Wuzhen

Overview: When I was planning my travel to China and to Keats school I was excited to see Wuzhen was one of the locations where Keats offered their Intensive one on one program.
This was a location I wanted to visit, famed as one of the top ancient towns in China. The ability to undertake study plus have your teacher/language partner accompany you in sightseeing is the compelling reason I have chosen to visit and study at 3 different locations with Keats.
Location: Wuzhen is a fascinating place and has not disappointed, the township is easy to get around and offers a mixture of experiences, with the township divided into 4 distinct areas. The school provided a sightseeing plan for each afternoon and for the Saturday.
My teacher made some slight adjustments to the plan once in the location and had fully prepared so each trip was seamless.
Lessons: Keats offer is for personalised lessons based on one’s needs. When I arrived I discussed with my teacher that I would like to focus on conversational skills. I have some knowledge and need help to get to a stage I can listen, understand and be understood . My teacher was very accomplished in quickly picking up what I knew and developed lessons flowing from my existing knowledge. The lessons used prompt cards written as we went by my teacher to teach me words and sentence structures and she challenged me to think out and practice conversational sentences.
My teacher: Pany was my teacher this week, and I commend Keats on employing such a great ambassador for their school. She has been fantastic. From the pick up at the train station, to her careful explanation about the plan for the week and her care in introducing me to the hotel staff and making sure I was comfortable I knew I was going to be in good hands for the week. Pany has accompanied me for breakfast , lunch and dinner , to assist me in finding food I enjoy and also encouraged me to try local delicacy’s, like “stinky tofu”’ .
Our sightseeing trips have been well planned with the right amount of flexibility when the need has arisen. Pany has made the trips fun with her engaging personality and I have appreciated the little extra lessons in posing for and taking photos!
I have also enjoyed Pany’s teaching style, she developed the lessons along the way based around the words and phrases I would naturally use in English. She taught me patiently particularly when it came to my pronunciation. After each lesson she quickly provided class notes for the day, giving me the opportunity to review what we had covered. Her review of my learning along with highlighted areas to focus on is well thought out and accurate. Whilst I have a very long way to go in my learning my confidence has increased after this week of classes.
Thanks Keats I look forward to my 3rd and final week, which is some time away.