Program Reviews

Campus study life:
I was impressed by how accommodating the school was. Communication before I enrolled was clear and friendly. All questions were answered. I was delighted to receive a personalized daily itinerary for my three week stay. They picked me up at the airport with a sign with my name on it and drove me to the hotel. They made it super easy for me to settle in, and everyone on the staff was eager to help with any issues. Keats provided very comfortable accommodations in a hotel literally a two minute walk from the school.

Learning experience
My teachers were excellent. As a 1:1 student, I received a custom tailored education designed around my needs. I came in as essentially a complete beginner and left with a very solid foundation after three weeks of learning. I felt like I progressed tremendously with the methods provided. Teachers were rigorous and dedicated to my success.

Living experience:
I stayed in Beijing and Chengde, one in a provided hotel and one in a home stay. My time in both cities and accommodations was enlightening and immersive. I learned so much about the culture and finished the program feeling like I knew how to survive in China and like I understood a lot more of the history. Beijing and Chengde are very different from each other but are each great in their own way. Sightseeing highlights were the Great Wall in Chengde and the Summer Palace and Olympic stadium in Beijing.

Overall: I had an outstanding experience with Keats. I learned a ton and everyone went out of their way to ensure success. I hope I can come back for a second round.

My two weeks with Keats School in Kunming flew by with no time to be bored. The lovely Ms Su and Ms Pi tailored the ono-on-one lessons to my level of Mandarin. Despite much of the day taken with tuition and revision, there was still time to partake in group outings. These were always led by someone who could recount local stories and traditions, plus ensure you knew how to use the Metro and didn't get lost!

Being able to stay in the same building as the school was great, as was a desk in my ensuite room and meals in the canteen on week days. When my teachers noted I found the glare from outside light disturbing in the tuition rooms they arranged for net curtains to be installed for me!! The school is well located in Kunming with many fascinating back streets within walking distance.

A flight delay meant I missed day one. Without even asking, Keats arranged for the lessons to be made up, with Ms Pi and Ms Su generously giving of their time to replace the missed lessons. In addition, Keats has credited me with 10 hours because I switch from six hours to four hour tuition a day after finding six hours a day too much. I am already planning to return, but for longer than two weeks.

I highly recommend Keats for people wanting to learn/improve their Mandarin.

Six months later, I returned to the KEATS Kunming campus to study Chinese again; this is my second time here. I really enjoy life in Kunming and also want to see the scenery of Kunming in different seasons. Traveling in Kunming and Yunnan is very convenient. My school is very convenient, located near the subway and close to the city center. The school's apartments are comfortable and convenient, and the food provided by the school is abundant, with plenty of vegetables, and consists of home-style dishes. The school organizes activities every day, allowing students to better experience Chinese culture and life in Yunnan. I have Chinese classes every day, and the teacher arranges the courses according to your needs. This is the second time I am studying Chinese with my teacher Yuki. For this course, I hope to focus more on speaking practice. My teacher knows my needs and has arranged reasonable lessons to help me improve my speaking skills. We also have very good outdoor classes for practicing speaking. Teacher Yuki is a very professional and patient teacher who arranges courses to meet my situation and needs. I really enjoy learning with her. I have learned a lot of new vocabulary and grammar, and I have also applied this knowledge during my travels. In short, I sincerely recommend everyone to come to KEATS to study and improve your Chinese, and Yunnan is also a very beautiful place, suitable for living and studying.

Programme very useful, teacher very helpful and extremely patient. Many useful repetitions for my weak points. I really learned a lot.
Coordinator is very professional and helpful for getting around town. Evening activities and weekend excursions very interesting. Nice fellow students, nice conversations.
School facilities very good, beautiful hotel room, daily food very delicious, school location in city centre close to many nice places.
I visited Kunming 22 years ago. It has very much improved, especially the clear air. The parks and markets are very nice to visit, both in the evening and in the weekend. Public transport is excellent.
Overall, an excellent experience. I can really recommend going here.

I really enjoyed the classes and the teachers. Every day I learned something new, with lessons that were well prepared in advance. The teachers were also very patient and always happy to explain additional topics whenever I showed interest. After each class, they sent a summary of the lesson so I could review the content.
The classrooms are organized by student level, and all the staff at the school are extremely friendly, kind, and always willing to help with any questions.
The facilities are very practical and well organized. The dormitory, cafeteria, and classrooms are all in the same building, which makes daily life much easier. The location is excellent, close to public transportation, shopping malls, supermarkets, restaurants, cafés, and a hospital.
In addition, the school offers extra activities in the evenings and on weekends, such as trips to nearby cities, visiting local attractions, trying regional food, sports, and classes about Chinese culture (like tea ceremony and dance).
Kunming is an excellent city, the weather is really good, people are friendly and there are plenty of entertainment.
I truly enjoyed my time at Keats and highly recommend this school. I would love to return and study at Keats again in the future.

My husband and I came to Keats in Kunming for the first week of our travels in China. It was our first time in China and starting at the language school was a great way to learn some Chinese and get settled in China. Our teacher Ash was kind, patient and taught us in a way that was engaging and informative. Our room was very nice and exactly what we needed and the food during the week was delicious! We were so impressed by Keats and would 10/10 recommend it as a way to start your trip in China! Our week flew by!

Travelling in Yunnan and attending Keats Mandarin course was a very rewarding experience. From day one everything was well organized and went smoothly. the hotels were good choices, and the classrooms were conveniently located in the same hotels we were staying in. The language instruction was well structured, and our teacher, Du, was a skillful educator who recognized and addressed our weaknesses.

Xishuanbanna was our first stop. The night market was enchanting! the hotel was located near a lovely walk along the riverfront.

Heshun was a beautiful example of an ancient town that still feels old-world, with it's rustic buildings and narrow stone streets. We enjoyed some fantastic meals there at what are described as "private kitchens". The Western Yunnan War Museum, and hot springs were highlights.

The next stop was Dali, also an ancient town but it has a more modern feel to it. It is a wonderful place to walk around at night, and just about every venue has it's own live music. Saturday's tour around the lake was great.

Last but certainly not least was Lijiang. Wonderful hotel with very friendly hosts, and a truly picturesque town with snow covered mountains in the background.

Throughout the trip Du organised all the tours and transportation, and acted as our tour guide in the afternoons. She was very helpful and easy to get along with, as well as being a great teacher.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in a language/cultural experience.

Our time at Keats Chinese Language School in Kunming was absolutely incredible. The people and staff were so amazing and friendly, they went above and beyond to help us in every way. Lovely, comfortable room and great food. As complete beginners in Chinese, we had a lot to learn. Our teacher Ms. Du was fantastic, tailoring the lessons to our needs and skill level, patiently working with us, keeping things fun, light and interesting. We highly recommend this to anyone and everyone of all levels!

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!