Chinese Immersion Program in Shijiazhuang, China

I spent five weeks there and was really impressed. I had been self taught and really needed a push to get out of my comfort zone. My teacher certainly did that! After a 20 minute Skype evaluation before my arrival they had my level nailed. That's the beauty of one on one teaching, your instructor adjusts to your ability level - and you can't hide in the back of the class either! The only thing I would do differently is stay with a host family rather than have my own apartment to intensify the immersion experience. Speaking of which, the entire time I in Shijiazhuang the only foreigners I saw were my fellow students, so this school is a terrific way to really focus on learning Mandarin. Highly recommended, and if my wife will let me I plan to go again next year.

I’m now studying Chinese in KCE and I truly loved every minute! Everyone from the teachers, to the staff were fantastic! Everyone was very accommodating, warm, friendly and supportive of me learning Mandarin.
The 1-on-1 intensive lessons were a new experience to me, but I quickly discovered how efficient this learning method is for learning Mandarin, probably even any language.This type of program is intense and the student will be pushed to learn as much as possible in the time that they are here.
The atmosphere at KCE is just very informal and relaxed, it feels a bit like high school where you just go to class and have some fun afterwards. The students and teachers at KCE are also very kind and they organize a lot of activities during the week and excursion trips during the weekends.
I highly recommend going to KCE if you are interested in intensive (but fun) Chinese learning at a school with flexibility, great teachers and staff, and international students. Shijiazhuang is also a very beautiful city with great landscapes and opportunities to explore.

I just got back 2 months ago from studying advanced Chinese abroad here for four months. KCE is an immersion school offering one-to-one classes from beginner to advanced as well as cultural study and HSK prep. It is a small school with more students in summer but fewer in spring/fall. If you want to make friends and do lots of cultural activities, go in summer. If you want to focus on studying go in fall/spring.
Classes are one-to-one so the teacher's attention is focused on you and personally tailored to your needs. You can study at whatever level, at any pace and on any topic you like from grammar and speaking, to poems or reading the newspaper. The teachers will speak mostly Chinese, but if you are a beginner, they can speak good English too. I used the school's intermediate to advanced textbooks and they were great, if a bit outdated, with many interesting topics. I added hundreds of useful words to my vocabulary, improved my speaking and listening from HSK 2 to HSK 4/5 and improved my reading and writing from HSK 3/4 to HSK 5. I'd rate classes a 10/10.
I lived with a host family a twenty-minute bike ride from the school. When living with a host family you will eat many different amazing Chinese foods, be immersed in the Chinese culture and practice Chinese outside class, while teaching the host family son/daughter some English in exchange. I loved teaching my host family's daughter many basic words and seeing her English improve. My host family was really nice always helping me out and keeping me well fed. They even took me traveling during National Holiday Week to the host mother's hometown deep in the beautiful Chinese countryside. I had an amazing experience and would rate living with a host family a 10/10.
There are also dorms which I stayed in during my first week. They are decent but spartan. You will have 2 beds, 1-2 desks, and 1-2 closets and in summer you may have a roommate. There is also a bathroom with a shower and western toilet, a washing machine and a small kitchen. If you are only staying for a month the dorms are okay, but otherwise I would go with a host family. I'd rate dorms a 7.5/10.
Now Shijiazhuang is real China, meaning there are few English speakers, less western stores, and almost no foreigners. You will be completely immersed in Chinese culture rather than western influenced China like Shanghai. This means plenty of chances to use your Chinese outside of class and learn about real Chinese lives. It will be slightly less crowded as the city has several million people not 23 million and everything (save western stuff) will be really cheap. There are also still plenty of modern accommodations (buses, subway lines, shopping malls, parks, etc.) The weather is also pretty decent, not too hot in summer with only some rain and cold in the fall. As for pollution while summer, fall and spring are usually pretty good, between mid November and March the pollution is much higher but gradually this is getting better. For the time I was there (August-early December) I'd rate Shijiazhaung an 8.5/10
To sum up this is an amazing school, that provides you with a great immersive Chinese language experience. If you are prepared to live in real China and embrace Chinese culture while greatly improving your language skills then this is the place for you.