saint8484 Posted April 12, 2007 at 10:31 AM Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 at 10:31 AM I am about 80% sure I will be heading to Kunming next year to study Chinese. I like the attention that small language schools can provide, so does anyone have any information on the small language schools in Kunming? I know of Keats, ELCEC (I think) and the Summit Language School. Keats is the only one I have any info about, and it is only from the school, I have not heard anyone's first-hand experience. The other 20% of me is thinking about Dalian to study since it is more standard mandarin, any Dalian suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayjovial Posted May 3, 2007 at 07:44 AM Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 at 07:44 AM Saint, I've heard that Keats is a nice place to study. Summit Foreign Lanugage School has just begun their Mandarin program this year. They've organized the programs and are in the process of writing content for their website so look for it shortly at http://www.summitkm.com. There's a new school on Wenling Jie that has been getting a lot of attention recently. Their information will be listed on netKunming.NET at http://www.netkunming.net within the next week so have a look there too. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caleb Posted May 11, 2007 at 08:43 AM Report Share Posted May 11, 2007 at 08:43 AM Summit is definitely the best option for studying outside of a fixed university program in Kunming. They have a really good reputation and location. It's a small school and their Chinese teachers are known to be well qualified and speak with a standard mandarin accent. Their website is up and running last time I checked, www.summitkm.com . Jay, I've (heard) the lady at Keat's can be a little overbearing.... Caleb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryswift Posted May 12, 2007 at 03:14 AM Report Share Posted May 12, 2007 at 03:14 AM personally, i would take caleb's 'recommendation' of summit school with a grain of salt. the place has only been open for a short time, so i cant imagine they've developed much of a reputation at all. the comment about the teachers are well-qualified and speak in a standard accent- do they not possess those qualities in the other schools in km? and finally, you "heard" the 'lady' at keats can be overbearing...i'll have to wait for the translation of that one....maybe its a good school, maybe its not, but methinks caleb has some connection with summit. but of course, i could be wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted May 12, 2007 at 03:22 AM Report Share Posted May 12, 2007 at 03:22 AM Registration email address for caleb indicates a link with the school, so yes, grain of salt. I'll let the post stand though as it might be useful for people to know about. Caleb, a simple 'hi, I'm xxx and work for yyy, we do zzz' post would have been (and still is) welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.stinky Posted May 12, 2007 at 06:29 AM Report Share Posted May 12, 2007 at 06:29 AM been in km over a year now, never heard of summit. no other student at ynnu or elcec has mentioned it. never found anything on the school when researching before coming here. (although i may consider a visit, at least to exchange funds. according to their website the exchange rate for the $us is 8.27!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caleb Posted May 13, 2007 at 08:55 AM Report Share Posted May 13, 2007 at 08:55 AM Eeek! Caught red handed, I do work for Summit Foreign Language School...Sorry for my sly post Roddy, didn't think I could post otherwise. Summit has been running for over 2years. See our website www.summitkm.com. Very perturbed you haven't heard of us Stinky. Caleb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saint8484 Posted May 26, 2007 at 03:09 AM Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2007 at 03:09 AM Thanks for the feedback everyone. I've been in contact with the Summit School, and Matt has been very helpful in answering all of my questions. The website is pretty impressive as well. When I went to Kunming during the New Year Holiday, a student from Yun-Da actually walked me to the Summit School, therefore I know it is in a great location, right near the lake. The lady present at the time, Maggie, informed me that they were working on getting their programs up and running. If people haven't been able to find much information on them while researching through the net, it is because the website was just finished a couple weeks ago. I am leaning towards Summit because of the price, location, help finding an apartment within walking distance, and because Matt the contact has been more helpful than Keats or ELCEC in corrosponding with me. Any other thoughts? Brian from Inner Mongolia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saint8484 Posted May 26, 2007 at 03:11 AM Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2007 at 03:11 AM And I almost forgot; whereas most schools, at least from what I've heard of, will help in obtaining a student visa, Summit has told me that they will send the necessary documents to obtain a 6 month business visa, always good for someone who might need to find a job to help pay for the period of study. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dstormy1 Posted June 7, 2007 at 08:32 AM Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 at 08:32 AM I'm now at Keats. The director, Xue Feng, has been most friendly and accomodating. She is anything but "overbearing". When I wanted to focus exclusively on conversation she willingly agreed...unlike YunDa and other Chinese schools. She has gone out of her way to make me feel comfortable, helped me find shops and cafes. The teacher I have has a degree in Chinese and is a well-qualified teacher. I have absolutely no complaints. It is one thing for some employee of a school, like "caleb", to brag about his school(pride in a good employer is understandable) but it is quite galling and highly unethical for him to put-down, demean, and slander another school and its director. To make the Kunming area language school roster complete, there is another new school called WenHua(I think) and has a listing on Treehouse or GoKunming. It says it's in the north part of Kunming. It has a website but I cannot remember it. There is also a small teacher's college in Mengzi near the Vietnamese border that says it teaches summer Chinese classes to foreigners. That might fit the catagory of "most remote" Chinese language school in China. It also has a web site...and, of course, I can't remember it and don't have my thumb drive at the moment. Stormy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.stinky Posted June 7, 2007 at 02:51 PM Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 at 02:51 PM this one? http://www.studychineseyn.com:81/xxpmoban/moban/14/index_xxp.asp?xxpxddd=14099 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dstormy1 Posted June 8, 2007 at 05:48 AM Report Share Posted June 8, 2007 at 05:48 AM Yes...Kunming WuHua School. I haven't been there but I think a complete list of schools/learning opportunities in Kunming & Yunnan is helpful to everyone. Every learning place/situation is as different as we learners. Like West Side Story...there's a place for everyone. And...every place is good for someone. I like Keats. Others....? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Socks Posted June 8, 2007 at 10:21 AM Report Share Posted June 8, 2007 at 10:21 AM I'm not too happy with Summit School in Kunming... I sent them an email about 2 weeks ago inquiring about summer classes, and have heard nothing back. I don't think that I should have to beg (or even ask twice) for information, and if they don't respond to me when I want to be a student, I don't think that they are going to treat me any better when I am a student.... Sorry, Caleb! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.stinky Posted June 8, 2007 at 11:05 AM Report Share Posted June 8, 2007 at 11:05 AM i may head over to wuhua for a look see, since i live less than 15 minutes walk in a lovely new housing complex under the 'flaming turd.' (rooftop neon, just indescribable) my girlfriend recommends against it, though. showed her the website last night, and she's still laughing about it; especially the page selling souvenir scrolls and tea. she thinks it's just so unprofessional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandaxiongmao Posted June 9, 2007 at 10:15 AM Report Share Posted June 9, 2007 at 10:15 AM Speaking of unprofessional, the "Professional Team" page on the Wuhua website states that one of the faculty has an MBA from "Columbia Southern University." While that online university has accreditation, it appears that their MBA programme does not. This is similar to the University of Phoenix, which is well known to be accredited, but their programmes not due to poor quality. Their school is not listed at either of the two main MBA accreditation bodies: http://www.aacsb.edu/General/InstLists.asp?lid=2 or http://www.iacbe.org/html/acc__member_-_c.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindseylopez Posted June 17, 2007 at 06:03 AM Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 at 06:03 AM So Mr.Stinky, How do you like Wuhua? Is it good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pekingpolly Posted June 25, 2007 at 03:28 PM Report Share Posted June 25, 2007 at 03:28 PM I am going to study at Keats this September. Everything looks good. They did a good job in replying emails. I look forward to my stay there. Does anybody have more information about it? We can share. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dstormy1 Posted July 2, 2007 at 05:38 AM Report Share Posted July 2, 2007 at 05:38 AM Hi PP, I'm at Keats now. I like it. Staff seem really concerned we are doing well here in Kunming and have what we need. Staff/teachers flexible and teach to what I want to learn....conversation. They also have a good text for teaching characters and reading/writing. My room is small but clean and comfy. Compared with YunDa where I was it's all great. (I can't compare to any others since I haven't been to them). Any specific Q's? Stormy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndhuRen Posted July 2, 2007 at 12:18 PM Report Share Posted July 2, 2007 at 12:18 PM Hi PP,I'm at Keats now. I like it. Staff seem really concerned we are doing well here in Kunming and have what we need. Staff/teachers flexible and teach to what I want to learn....conversation. They also have a good text for teaching characters and reading/writing. My room is small but clean and comfy. Compared with YunDa where I was it's all great. (I can't compare to any others since I haven't been to them). Any specific Q's? Stormy How good are they in the One-to-One instruction. What's the material that they are using for the conversational classes. How much is the per hour fee. I am only intersted in Conversational mandarin. I had planned to go to TLI but if Keats is good and cheap, then I might go over there..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dstormy1 Posted July 4, 2007 at 05:12 AM Report Share Posted July 4, 2007 at 05:12 AM Hi InduRen, Re Keats....my laoshi is quite good at 1:1 teaching. She really prepares for every session. I suggested my own books for conversational Mandarin and bought my own at "Mandarin Bookstore" in Kunming (books are cheap here): Zhang Pengpeng's "Intensive Spoken Chinese" and CCTV's "Communicate in Chinese" but I think they would be open to about any good text like BLCU's "Conversational Chinese 301". I think Keats usual texts are the "New Practical Chinese Reader" series...very good on teaching characters. You can check bkstores like "Mandarin Books" in Kunming if you want other texts or ask Keats directly. Re Keats hourly fees...need to check their website ( www.cnlearnchinese.com) but I think it's $7 per hour, 1:1. I am here for 3 months and paid all upfront so I didn't pay attention to hourly fee. Keats is good on answering e-mails(see their website) ...good to get in touch with Keats directly. Good luck, Stormy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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