Learning Chinese at Culture Yard

[TEDinBEEJ]

I recently found out about Culture Yard from a friend. I had heard about it before as a place that sponsored different events an outings but never as a place for learning Chinese. I took a class there and was really impressed, or equally as impressed as I've been with any other CSL school in China that I've taken classes at before. I know the space is small and the amount of students are limited, but I'm wondering why it isn't better known. Does anybody here have any similar experience? I heard they have only been around for a year, but is there anything that I don't know about the place?

[amandagmu]

I've been to a few of the Monday night culture series in which you get to learn the vocabulary surrounding specific topics (e.g. "Red" films, discussing different dialects and their differences, etc). I'm impressed by the small class-size and the preparation by the teacher (the one named Brendan). Real friendly, low-key environment where we sit around and discuss the topic as Brendan goes through a PPT, videos, audio, etc. I think it's (finally) a novel approach to learning Chinese in Beijing. I don't know how good it might be for language learning at the basic or intermediate level, but I absolutely love these more advanced classes. I actually wish they offered them more often because at that price (75 RMB/250 for 4 sessions per month-- for ~2hours each session with 2-5 other students) I'd go several times per week. I've told that to the guy who runs the CY, but I'm not sure how fast they're planning to expand. They are considering adding a media (newspapers and TV) class for advanced students.

[amandagmu]

Also, just to add - I think the CY is trying to not just be another language school (they offer more than Chinese classes). I have spoken to them about this before and (I think their website http://www.cultureyard.net explains this too) their approach seems to be an attempt to combine a more immersive experience in the learning process.

[BeijingDaniel2011]

I agree that such innovative schemes should be more prevalent in Beijing. They organise good trips and workshops and I really like the idea of culture series on different topics- it's a fantastic idea to bring together advanced learners of Chinese and further cultural understanding. We're trying to do the same thing at Live the Language Mandarin School- combine learning the language with cultural immersion (with more emphasis on language learning). I think it is really important to combine cultural studies with language learning otherwise it's difficult to appreciate the language and China in general.