Keats School Reviews 7

I studied with Keats for 6 weeks, opting not to go to their headquarters in Kunming, but instead to travel across four locations. I'm going to review the reaching, travel/immersion, and the value for money components separately.

Teaching:
I thought the quality of the teaching was very good. Tailored to my level, and goals. And also I left some feedback halfway though about how I wanted to change things up which was really quickly acted upon. I don't think my teacher could have done much more - the only thing that I felt made the learning less interesting was that we basically did a textbook front-to-back, and it includes a lot of vocabulary that you wouldn't need in adult life (names of classrooms etc.) and the texts are pretty uninspiring. Really not the end of the world though, there might just not be a great textbook out there and HSK 2-3 doesn't give a lot to work with perhaps. My teacher was happy to tell me which parts were and were not important.

Travel/Immersion:
The idea behind doing it like I did, is to get more immersion and see more. I think this is probably true, but in the end I wsh I hadn't done it this way. Unless you are very extroverted or your Chinese level is quite good, you may end up with quite a lonely solo travelling experience. I felt like my experience would have been better staying in one place and joining some local clubs, though I do think there's a risk of you stay in Kunming that you just chat in English with other students.
The day trips were very tiring after 6 weeks. I ended up not going most days after a few weeks. Some locations have less to offer so bear that in mind. I also wouldn't expect a lot out of these, they are mostly wandering around a temple or a market street, nothing you couldn't find yourself.

There are the Saturday trips which are "bigger" but these are basically the most touristy things where you'll just end up around too many people all photographing the same thing. I felt that almost all the Saturday trips were regrettable, but if you're someone who wants to tick everything off then you'll probably like it.

Value:
This is where unfortunately I felt quite let down by the experience. Ultimately the cost was about £1000 per week (£166 per day, excluding Sunday which is a travel or rest day) and for that you get:
- very poor accomodation, around £15-25 per night but will vary depending on location
- just Saturday trips included in the cost
- 4 hours of teaching per day (1:1)
- occasionally a taxi here and there
- a teacher travelling with you

I thought this premium cost would lead to a better experience ultimately. When I was doing day trips with my teacher, a couple of times they did not join me to avoid paying the ticket price. Also they would encourage us to take public transport on the way to tourist sites and I would pay for the taxi back. These taxis were normally around £1-2. Feels odd to try to save such a small amount.
Only in two of the four locations was there dedicated study space - in the other two we were in cafes. In one hotel in Lijiang we studied for a few days in the freezing cold in the hotel owners dining room. Again this was quite disappointing.
Towards the end of the trip I booked my own hotel for the last week, and I asked my teacher to taxi over to my accomodation's lobby to study rather than go to the schools location, not expecting it to be very good. My teacher was happy enough to come along but I needed to offer to pay the taxi fare for this. It wasn't a lot, and I don't mind, but this just felt very cheap to me given that I had at this point skipped two Saturday trips and probably 15 day trips at this point which would have incurred the school a much larger expense than a few taxi fares.

Ultimately I wouldn't recommend it if you have the means to get your own visa and find an independent tutor. Based on how my teacher was being with saving money, I get the sense that the school is taking a very healthy margin by putting you in cheap accomodation, paying the teachers poorly, and encouraging them to cut costs as far as possible.

Note: Keats did not reach out to me to provide feedback which I think is a bit of a miss from them

I was rather frustrated by the course given at Keats.

First I climbed on the bandwagon, and joined a course that started the week before.
No much effort were put in the onboarding process.
I had to catch up as I could. I felt like the odd man out.

It was cramming like crazy(4 hours in a row), with a small pause in between because I beg for it (still jet-lagged).

Reviewing the course was a nightmare, even if I was willing to. The PDF provided was not convenient : copy-pasting the sentences would mix hanzi characters and pinyin. I would spend another 4-5 hours on the course, trying to make something out of it.

The teacher was not talking very well English, which was a real problem for explanations and communications. I don' t blame her, she did what she could. And I know she clocks a lot of hours.

Maybe I was expecting too much from this course.

I also mentioned beforehand that I would like to stay a second week on 1-on-1 course, but I was told there was none. So I thought I would be redirected to a small-group course.

But during the first week I was told I actually need to go away, and that there was no vacancies left.
Big misunderstanding, to say the least.

Presumably even the accomodation was not available. So I was told. It's hard to believe.

Coming all the way from Europe (15-hour flight) to get kicked out like this is for sure not nice.

In hindsight, maybe this is money I did not waste.

So I kept learning on my own. At my own pace, and I am still doing so.

Next year I will try omeida instead.

I loved it and had a great time.
I’m also learned Chinese with no problems whatsoever because of my amazing teacher!

I spent six weeks with two wonderful Mandarin teachers at Keats in Kunming. 6 hours a day for 5 weeks, then 4 hours a day for my last week.

By far the most valuable resource at Keats is their excellent staff. The teachers have multiple students and even teach online classes, they prepare and personalise lessons based on each individual student’s needs.

My morning teacher, Pi lao shi, asked me directly what my goals were from the beginning and continually adjusted classes to suit my needs. She also went above and beyond by keeping me company during the Spring Festival (there was a week long break from school) and introducing me to her friends. In this way, I was able to integrate the learning from class and apply it in the real world by talking to her and her friends in a casual setting. She also sent me the best recommendations for places to eat, cool streets, local bars, and I had the most enriching experiences. Pi lao shi is also a super cool and funny person, so lessons were full of laughter and light.

I had longer classes with my afternoon teacher, Peng lao shi, who is a truly impressive and patient person! She already speaks three languages fluently and is learning another, I admire her a lot. Peng lao shi also catered lessons to my goals, and we had many conversations along the way to fine tune the learning experience. Every night she would prepare the next day’s class according to what we talked about that day, and every day she paid attention to my mood, attention level and comments so she could pivot again if necessary. The days when I was confronted with my own insecurity she bolstered my confidence, and the days when I thought I had no energy she stayed patient and reminded me of my goals. We also laughed a lot even while working through her well structured lessons.

A few notes about the facilities. Super convenient living at the school with weekday meals provided. The dishes were good for me as I like spice, but many students mentioned that they struggle with the spiciness. The rooms are a lottery, varying in quality. My first room was decent but late one rainy night it sprung a leak. Thankfully, even though it was 11pm the night before Spring Festival, Eddie the student liaison extraordinaire immediately arranged for me to switch rooms. My next room was actually bigger than the first one, so in a way I got lucky!

Keats has a truly impressive staff and I hope they are never taken for granted. Overall I had an unforgettable time and will miss everyone I met there.

I enjoyed a wonderful month of studying Mandarin at Keats School in Kunming.
What makes this school particularly stand out is its outstanding teaching quality. I have been learning Mandarin for almost 6 years and 彭老师 is among the best teachers that I have ever had the pleasure of learning from. As an advanced learner, I truly benefited from her ability to explain the subtle nuances in meaning that differentiate advanced vocabulary items, as well as the extensive study materials she provided including lesson notes, flash cards, grammar and vocabulary lists.
Keats School also provides a range of fun excursions and cultural activities such as cooking classes, visiting night markets, lantern festivals, and hiking trips which further enriched the experience of learning Chinese in Yunnan.
Would highly recommend!

I had a great experience at Keats, I stayed for 3 weeks with 4 hour classes, in which I had 3 different teachers and 4 hour classes every day. I was amazed by the level of dedication of all teachers. Most importantly, they do not force you to learn anything you do not want to learn. Everything is catered to your own preferences. I told them speaking is the most important to me, so we dedicated most of the time to that.

All teachers prepare beforehand, and after the class they will provide you with notes, I have not had classes that were this well structured. I was able to become more confident in my Mandarin and reach HSK5.

Regarding the facilities, I had a private room and it was quite comfortable, supplied with a tv and small fridge. Do not expect it to be a luxury hotel room, but for me it was definitely good enough. The location of the school is very convenient. Although the school also supplies good food, it's worth it to experience local food in the nearby streets, of which there are plenty.

All in all, I could write a lot more, but in general I think it has been an amazing experience, I would recommend it to anyone.

Special thanks to my teachers, Su, Ma and Pi Laoshi. I really enjoyed the classes and will definitely come back!

I am just now finishing my time at the Keats language school in Kunming, where I did 4 hours of class every week day for 5 weeks, which was a perfect amount of class time, and lived in the school accomodations on campus.
The teachers and staff have been so kind and helpful, even when it has come to planning weekend or holiday trips outside of school time. Furthermore, the campus itself is comfortable and conveniently placed, the food is delicious, (if a little spicy). Kunming is a beautiful city to explore, and was very easy to navigate for my first time in China.
I would attribute a lot of my enjoyment of my time in Kunming, at the school, and my improvement in speaking Chinese to my teacher, Pi Laoshi.

She is amazing; she is a very kind, bubbly and lovely person, and in her classroom, I felt instantly comfortable and welcome, furthermore, excited to learn. I would highly recommend KEATS, and future students should wish to be lucky enough to have my teacher.

I have loved my time here, and will miss everyone!