Intensive Chinese Language with Travel in China

Last winter, I escaped the grip of my family with really cool tangible reasons to be in China. My family planned a Trip to Bahamas which I think I was fed up with and decided to come to come study Chinese language in China because that was definitely a better option for me. CIP played a very responsible role in speaking with my parents and assuring them that it is a decision they will never regret. The main issue was security and safety but that was covered and the necessary assurances exchanged between my family and CIP.
I opted for Winter Intensive Chinese language program with University Mandarin lessons and private classes. I Joined Beijing Language and Cultural University in Beijing with other international Students on the same mission as myself. I had 4 hours of Chinese language study every day and then 2 hours of study in the evening with a private tutor.
The content of the curriculum was awesome as we combined history and Language studies as well as few issues about the rise of China. I had very good insights about the rise and fall of China in the past and the second rise and what policies were adopted. Being a business student, I never had these insights.
The lessons were tough from the beginning as I was a beginner and the same applied to my course mates. In order to speed our skills, the tutors used 80% Chinese language and 20% English language but I must confess we were not in agreement and I complained several times to CIP but with time, it became clear. I identified that Chinese language is what it is because there are 3 things a beginner must learn. First of all, I had to learn the Chinese Characters, their pronunciation in Roman Alphabets and then its meaning in English. This is the daunting part of the a beginner but after 3 months, it was fine as I could easily read without referring to “Pinyin” the roman numeral version of the characters. Secondly, Chinese language is tonal and pronouncing the tones wrong is a reason for someone to commit suicide.
Extracurricular activities were good ways to keep us going. Social events and cultural trips brought us together. I had a trip to Luoyang a Chinese Ancient city with Buddha grottoes. The wonders I saw there means ancient Chinese were very crafty.
There was also a 3-day corporate visit to 5 fortune 500 companies in Beijing and their operations and success factors shared deepened my learning curve.
After all the 6 months I spent in China, I had so much value, I wrote HSK 3 and passed very well with a certification, I could write 4 or 5 but I did not want to risk it  because I needed the certificate. I can speak lower elementary Chinese language and I am looking to continue with CIP’s online classes and return to write level 6 after a year.
I don’t expect a 100% delivery and I think support and service is fine. When people exhibit that level of responsibility and support, it is easy to overlook few faults.