The Best Thing I've Ever Done to Learn Chinese.

CET Harbin is undoubtedly one of the best study abroad programs in China, which is high praise given just how many good programs there are. From my perspective, everything was planned to give students a true immersive language learning experience.

Our classes were challenging but very enjoyable. Due to the extremely small class size, I was easily able to get individual attention in every one of my classes. The teachers were very well trained and really knew how to teach Chinese to foreigners. Every class really stressed learning how to speak authentic Chinese, rather than learning awkward textbook speech.

Apart from classes, CET did a terrific job creating an immersive language learning environment. Every student had their own Chinese roommate, so finding opportunities to speak Chinese outside of class was not at all difficult. The program was small enough that we, the CET students and our roommates, really resembled a family. A bigger program might have lead to awkwardness and social cliques, but in our program everyone was friends with each other. This is important because it made communication and adhering to the language pledge both fun and rewarding. I wasn't just friends with my own roommate, but also formed relationships with my friends' Chinese roommates.

The combination of CET's classes and immersive language environment really caused my Chinese to improve rapidly. I was seeing results after just a few weeks. I've found that many students believe just being in China will allow them to improve their Chinese, regardless of which program or school they go to. While it is true that being in China gives you limitless opportunities to use the language, it is not always easy finding and taking advantage of those opportunities. In contrast, CET gives students a strong foundation from which they can focus on improving their Chinese.