This is something you shouldn’t be concerned about and should certainly not impact whether you choose group or 1-on-1 Chinese classes.
At LTL we have a very tight knit student community where all students, before, during and after school spend plenty of time together and discover China. You’ll also have the one hour lunch break where many of our students go for lunch together in Shanghai, or meet for Dinner after class. Our social events in Shanghai also give you ample chance to meet and enjoy the company of your fellow students.
This really depends on the Chinese teachers schedules at the time you come to Shanghai to study Chinese. Sometimes you’ll have just the one Chinese tutor, other times you may have three. If you have a preference regarding the number of Chinese tutors in Shanghai, feel free to speak to us as we get you booked up.
Absolutely yes, but hard work is required. You don’t just become fluent in Chinese through the hours you study, it’s all about applying it and growing in confidence when using it in everyday situations. All the focus in our individual classes is on you. Chinese lessons are tailored to you. You’ll have no other distractions so you’ll be getting the best Chinese lessons in Shanghai, all to yourself.
The progress you will make obviously depends on how hardworking you are, and how you choose to spend your time in Shanghai outside of the classroom. From experience, those who stay in an LTL homestay with a local family will improve their oral fluency and listening comprehension more quickly than those who live with other foreigners. As a general guideline, a motivated student at LTL Mandarin School on the Standard Individual program could expect to reach approximately HSK 3 level after about 10 weeks. See our HSK Information page at LTL School for details.
Before you arrive in Shanghai, you will have a language assessment with our Director of Studies over the phone / Skype. This is not an exam, but rather an informal conversation so we can gauge your current Mandarin Chinese level (if any) and decide which learning materials you should work from – whether that’s a textbook, newspapers or documents from your field of work.
We will also ask you if there are any particular areas you wish to focus on, such as tones, HSK exam preparation, or even talking about specialist, technical topics relevant to your career. Once you have started the 1-on-1 program, your teacher will always be open to adapting lessons to your needs and preferences. Perhaps you decide to start each lesson reviewing what you studied the day before? Or perhaps you decide you prefer to cover as much ground as possible, and review in your own time. Either way, our teachers have had many years of experience in teaching Chinese, so they will work with you over the duration of your course to develop your study plan.
Simply click here to contact a Student Advisor directly! We always do our best to contact you as quickly as possible.
If you would like to keep up your Chinese progress when you go home our online continuation course might be just what you need. You can continue with the same teacher (depending on schedules) and book to keep learning Chinese from your own home.
