]

Some friends of mine studied at different language schools in Harbin and I asked them if they were familiar with this Gatherdragons program. They told me it was not good for language study, rather it is more for people who want to teach English to Chinese people. They've heard some stories about people getting ripped off, mistreated, but that could be on a soley individual basis.

[philgreek]

Dear questioners,

I am Philip, the guy who is currently recruiting for Gatherdragons. Jason, I do appreciate that with the web-site down, the legitimacy is always questionable. If anyone had actually answered from China, it does work there and as it does in New Zealand so I heard from a girl this morning. I can empathize with your situation and I would say just go on a straight langauge course, more expensive but maybe more the type of thing you are going for.

I am not going to post any more replies or get into any discussion. I just found it hard to let it go by that people had been ripped-off or mistreated. This is not true.The company is small and may not have internationally qualified teachers, but as Lord Farkward says, it is not too expensive (due to this reason), and it tries to get a balance between embracing Chinese language and culture with getting a reliable and trustworthy employer. The Chinese girls are only allowed to speak Chinese to you and they are chosen because they all speak Japanese and so they all know how it is to learn a foreign language. It is not perfect but it is something both Scott and I both belive in.

Kind regards,

Philip

[roddy]

For reference, the website (gatherdragons.net) is currently unavailable from Beijing as well.

Credit to Philip, incidentally, for meeting criticism head on, rather than a) threatening legal action or B) making posts pretending to be a satisfied customer, both of which have happened before with other organisations.

Roddy

[Dylan in Harbin]

How're ye!

I've been living in Harbin for over 2 years now. I've picked up a bit of the language and wanted to find a school to study in. I've recently decided to study in Gatherdragons for a few reasons;

If you choose a university to study in be prepared to do a lot of repititious work, you are expected to learn about 20 characters a day by writing them 20 times. In Gatherdragons you learn by speaking.

The hours are less, in university you have 4 hours a day, 5 days a week, plus homework.

Class sizes are small.

Convenient location.

Price is good.

I also think i should say something about the "people are getting ripped off" comment. I have never heard anything about that, but I have seen Scott helping his teachers in everyway he could.

[devi9]

Just wanted to say that I didn't mean to cause such a fuss, I was only relaying what friends of mine told me. It could be a rumour or it could be true, I cannot speak from personal experience.