LTL Language School Reviews

My experience at LTL Language school was a wonderful one. Besides noticeably improving my Chinese skills, I was able to meet wonderful people both teachers and students and experience the local culture in a way I couldn't have otherwise. My respect and admiration lies in the workers and volunteers that make the school what it is. I want to especially emphasize my teacher Laura that went above and beyond to both improve my Chinese as well as to help me overcome all challenges faced by travelling and living in a different country. And I also have to mention Tommy, a volunteer tourguide that has shown me and my friend many beautiful and authentic places and shared great moments with us.

I enrolled at LTL in Shanghai for four weeks of Chinese at the B1 level. I had two teachers, Chris and Jamie. Honestly, on the first day my head hurt just from opening the textbook: Chinese didn't seem simple to me at all, since it had been quite a while.

The content of the courses is rich and concrete, based on real topics. Chris has us work on pronunciation while teaching us to name all kinds of everyday objects. Jamie first explains the new words to us, then we read the text together. With both teachers, time passes incredibly fast. We have four hours of class per day; at first I thought four hours was long, but each time it felt like it had barely started before it ended.

At first, I thought you couldn't learn much in four weeks. If you're planning to learn Chinese in Shanghai, I highly recommend LTL: no regrets.

Original:
Je me suis inscrit chez LTL à Shanghai pour quatre semaines de chinois au niveau B1. J'ai eu deux professeurs Chris et Jamie. Honnêtement, le premier jour j'ai eu mal à la tête rien qu'en ouvrant le manuel : le chinois ne me paraissait pas simple du tout car ça faisait assez longtemps.

Le contenu de ses cours est riche et concret genre ca se base sur des sujets réels. Chris nous fait travailler la prononciation tout en nous apprenant à nommer toutes sortes d'objets du quotidien. Jamie elle nous explique d'abord les nouveaux mots, puis on lit le texte ensemble. Avec les deux profs, le temps passe incroyablement vite. On a quatre heures de cours par jour, au départ je trouvais que quatre heures c'était long, mais à chaque fois j'avais l'impression que ça se terminait à peine commencé.

Au départ, je croyais qu'on ne pouvait pas apprendre grand-chose en quatre semaines. Si vous prévoyez d'apprendre le chinois à Shanghai, je vous conseille vivement LTL : aucun regret.

I just wrapped up four weeks studying Mandarin at LTL Beijing, and I wanted to share my experience, especially with my teacher Tara, because she made the whole thing worth writing about.

A bit of context: I'm a university student who grew up around Chinese but never got properly fluent — the classic "understand more than I can speak" situation. I came to LTL with a friend, and we both had pretty specific goals for what we wanted to get out of the month, rather than just wanting a generic beginner-to-intermediate course.

We had the same teacher, Tara, for the full four weeks, which I'd recommend seeking out if it's an option — continuity with one teacher who understands your specific weak points is much more efficient than switching around. Tara spent real time upfront understanding what my friend and I each wanted out of the month and shaped the lessons around that rather than working through a one-size-fits-all curriculum. For anyone weighing up LTL against other Beijing schools, I think this kind of individual attention is where it stood out.

She was extremely patient — genuinely never made me feel bad about the gaps in my Chinese despite having grown up around it, which is sometimes a harder thing for teachers to navigate than teaching a total beginner. She was methodical about diagnosing the actual issue (tones, specific grammar patterns, character recall) rather than just generally "practicing more."

Over the four weeks the improvement was substantial — noticeably more fluent and more confident by the end than when I arrived. Happy to answer specific questions about class structure, homestay, or logistics if anyone's researching the school.

I completed a 3-week language course at LTL Language School in Shanghai and I am absolutely thrilled. The school is excellently organized and the learning atmosphere is simply great. A huge shout-out goes to my teachers: Zhao (Jamie Brooks) and Kristen. They did a fantastic job! The lessons were varied, motivating, and helped me improve enormously in a short time. I can warmly recommend this school to anyone who wants to learn Chinese effectively and with fun!

Original:
Ich habe einen 3-wöchigen Sprachkurs an der LTL Language School in Shanghai absolviert und bin absolut begeistert. Die Schule ist hervorragend organisiert und die Lernatmosphäre ist einfach klasse.Ein ganz großes Lob geht an meine Lehrer: Zhao (Jamie Brooks) und Kristen. Sie haben einen fantastischen Job gemacht! Der Unterricht war abwechslungsreich, motivierend und hat mich in der kurzen Zeit enorm weitergebracht. Ich kann diese Schule jedem wärmstens empfehlen, der effektiv und mit Spaß Chinesisch lernen möchte!

I’m so thankful of all the things that i’ve learnt with this experience. I recommend you all to try too. I’ve been to China for 15 days and it was really fun, the flight was great and the assistants really helpful. Thank you everyone, I enjoyed everything a lot, I hope a lot of people can experience a trip like this, I’ve seen and learnt a lot of new things like: eating new things, seeing someething totally different from my city and trying to speak a whole new language with lots of different sounds and words

LTL School stands out as a truly exceptional place to learn, offering an environment that feels welcoming, supportive, and genuinely dedicated to student growth. From the very first lesson, it becomes clear that the teachers bring not just knowledge but real passion to their work. They explain concepts patiently, adapt to different learning styles, and create a comfortable atmosphere where questions are always encouraged. The overall structure of the school—its resources, community, and teaching philosophy—makes learning feel natural and enjoyable rather than stressful. Students consistently leave sessions feeling more confident, motivated, and inspired to keep progressing. Whether someone is a complete beginner or already has some experience, the guidance provided feels personalized and thoughtful. It's rare to find a place where both the institution and its instructors align so well in creating a positive, effective learning journey. Overall, LTL School and its teachers leave a lasting impression of quality, care, and genuine commitment to helping students succeed.

I really liked the chinese lessons at this school. Heather wan an excellent teacher! She was very helpfull and listened well. Even when I did not always pronouced the words right, she still could understand what I meant. So we spoke a lot of chinese in the lessons, which improved my chinees speaking a lot. She was also very clear in how to explain the right way to speak. The location of the school is nice. Savannah the manager organizes a lot of fun get togethers, so you can meet the other students. I really loved that.

One month in this beautiful city passed in a blink of an eye. I had this opportunity to make many international friends and I hope to see them again soon enough ! I also was in a very good home stay, my host was so nice with me and take good care of me. Of course I have to thanks our guides for the summer camp who were really extraordinary : especially Ann but also Claire, Ama, Violet and Carol. Thanks to them we were able to see so many amazing places and to do so many fun activities ! I also owe a thousand thanks to my teacher : Wang Summer ; thanks to her I reach a B1 spoken Chinese level, I learned very well and very quickly and the lessons were always of a very high quality level and very entertaining ! And thank you to the director Linda Liu and all other staff members who made this stay possible !

I spent a total of 12 weeks at LTL Chengdu, and coming here was honestly one of the best decisions I've made. When I arrived I was around the beginning of a HSK 4 Level, and by the time I left I passed a HSK 4 test and was handling HSK 5 material with no great effort.

The combination of intensive learning, and a homestay environment was powerful in pushing my Mandarin further. Without this combination, I sincerely doubt my Mandarin would ever have gotten to where it is today in such a short period of time.

I'd like to thank my teachers during my time at LTL, in particular my teachers Meng, Alex and Guo. I took a combination of group classes and 1:1, and my teachers always found a way to make the lessons both enjoyable whilst always pushing me into that next level of Chinese comprehension.

The school environment itself is a great way of meeting other students, which was a highlight of my time at Chengdu. The school organises weekly events, which are also a great way of meeting both other students and local people as the school organises a "buddy" system to have locals at the events. I'd also like to thank teachers Pan Pan and Stiles for making the school environment so friendly and fun. Every weekend at Chengdu was spent with the friends I made at the school, and some great memories were made. These are friends I'll continue to be in touch with going into the future.

Overall, I'd highly recommend LTL Chengdu to anybody considering it. I can testify to it's effectiveness in improving my Mandarin, and also to how enjoyable my time was there in general.

I booked a 60 hour, 1 week 1:1 mandarin class and I have to say that the experience has been fantastic. The school is well organized, convenienly located and all of the staff are extremely friendly and helpful. Best of all was my teacher Lily Laoshi who managed to really bring me forward in my struggles with the Chinese language. She is a very experienced teacher that can easily adapt to any specific topics or focus you request. She always was extremely well prepared and ensured that I kept motivated by combining by-the-book excercises with exercises covering topics closer to me (like work, family, fiends, weekend activities in Beijing etc). Highly recommended.