Maria Costa Rica

A dear friend of mine recommended LTL to me and in the end I decided to choose LTL because they are flexible. The teacher comes to my office to do the lessons after I am done with work; the time is convenient for me and the 1 on 1 lessons are totally focused on me. The program is really catered to my specific needs.

Julia is my teacher and she is great. She is originally from Shanghai, she speaks clearly and when necessary she’ll repeat if I didn’t understand something that she says. She is also very patient and makes the lessons interesting.

I am definitely continuing to study Chinese at LTL Mandarin School. In addition to having a great teacher, there is a team behind LTL. They focus on providing a good service and really understand the needs of foreigners in China.

John Netherlands

I found LTL Mandarin School on Google. I was looking for schools that provide short term Chinese classes. I didn’t do a lot of research, LTL might be the first that I’ve come across that provides flexible enrolment with an adjustable program. Next to that I was also enthusiastic about the homestay option.

Accommodation was good. The family was very welcoming!

The teachers were very nice and I found the program very useful. Especially when it comes to practicing grammar patterns and learning about differences when to use a word adj/verb, negative/positive, informal/formal whatever. I’ve found this pretty hard to grasp when studying on my own. For me, listening needed a lot of practice so the more Chinese the better. My biggest tip would be to slow down first instead of switching to English.

The environment at LTL was very good. Although I solely chose LTL for the Chinese courses, I do think the events were a nice addition to the program!

Next to points mentioned in earlier survey. Sometimes I would ask about how to say certain things in situations I encountered outside the school. Maybe incorporate these daily situations in the classes, e.g. students in home stay families probably encounter similiar things. I’m talking about different speaking exercises to mix things up. The book we used was fine though. Furthermore, some teachers would continue speaking Chinese outside of class, personally I really liked this. For cultural exchange/gap year students this might be less important. The tip would be to even more adjust this to the student’s need.

I’m planning to come back to LTL maybe in a year (and a half) or so. As I still need lessons by then, Chengde would be the first thing that would come to mind.

Maria Spain

My name is Maria Rodriguez, I took flexible 1-on-1 classes with LTL but they were arranged for me especially in Tianjin. Me and my partner arrived in Tianjin last February. We were convinced learning Chinese will be a very long and challenging journey, but would help us to understand the culture and people, which was our main reason to move to Asia. We both enjoy travelling and learning new cultures, and the language is indeed the best instrument.

Tianjin “rén” are very warm people, their curiosity towards us and their smiles really made a very good impression on us. Furthermore the city is very well connected with other cities in China, like Beijing and Shanghai, and has the advantage of being less crowded. Life rhythm seems less intense than other big cities in China.

I started studying Chinese at a well known university but the Chinese learning methodology is very difficult for a western mind. Learning hundreds of characters per day and memorizing texts can lead students to tiredness and frustration.

However, with the help of Liliane and LTL, I managed to fill in the gaps of understanding and confidence that I was missing on my course. In only three months time, I managed to pass the HSK 3 exam. An achievement that I would have never imagined!

I was very impressed with Liliane’s professionalism and knowledge, she helped me to find a structure and thanks to her experience teaching, she understood my needs from the first day, adapting to my time and understanding. Moreover, what I most like is her energy and enthusiasm. She enjoys teaching as much as I do learning.