This was a very successful experience for me! On the whole, the teaching was well designed, and it clearly focused on my needs and specific knowledge.

I had a strong background in Chinese, but have long since forgotten most of it, so I opted for one-on-one lessons for the maximum of 6 hours per day. I mixed up the month by doing 2 weeks at the main campus, 1 week at Xishuangbanna, and 1 week in Chengdu.

The teaching: very good. Six hours a day is not for the faint of heart and if you are new to Chinese you may want to go for four hours a day, but for me it was perfect. Both of my teachers (Ms. Su and Ms. Zhou) were extremely professional and taught to my personal knowledge base while still maintaining a clear structure with active advancement. They provided a good balance of letting me do my best with the language I had and also not letting me develop bad linguistic habits. They provided homework, lesson plans, and focused feedback every day, and they both genuinely seemed to enjoy their jobs and the classroom conversations. While I recognize this is of course their job, it's very motivating to have an enthusiastic teacher.

Locations: The Kunming campus was the liveliest of the three places I stayed, with up to 15-20 students at times during the two weeks I was there. It was very social and there were a lot of activities the school organized. At Xishuangbanna I was the only one at that site at the time, though there are reportedly often multiple students there; one of my teachers traveled with me and we stayed in a nice hotel and did activities every day. It was a great intensive experience and the place itself was very different and interesting. Chengdu is a fantastic tourist city and was a fun week to cap it all off. In my week there the volume of students was up and down, from 5-7 to a very big group; I had someone come visit me at the time and we had plenty of time and support to do our own activities -- the teachers and life advisors were great in helping us figure out how best to organize our own activities.

My experience at Keats during these four weeks was excellent. I'm very happy with the teacher I had during my one to one 4 hour classes. The teaching method was very enjoyable and it’s a very casual and conversational way of learning Chinese. It literally helped me to improve a lot my fluency and listening in daily Chinese conversations. During Friday’s me and my teacher went out of class, she brought me to new places, such as coffee shops with lots of cats, or to local restaurants. We even took the public e-bikes to get to the places, and that was so fun!

Teachers and staff also helped us to enjoy many activities, so every day in the evening we had immersive pastimes such as going to food markets such as Panjiawan, along with cultural activities, such as painting flowers with ink, tea ceremony and even a karaoke! Also during these 4 weeks I joined the activities that are arranged by teachers every Sunday, such as a trip to Fuxian Lake and the beautiful Jianshui Ancient city at south of Yunnan.

I also enjoyed a lot Kunming atmosphere! The city is big, people are nice, prices are in my opinion very affordable, it's safe and there’s lot of places to see, such as street markets like Birds and Flower Market at Wuyi Road or those beautiful temples at Cuihui park, and these insane futuristic malls like Spring City or Baiyun Road, etc. It’s difficult to get bored in Kunming... Also I love the cuisine of Yunnan.

Overall, the service is very good and teachers were all very helpful and friendly with the students. The facilities are convenient, there’s breakfast, lunch and dinner and the bedrooms are quite comfortable!
Friendly staff and teachers, is highly recommended if you want to practice Putonghua in an immersive environment!

Overview: When I was planning my travel to China and to Keats school I was excited to see Wuzhen was one of the locations where Keats offered their Intensive one on one program.
This was a location I wanted to visit, famed as one of the top ancient towns in China. The ability to undertake study plus have your teacher/language partner accompany you in sightseeing is the compelling reason I have chosen to visit and study at 3 different locations with Keats.
Location: Wuzhen is a fascinating place and has not disappointed, the township is easy to get around and offers a mixture of experiences, with the township divided into 4 distinct areas. The school provided a sightseeing plan for each afternoon and for the Saturday.
My teacher made some slight adjustments to the plan once in the location and had fully prepared so each trip was seamless.
Lessons: Keats offer is for personalised lessons based on one’s needs. When I arrived I discussed with my teacher that I would like to focus on conversational skills. I have some knowledge and need help to get to a stage I can listen, understand and be understood . My teacher was very accomplished in quickly picking up what I knew and developed lessons flowing from my existing knowledge. The lessons used prompt cards written as we went by my teacher to teach me words and sentence structures and she challenged me to think out and practice conversational sentences.
My teacher: Pany was my teacher this week, and I commend Keats on employing such a great ambassador for their school. She has been fantastic. From the pick up at the train station, to her careful explanation about the plan for the week and her care in introducing me to the hotel staff and making sure I was comfortable I knew I was going to be in good hands for the week. Pany has accompanied me for breakfast , lunch and dinner , to assist me in finding food I enjoy and also encouraged me to try local delicacy’s, like “stinky tofu”’ .
Our sightseeing trips have been well planned with the right amount of flexibility when the need has arisen. Pany has made the trips fun with her engaging personality and I have appreciated the little extra lessons in posing for and taking photos!
I have also enjoyed Pany’s teaching style, she developed the lessons along the way based around the words and phrases I would naturally use in English. She taught me patiently particularly when it came to my pronunciation. After each lesson she quickly provided class notes for the day, giving me the opportunity to review what we had covered. Her review of my learning along with highlighted areas to focus on is well thought out and accurate. Whilst I have a very long way to go in my learning my confidence has increased after this week of classes.
Thanks Keats I look forward to my 3rd and final week, which is some time away.

Excellent teachers! I enjoyed every minute in the classroom. The teacher was always well prepared, focused on the agreed learning goals and I could feel my progress day by day. The atmosphere among teachers and students is highly motivating.

The location of the school is excellent, in a central area with many shops and restaurants, very close to a Metro station, and also close to old street and sightseeing spots.

The activities and excursions organised by the school are always interesting and entertaining. And the school offers great support for any questions.

I will definitely come back to KEATS.

Ho scelto la Keats School per riprendere il mio cinese, che avevo abbandonato da qualche anno, e non potevo fare scelta migliore. Ho trascorso alcuni mesi lì e, al mio ritorno a casa, ho deciso di continuare anche con le lezioni online. Il percorso è totalmente personalizzato, in base al livello e alle esigenze dello studente, e nel mio caso lo abbiamo rimodellato più volte. Con l’insegnante che mi ha seguito abbiamo anche deciso di preparare l’esame di certificazione, nonostante inizialmente non fosse nei miei piani, e sono riuscita a superarlo. Ho continuato con loro anche la preparazione del mio esame universitario. Sempre preparata, gentile e disponibile, mi ha fatto sentire a mio agio, lavorando sui miei punti di forza e sulle mie insicurezze. Mi hanno fatto tornare l’amore per la Cina e per il cinese.

English:
I chose Keats School to renew my Chinese, which I had abandoned a few years ago, and I couldn't have made a better choice. I spent a few months there and, upon returning home, I decided to continue with online lessons. The program is completely personalized, based on the student's level and needs, and in my case we reworked it several times. My teacher and I also decided to prepare for the certification exam, even though it wasn't initially part of my plan, and I managed to pass. I also continued to prepare for my university exam with them. Always prepared, kind, and available, she made me feel at ease, working on my strengths and insecurities. They rekindled my love for China and the Chinese language.

Kunming is probably one of the most pleasant cities in China to live in and improve your Mandarin.The climate is pleasant year round ,people are fairly easy going, and there are plenty of easily accessible places of interest to visit in the surrounding region of Yunnan. Mandarin is widely and commonly spoken so from the point of view of exposure to the language to assist your learning it provides all that you need.

Keats itself is a very professionally run school with a nice balance of professional and structured teaching on the one hand and extracurricular activities on the other.

The most important aspect of a school clearly is the quality of its teachers. From my experience Keats pays attention to this. I was very satisfied with the quality of the teaching. The teacher, Willow, had a nice balance of informality and focus on learning, making the classes both enjoyable and challenging .She prepared each days lesson well ,identifying previous issues or difficulties and incorporating them into the next class. Post class ‘homework’ was also well prepared to reinforce that days lesson.

Additionally she readily offered support and recommendations regarding living in Kunming, restaurants etc.

All in all I would thoroughly recommend both Keats and my teacher Willow.
Hope to return

The experience at Keets in Kunming was simply amazing. I kept thinking I wasn't certain I was learning anything and then I would look back at my work saying, "I did all that?". I was fortunate to have three excellent teachers who were all very supportive and encouraging. I took an online class also and my online instructor was equally excellent. Meeting and getting to know others from around the world was an extra bonus. I consider the instructors as my friends and i hope they share the same sentiment towards me. I look forward to returning soon.

I got the idea of learning Chinese more than a year ago, but only a few weeks ago I finally decided to do it.

Since I hate organizing anything, I just tried to find the best all-inclusive option, and it looks like I did. It was easy to pay, and I received all the necessary instructions. Unfortunately, I missed my flight and arrived in Kunming later than I had planned, but they met me, and I easily rescheduled all the missed lessons as if nothing had happened. I mean, all the issues were resolved—this is truly a service-oriented place.

The main part—the classes—was well-structured, interesting, and adapted to my weakest skills. The school also offers a variety of activities, such as karaoke and walking tours, most of which are free. I also really liked the international atmosphere at mealtimes.

So, thanks to Peng Laoshi (my teacher)! I’m definitely planning to come back to Keats for one or two months next year.