High School language program in Beijing or Shanghai

I am a senior in high school but have had Chinese lessons mostly after school and some weekends. In the end, my parents agreed that I needed to go to China and learn from there as well. I searched a lot on the internet looking at different schools and options, at some point I came across some information that mentioned Go Abroad China. I emailed them to find out if they could help me, and that’s finally I decided that I would join their program. They advised me to join the small group program in Beijing, so I stayed there for 2 months. The language school that I went to was in Wudaokou – I can never forget this place, it has everything you need; lots of foreigners and lots of places to hang out, sometimes I forgot that this was still China. Some weekends GAC would organize something, that’s when I finally got to meet some other people who also signed with GAC, sometimes we ended up going out by ourselves. Beijing was really fun, I think I will probably go again since I plan to continue with my Chinese studies.

Go Abroad China brought me to China in order to participate in their High School Program. I got fascinated about China and its economic strides and at the same time got scared by negative news of pollution. To go or not to go was the dilemma i paid my participation fee with GAC in early 2013 but could not attend until late 2013. This was why i got hesitant. But i got to know that Shanghai was also an alternative so i took it. My main reason for joining the high school program was to better my Mandarin skills. I already study Mandarin in the UK with a mandarin school. I saw this as an opportunity to speak with natives and travel as well.
The program was properly designed with language studies as well as tour programs. Homestay is a special feature of the program. The program's unique elements focus in the practical acquisition of Chinese speaking and writing skills which was exactly my reason for joining. Apart from class arrangements, i also paid for extra one-on-one tutoring in the evenings so as to maximize my experience. It was properly put together such that my evening studies complemented what i studied during the day. This is what i call "intensive".

I owe it a duty to review this program because i promised Go Abroad China that if they are able to deliver a good service, i will act as their goodwill ambassador.
I embarked on this program because there is much variety. I am not restricted to a particular rigid program schedule.
Arriving in China, I took the Beijing Culture University Program. I was fascinated by the fact that a high school program has a university root and that was why i chose Go Abroad China.
We were taught by University Professors who understood the tactics of teaching mandarin without stress. The BLCU program is well diversified participation from all over the world. I met and made friends with similar career objectives.
Studies were mixed with trips and tours which gave me value for money.

I came on Go Abroad China's program because a friend's parent was sending them to China on the same program. We both selected the Homestay living package and also stayed with the same family. It cannot be boring when i already have my buddy around me. The other 24 hour service was an added spice.
The program content was superb, as we combined Language study and Tour Program. We chose one-on-one program which means that we both had separate tutors.
Among our activities was a networking dinner where we were mixed with older participants who were participating in the internship program and we thought it was not relevant because we were still not matured but i was proved wrong at the end of the dinner. I got to meet some Chinese business
community members who shared light on how they do business. Their culture of friendship first before business is a very relevant knowledge that each needs to know before doing business in China.
Weekend Activities were also very significant to our experience.
When our program was over, we asked for an extension of visa for a month so that we could visit Shanghai and some other ancient sites which our stay duration could not allow us to. GAC managed to do that for us and we stayed further.