Immersion Program - Learn Chinese in China

CLI is hard to describe in a review. In short, I have found my time at CLI so far to exceed my expectations and would recommend. If you want to read my longer take on the school, read below. CLI has a truly unique environment as you live in or near the school and are encouraged to fully immerse yourself. Many teachers live, work, and play in and near the institute and you're encouraged to join them and immerse yourself outside of the classroom setting. Every now and again you can take your class to a different location (museum, art gallery, coffee shop, etc.) and use that setting to further your studies. For example, I am a renewable energy engineer, and one of my classes we went to go see a wind farm. Although wind farms themselves are not that exciting, it was a great way to kick start conversation and learning. In term of teaching style, since there are so many teachers here it is somewhat hard to pin down an 'exact' teaching style CLI has. Overall though there are some common themes. I feel the technique is very effective, yet not for the faint of heart. Fully engaging in the institute and the countless activities is tiring and challenging. Many students experience fatigue. In addition the teachers nudge you to give it your all. Despite the challenge, I'm impressed with my own progress and that of other students. Don't come here pretending it will be easy, you absolutely will be putting in a lot of work outside of the class if you want to progress at the rate CLI encourages you to. CLI also offers lots of travelling and cultural activities at a extra cost each week. Guilin truly is an amazing city, and the chance to see all it has to offer while practicing Mandarin is a great opportunity. The activities are at a reasonable extra cost (at least from my perspective), and I would definitely recommended budgeting some cash to go on the excursions as a lot of students take part. How much cash you ask? No weekend activity has ever cost more than $100 USD once converted to RMB. The most expensive trips will include private transport, food, entry fees, hotel nights, and most everything else you will need. I found these experience to be quite fun, although at times a little 'fast' and wish we had a bit more time. Yet, after all, this isn't a vacation school, and we you will be back at a reasonable time in order to study and prepare for class Monday. As far as course materials, you are welcome to use their textbooks which are standard university textbooks, bring your own material, or ask them to recommend other material. Many students have unique textbooks which they are learning from, and the tutors will adapt to whatever you want to learn. Want to focus on speaking? They will adapt. Want to learn more how to write? The tutors will tailor it to your needs. Like movies? Let them know. Into renewable energy (--> This guy <--)...let them know. To cap it all off, the community and spirit of CLI is truly energetic. The teachers are enthusiastic, the students come from all walks of life, and it is overall a very welcoming and encouraging atmosphere. I've seen kids as young as 6 (with their parents, whom often are also learning Mandarin) and adults older than 60 from all over the world set foot and learn Mandarin here. CLI is truly unique, wonderful, and has an incredibly spirit of learning. One of my favorite questions to ask is, "Why are you learning Mandarin?" There will be some similar answers, yet many have surprised me. If anything, the people at CLI are simple interesting and amazing both the students and teachers. This is almost a reason alone to at least visit the school. The only down side is I believe a student should commit to at least a month to really get a solid learning experience. I will be here for 3.5 months (this is currently month 3 as I write this review), and I honestly felt it took me about 2 to 3 solid weeks to really get into the swing. Yes it is a commitment, but as I mentioned before I believe this school excels at pushing you and is not for the faint of heart. If you honestly can't commit to any longer, that's fine, come anyway. You will have a good experience, but might leave with a feeling of cutting it a bit short. It's not a matter of if I will come back to CLI, but more like when. I look forward to continuing my long journey of learning Mandarin and I'm glad CLI has been a part of that journey. As anyone who is serious about learning Mandarin already knows, it is a long journey, wrought with pitfalls and moments of discouragement. Meeting the people, engaging with the teachers, and being a part of the culture has allowed my inner fire and passion to learn to continue to burn. CLI has been fundamental in that journey. Come and experience it for yourself. Come with a heart ready to challenge yourself, mentally and culturally. Above all though, have courage despite your age, level, status, or whatever and just come, you won't regret it. James

I really liked studying Chinese at CLI :). The teachers I had were great and really helped me improve very fast, focusing on the things I was personally interested, but still providing a good general knowledge base too.

This program was really well-made and super educational, if you dedicate yourself to learning you'll improve really fast, especially with the really good teachers at the school. Also, the food and city are all really nice, with plenty of interesting activities and beautiful scenery