Program Reviews

I have a 12 year old and a 14 year old participated in RISH Chinese summer camp in 2019. Both of my kids have learnt Chinese for about 6 years, and are preparing HSK 4. I accompanied them to join the camp in Shanghai, and stayed with them for the first week. They were given a test on their first day, then they were grouped in different classes by their Chinese level proficiency. My kids were placed in a class that suited their level. I was happy that they loved the course and their teacher very much, and the most important thing was that they have learnt a lot during the camp. They had more than 60 hours of classes and 1-on-1 tutoring in two weeks’ time, which was extremely helpful for my kids to improve -- which was the main purpose of sending them to a camp in China, and also could be very expensive in Switzerland. I am happy and satisfied with the organization and the team of RISH. I would admit that sending my kids to participate a camp in China was not an easy decision for our family, but we are so lucky to meet RISH camp and RISH staff. In the end my kids were sad to leave the camp and the friends. We are now planning to send them to RISH again next summer. And I will recommend RISH to my friends, so maybe their children will join together with us to Shanghai!

Translation:
It was a first for me to go all alone so far from home. At the exit of the plane I felt literally catapulted on another planet! At first I admit that it was a little intimidated, but it immediately reassured me to have been directly supported by the camp counselor who had waited for me at the exit of Shanghai airport . She helped me with the formalities that remained to enter the summer camp, and to the door of my room. I really enjoyed the atmosphere with the other students and the everyday life on the university campus. The instructors were all really friendly, and showed us a lot of things during the cultural outing and the end-of-stay trip. It reassured me that we are so well framed by what I was initially super nervous ... It was a truly unforgettable experience. I learned so much about Chinese culture! I will never forget the laughs and all the friends I met there!

Original: C’était une première pour moi de partir toute seule aussi loin de chez moi. A la sortie de l’avion je me suis sentie littéralement comme catapultée sur une autre planète ! Au départ j’avoue que ça m’a un peu intimidé, mais ça m’a tout de suite rassurée d’avoir été directement prise en charge par la monitrice du camp qui m’avait attendu à la sortie de l’aéroport de Shanghai. Elle m’a aidée avec les formalités qui restaient pour entrer au camp de vacance, et jusqu’à la porte de ma chambre. J’ai vraiment apprécié l’ambiance avec les autres éléves et la vie de tous les jours sur le campus universitaire. Les moniteurs étaient tous vraiment sympa, et nous ont montré pas mal de choses lors de la sortie culturelle et le voyage de fin de séjour. Ça m’a rassurée qu’on soit si bien encadré par ce qu’au départ j’étais super nerveuse... C’était une vraiment expérience inoubliable. J’ai appris tellement de choses sur la culture chinoise ! Je n’oublierai jamais les fous rires et tous les amis que j’ai rencontré là-bas !

I wanted to thank RISH counsellor team for making such an amazing experience for my daughter and myself. My daughter is 10 years old and attended RISH Chinese summer camp in July 2018, and I stayed together with her during the whole camp. The school environment was very comfortable and convenient. The counsellor team was so friendly and helpful to accompanying parents like myself. The 1-on-1 tutoring was one of the activities that I liked the most in this camp. My daughter could have close interaction with the tutor 1v1 to practice as much as possible. The excursions were language learning related, very helpful for the kids to know more about Chinese history and culture. At the end of the camp I was happy to see that my daughter was given confidence to speak Chinese herself in daily life. I have decided to bring my daughter and my younger son to RISH Chinese summer camp again next year.

My brother has been to RISH Chinese summer camp two years ago. He liked this camp very much and he said that this camp was very helpful to improve his Chinese grades. So my parents sent me to this camp this year. I have participated in two successive sessions so I stayed here for one month. All campers live and study inside the university campus so there is nothing to worry about the safety. Besides the campus is really convenient. You can find easily convenient stores, cafes, fruit shops, and so on. And sports fields are spacious. We can use all the sports facilities. We live in the campus hotel which is not open to public guests. Our rooms are cleaned everyday by attendants. I would say that if you want a real full-immersion Chinese summer camp experience then RISH is the best choice.

We wanted our children to learn Chinese language during the summer vacation and we found that RISH provides the only real immersion Chinese language summer camp in Shanghai. The arrangement of courses and activities looks great. It finally turned out to be an impressive experience.
The camp is full-boarding, providing accommodation and all meals, as well as 24/7 counselor team support so we did not have anything to worry about during the whole camp.
The accommodation place is inside the campus, 4-star standard twin room, fully furnished and equipped, really clean and comfortable. Our children liked the room very much.
Each student has his/her own counsellor who helps the student to well settle in and solve any problem.
We really want to thank to the counsellor Shirley. She was so nice and helpful and made great effort to take good care of our children.

I really enjoyed the experience, found some new people who were excited about my culture and how we spend time in our school. I even made friends faster than they I interact with people at my school. The food was amazing and it was most of time some new experience that I really enjoy. In school cafeterias we had so many different choices for each meal due to the fact that all people in the camp were from different countries. And the organizers arranged many special meals to let us try Chinese local specialties, like Xiaolongbao, Sichuan hot pot, Pekin duck, dumplings. Those who are vegetarians and those who do not eat pork or sea food are also well looked after. Great opportunity to speak a bit of Chinese, learn their cultures and have a habit to study more often. Thanks to my mom who reserved a place there for me!

Personally, I think I was able to successfully enjoy the RISH Chinese summer camp due to the fact that I was already prepared to make effort to learn Chinese and practice as much as possible. I did a lot of research before going to this camp and this is what I have to advice top other. doing a small research made me learn a bit the basic language and of course know a bit what was waiting for me over there. I was also ready to meet new people and spend time with them. I enjoyed my summer, got a good grade in Chinese exam in the camp and easily made new friends. The counselors are very helpful encouraging each one of us to speak Chinese after class in real life. I'm now no more afraid to see a person speaking Chinese in front of me. I would possibly go back again depending on my future plans.

Every year my father sends me to China to attend Chinese summer camp to improve my Chinese level. I have been to many summer camps in Beijing and in Shanghai. Some of them are very similar to kindergartens, some camps have very bad accommodation, and some camps have classes in commercial building. RISH Chinese summer camp has the best campsite among all the camps in China I have ever been to. We study and live in a university campus. At the beginning I thought we would live in a dorm. But in fact we lived in the university hotel. The hotel is just like the star-rated hotels when I go on trip, very new and clean. Only two students share one room. The students in this summer camp are almost the same age as me, and I can quickly find friends to chat with. I will come again next year.

RISH provides a very fun program, their organizers are excellent and innovator in every things they do . It is a real full immersion program as they said, because I have to speak Mandarin every day with teachers, counselors, classmates and other people I met in the school. That builds up my confidence in speaking Mandarin. In the end I am able to hold longer conversation by using the vocabulary I have learnt before. I also enjoyed the excursions and trips which introduced the Chinese culture and history. Nanjing and Wuzhen are wonderful tourism cities. All the counselors are very supportive and caring which makes it fun for us to spend our camp life with them. I also met some amazing people who I was really sad to leave when the camp was over.

I have been there with RISH for the second session, 18 days in total. I would say that everything is perfect for me. I was impressed by the huge and beautiful campus the moment I arrived. I have really improved a lot my skills in Chinese language in this camp because during the whole session we have had around 60 hours of Chinese learning in total. Apart from that, I also met some friends who were half Chinese and ready to help me each time I was asking something. One of the most fun I had in this camp is to embrace other culture, since all the participants came from so many different countries all around the world. Apart of that, RISH Chinese summer camp was a real opportunity for me to make new friends and of course change the environment while spending my first summer alone