Study and volunteer at Omeida!

I stayed (studied and volunteered) at Omeida Academy for three weeks and it was one of the best three weeks of my life! I've met so many amazing people and there are plenty of opportunities to chat to other students, both from the Chinese school and also from the English school. You can also be signed up to have a Language Partner where you can practice what you've learned and improve very quickly. I did this and my Chinese level improved so much! Similarly, the Chinese students also want to practice their English with you, and my room mate was a Chinese student studying English, so every night we were able to chat together in Chinese and English which was a great for both of us.
The lessons were fantastic and my teacher, Twelve, was amazing. My class size was also really small and I learned so much as well as had so much fun! The text book was also provided for me, which was great! I'd never heard of the text book which was given to me but it's very clear and understandable, and I can still learn a lot from it even now after my lessons have finished. The benefit of Yangshuo is that not many locals speak English, so practicing Chinese outside of class wasn't difficult at all, and my Chinese friends helped me so much with pronunciation and grammar!
Food is also very cheap here, and there is plenty to do outside of lesson time, as Yangshuo is located very well in terms of scenic routes, hiking and other activities for travellers- Guilin is also a bus ride away (1-2 hours) but you can get there for 20-30 kuai depending on the bus driver…!
The only thing I would say is that the internet connection in the dorms is a little bit unreliable, but honestly, I found that I never needed it as I was always out exploring, having fun in West Street, taking photos or studying Chinese, it really depends on what sort of experience you want to have while you're here.
But all in all, I wish I could have stayed longer here! I'll definitely be back some time (if I can!) as Yangshuo is truly a beautiful place and the people at Omeida Academy are kind, understanding and very helpful with any issues. You really do become friends with everybody at this place and there is always something to do and somewhere to go, as well as the lessons being some of the most interesting and fun I've ever had, so I highly recommend this!
About volunteering: there were quite a lot of options I could choose from, but I chose to do Media and SEO. I went out to take lots of photos which was fantastic as I got to explore the local area as much as I wanted while doing what I loved! I got to then edit some of them to use for the school's Instagram and write blog posts about my experiences in China about many different things (from getting the train to living in Yangshuo), and I also learned many new things about Google Analytics and Trends etc. A great experience and something great to add to my CV!