CLI-Good But Could be Better

CLI has wonderful teachers. I may well go back again for this reason alone. They really do care and they really do try to provide students with what they need to improve their Mandarin. The down side is that this is not really an immersion program. Once class is over, the students almost all speak English. And some of the teachers seem to encourage this. Moreover, the staff are even worse. One staff member repeatedly spoke English with me while I spoke Mandarin. And this happened more than once. The result is that the school has intensive classes, but the overall experience is not as transformative as it could be. Some of this is natural, given the high numbers of native English speakers in the program, but the school could do more to combat it if it really wants to provide an immersion program. See below for some specific suggestions.