Reviews of Keats School

My name is Willy, I am 38 yo and I come from France. I've been working in the mobile phone industry as a software engineer for the past 15 years. I often had to cooperate with Chinese people in the past. They sometimes were my customers, they sometimes were my managers. Even though the professional language we used was always English, I thought at one point that it would be useful to learn Chinese. It seemed to me that it would help me to understand them better, not only on a language point of view but also on a culture point of view.

My previous company gave us this opportunity 4 years ago. We were initiated to the pronunciation, to the tones and also to some basic Chinese conversation. According to me, learning a language is worth it only if you’re able to use it in the real life and I must admit that this introduction to Chinese language was not enough. Even though I was able to produce some basic sentences, I was clearly unable to understand Chinese people during my business trips. I decided to come to Keats during 2 months in 2010 in order to improve this. Few weeks one-on-one Chinese courses later, my Chinese was definitely better. I won’t say I could understand all of it but this was a big step. Back to France, I kept on studying it on my own but this is not that easy while abroad. Business, family, activities are all time consuming, studying Chinese too.

At the beginning of this year, my company had to face a big merge with another Chinese company. Many people from the US and Europe including the french subsidiary located in Paris were fired. As the mobile phone industry has slightly moved to Asia during the past 15 years, job opportunities in Europe are less and less. I thought this was the perfect timing for me to improve once more my Chinese skills. This time I was looking for a diploma, an official paper saying to the recruiters I was really able to speak Chinese, giving me more chances to find a better position. That is why I came to Keats School at the beginning of this year, go though HSK 4 certification and put this achievement on my resume.

HSK is the official PRC standardized exam to assess Chinese language proficiency of non-native Chinese speakers. HSK is conducted at six levels running from 1 to 6. HSK level 4 is for students who have studied Chinese for two academic years, 2-4 classes per week and achieved 1200 words and related grammar points. I would be in Keats during approximately 6 to 7 months and teachers warned me it would be tough to reach such a level so quickly. Anyway, I was decided to work hard on it. On October 20, 2013, I successfully passed HSK 4 with a mark of 266/300.

While involved in the HSK program at Keats, I had 6 hours Chinese per day (3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon) and two fully dedicated teachers. Since HSK certication is composed of three main parts (listening, reading and writing), each teacher would focus more on some parts of the exam.

First of all, I had to learn all HSK 4 words included in the official list. This implies understanding the exact meaning of each word and ensure I know how to use them. This also implies being able to read the associated Chinese characters. To do so, teachers pick up new words from the list and prepare some dedicated HSK oriented work everyday (listening to sentences, short texts or dialogues including those new words, filling blanks, flashcards games…). Objective here is to be very familiar with all the vocabulary as quickly as possible. Considering that we would study those new words in the morning and in the afternoon, that we would also review them day after day, each student should be able to learn 30 to 50 new words and associated characters everyday depending on their capabilities. Teachers will also ensure I know all the important grammar points, their structure and how to use them using all sorts of exercises that they would prepare in advance. Once I knew the whole vocabulary, exercises became more and more difficult. Using all sorts of books selected by the Keats HSK group, teachers were trying to fit more and more with the official HSK exam conditions. At some point, when they thought I was almost ready for it, we started to go through some real HSK exams to check where I still could improve.

You should know HSK 4 is much more difficult than HSK 3. Regarding the listening part, dialogues and short texts can only be listened once. Teachers will give you some clue on how to detect the key words, how to ensure your answer is correct. Even though you are not able to understand every single word, their methodology will help you a lot. I achieved 97/100 on this part using their method.
Regarding the reading part, timing is tight. You should be able to read quickly and focus on what is important. Teachers will let you know that it is not useful to read and understand every character. Actually, there are even some characters that you never met before during the official HSK exam and this is made on purpose. They expect you to use some logic when replying to the questions. Teachers will teach you how to quickly detect where are the important characters so that you can improve your speed and answer correctly. I achieved 95/100 on this part using their method.
Regarding the writing part, timing is here also very tight. I knew this was my weak point as I started to write Chinese character at a late stage. Teachers helped me to enlarge my knowledge, helped me to improve my speed so that I achieved 74/100 on this part. You should work on it everyday as it is very easy to forget them.

I discussed many times with other Keats students about the difference between HSK courses and one-on-one courses. Some of them were really skeptical about the content, telling me that the words would maybe not be that useful in the real life but they are wrong. According to me, HSK content is related to the Chinese language foundations and are very often used by the Chinese people within their everyday life conversations.
Some others told me that I should go to university, it is much cheaper over there but there is a huge difference between Keats and university. Keats will provide you with 2 fully dedicated teachers, they will be completely devoted to you. University deals with group classes. It was clear that being only one student in a class was a great opportunity for me to improve my oral Chinese skills everyday.

HSK program is a strong personal investment and it should not be under estimated. Once you have completed the 6 hours Chinese lessons everyday, you still have to review all of it in the evening and do your homework. Maybe you should forget about going to the bar every evening. Organisation is the key point and you must know where are your weaknesses if you want to achieve a high score. Teachers in Keats are flexible and you can advise them you want to focus more on one part when needed, that’s what I did while preparing the exam. As I was travelling in Asia from times to times, they were also very comprehensive with it and would modify their organization so that it could fit mine and I’m really thankful for it. Now it is time for me to look for a new job and I wish the best to the newcomers preparing HSK certification in Keats. Thank you to all the teachers involved in my HSK preparation.

I took a 1-week intensive one-on-one Chinese course at Keats this May. My teacher, Sarah was very adjustable and would adjust to what I wanted to know. For example, I did not want to review asking for and receiving directions to places. At my level, I would NEVER understand any response I got from a native speaker. We focused on what I wanted to know and learn - which was restaurants and shopping and words for FOOD (all one can hope for in a week!). As foreigners, it is hard to find food that we will be comfortable eating...so learning to ask where the chicken part of the menu is was critical! She worked with me on that and I really appreciate it! She was great about making flash cards for me that the Chinese characters on the front, pinyin and English on the back. PERFECT! She was also very willing to go on "field trips" where we could go out and shop and I could practice asking for things. We went to Carrefour because I wanted to buy some Chinese food products - she coached me on the questions I needed to ask - to my amazement - I was able to do that and it made me very happy. Plus - she is a positive person and always made me feel that I was progressing (whether or not I was, in fact, progressing!)

The best is the food - and Zhao Wei's cooking OF COURSE! The school is well organized--schedules are reasonable and the system of making sure you know how and where to go is great. It is clean and comfortable, well located and everyone there is very friendly and willing to help with whatever one needs. Everything runs on time (a very good thing). Having a DVD library is great because after a day of lessons, etc. it is nice to just relax and watch a movie. The pickup and drop off at the airport are great services---very much appreciated. The walking tour of the area was really great, too. Especially how to take the bus!

My comments apply to all Keats teachers I have had in my 12 weeks at Keats. The best of Keats School is the one-to-one method and tailor-made courses, together with being able to start a course anytime. The teachers keep the classes interesting with varied exercises and subject matter. Likewise, the best of Keats’ service is attention to the individual in instruction and other areas. For example, I am grateful for staff assistance in cleaning my room and preparing food for me. Everyone is keen to help, and from the moment I arrived at Kunming airport, I was met with a smile and very reassuring to know that I was not alone. I just want to say to Keats, “Thank you so much for making these 12 weeks so enjoyable and useful!”

I chose Keats School, because:

- Weather in Kunming is good during summer as compared to Beijing and other parts of China.

- Keats has students return more than once.

- Interview with students.

- Individual tutor.

- Reasonable tuition fees

My teacher is very responsive and adaptive. Ms. Chen prepares classes very well and also responds to mew ways and ideas. Eating service + organization is very good. No wasting time looking for food. The school has good location – central location. Helpful about all problems and questions. I would definitely come back to study with you! Thank you.

I choose Keats School because this school is not expensive. And I think one-to-one program is the best because the students are easily improving their Chinese level.

Keats School is really pretty and clean. Our rooms are very convenient. All teachers are enthusiastic. My friend said that Kunming is cool during the summer and Keats School is a good place for westerner to learn Chinese. He is right!

我的老师让我说很多，看很多书。她也给我介绍了传统的故事，音乐，画儿。 另外她也教我现代的句子。 My teacher understands the students. Personally, she listened to me and focused on my weaknesses in Chinese.

Keats is not just a school; it is a full living experience: food, artistic decoration, calligraphy courses. The school program offers the main elements of language training, a wide range of available books to consult and certainly a pleasant non-judgmental atmosphere.

My teacher's teaching skills are varied and numerous, well prepared, knows very well the subject matter, and readily gives examples to clarify the grammar, speaks according to my level, she is PAITENT! She makes good use of the blackboard and flash cards.

As a returning student, I will definitely come back again!

The school offers an excellent package making my trip as hassle free as possible and also looks like a friendly place to study.

Very helpful and flexible. If you don’t like something you can tell them and they’ll try to change it for you. Also the atmosphere is very friendly and supportive.

My teacher's lessons were very interesting and the four hours passed too quickly! Clear explanations and that when I got things wrong she just encouraged me to try again.

I really enjoyed the calligraphy.

Hopefully I can come again!

I think Keats School has the best Chinese language program in China. My teacher at Keats was the best one I have ever had (in 3 years). She is able to modify her language level to my language level- this is the most important thing for me, because I feel encouraged to use mandarin more. She always prepares well in advance to meet the exact requirements of my learning. She provides many examples to illustrate the grammar points. I feel very comfortable to ask her many questions – she never makes me feel stupid.

Everything is available in the Keats School building. It is conveniently located; all of the staff are warm and friendly. I like the way that we are always encouraged to speak Chinese.

The unique 1 on 1 teaching style is complimented very well by a very friendly group of teachers that are invested in helping. Each student improves his/her Chinese. It is wonderful that each teacher is so patient with any student.

My teacher’s teaching has far exceeded my expectations. She is able to keep a well organized structure for class while still allowing flexibility for free conversation and to suit my interest. I thoroughly enjoyed each class.

I highly recommend Keats School in Kunming. If you want to learn Chinese in China, check out Keats School's Chinese language programs.

This year I came back because I benefited so much from the teaching last time and had so much pleasure here.

The teaching is excellent and well tailored to the individual student. Keats School's staff make great efforts to make students' life comfortable.

I think my teacher's preparation is excellent! Because she always has excellent examples she very rarely has to resort to translation – very impressive.

Keats School was the only school that offered intensive Chinese classes, one-on-one instruction, a single room with amenities for a reasonable price. The teaching and the helpful services were all excellent.

Price - Compare with similar schools, Keats is less expensive.

Convenience - having the dorms located in the same building as the school is great.

Program - 4 hours of 1-1 instruction is ideal.

As a teacher myself, I can find no flaws in my teacher's teaching methods. I thought she was an excellent teacher. I would gladly be her student again.