Christine M. Vets from Belgium (the lady in the middle)

Mandarin Beginners Level 3 & 4 (16/7 – 27/7, 2012)

Mandarin Lower Intermediate Level 1 & 2 (13/11 – 23/11, 2012)

1, Why did you choose Hong Kong Language School?

— I am Belgian, I have been learning Mandarin in Luxembourg for two years.
Our teacher is really good. Unfortunately, she has to teach over 23 people.
She teaches us how to read and write traditional Chinese characters. We roughly know how to read around 500 characters.
Unfortunately, we only have very limited opportunities to speak Mandarin simply because we are far too many people.
I failed at the TOCFL level 1 back in May. The written part was a piece of cake but the listening comprehension part was really hard.
This is how I realised I badly needed to take intensive classes in China. Hong Kong was on my short list because I did not need a visa.
I googled ‘learn Mandarin in Hong Kong’ and Hong Kong Language School popped up.
It had good reviews, very competitive prices, therefore, I picked it up.
I contacted the school. Mini and Branda turned out to be very professional and very effective.
All my questions were answered within minutes. I sent my application and here I am!

2. How’s the school environment?

— I loved Wan Chai. The school is very close to the MTR (subway). It takes less than five minutes to walk from the MTR station (exit C) to HK Language School. There are lots of very good and really affordable restaurants around the school.
This gave me the opportunity to try food from all over Asia in just a couple of weeks.
This would have been impossible in Belgian!

Branda (senior course co-ordinator and one of the Cantonese teachers), was actually nice enough to recommend a few.
One day, she accompanied me to a Thai place during her lunch break.
She also took me to a fantastic Sichuan place in Kowloon on a Friday evening.

3, How’s the class atmosphere?

— Very good atmosphere, very studious!
I took private classes only. Helen and I worked very hard as I only had two weeks.

I was looking forward to my afternoon class as I could see my Mandarin was getting better and better every day!

4, How’s your teacher? Was your class effective? Did you learn what you had expected?

— Helen is a great teacher. Mandarin is not exactly the first foreign language I learn and I can tell the difference between
a nice and motivated teacher and a bad one. Helen is definitely one of the top ones! Also, she speaks really good English.

I actually learned MORE than what I expected. Within only two weeks, I managed to learn enough vocabulary and sentence structures to be able to communicate in Mandarin. It would not have been possible without Helen. She helped me to work on my weaknesses, she made flash cards for me and
she gave me extra homework so that I could really make the most of these two weeks.

Helen is very modest about her achievements. I can tell you that if you are lucky enough to learn Mandarin from scratch with a teacher like her,

you will be fluent within a couple of months!

5, Will you come back & take more lessons? Why?

— Yes, I will as soon as I can take extra vacation.
I want to come back and take more classes with Helen simply because I know that I will learn a lot.

I reckon that if I come to Hong Kong for two weeks for the next three years, I will be fluent.

6, Will you recommend Hong Kong Language School to your friends? Why?

— I already did. Not only to friends but also to people I met in Hong Kong.

I did because I know your school is a very good one.

Jonathan Chan from U.S.A. (the gentleman on the left)

Cantonese Upper Intermediate to Advanced level (25/6 – 25/7, 2012)

1, Why did you choose Hong Kong Language School?

I was recommended to come to Hong Kong Language School by my relatives in Hong Kong. I’m unsure as to how they came across your school.

2. How’s the school environment?

The school environment was very comfortable and I enjoyed being able to have some free tea or coffee in the morning. And in order to catch the express bus I needed to arrive rather early, but I felt that the school environment was comfortable enough for me to come 1/2 an hour early and just sit and study in the waiting area.

3. How’s the class atmosphere?

The class environment in my situation I believe was different from most cases. I didn’t have any other classmates, but my teacher was friendly and made the one on one class situation comfortable. The schedule was also very flexible which was helpful since during my trip to HK I needed to have some mornings to do other things. The ease of rescheduling was very nice and would not have been able to do certain things during my short stay in HK if otherwise.

4. How’s your teacher? Was your class effective? Did you learn what you had expected?

My teacher was very good–Although our lessons followed the book’s structure, she was open to answering any of my questions that I had regarding Hong Kong life. During my stay in Hong Kong I came across things that I didn’t understand and things that my relative’s generation were unable to answer, but she was always willing to give thorough explanations. Even when she could not, she came in the following class with the answer which I really appreciated. She also gave me a list of common/popular dim sum foods and how to say/write them which became helpful to look at throughout the month as well. I learned a lot from this class and now I have many people back in America telling me how much my Cantonese has improved, so I think that it was indeed helpful.

5. Will you come back & take more lessons? Why?

I was halfway through Advanced 2 when I left and so there would be only 2 more books left for me if I returned. Traveling to Hong Kong is also very expensive, but given that if money isn’t an issue I think that another month to finish Advanced 3 and 4 would be beneficial.

6. Will you recommend Hong Kong Language School to your friends? Why?

If my friends had the opportunity to go back to Hong Kong and wanted to take Chinese classes, yes, of course I would recommend HKLS to them. Everyone was very friendly every morning and classes were very productive and enjoyable.

Overall this was a very good experience that I’m glad to have had and a very beneficial class that I learned much from.
Thank you very much for all your time and help you’ve given me the past month!

Ms. Chandrika Mudali from Sri Lanka (the first lady from the right)

Cantonese In-house Training (27/5-20/10, 2010)

Merchandise Manager
GapBody Women/ Athleta
Gap International Sourcing Ltd

1, Why did you choose Hong Kong Language School?

— The School was not chosen by us, it was done by the Company HR team.
2, How’s the class atmosphere?

— It was a great class as we were all from the same company having the same thoughts of what we want to learn.
3, How’s your teacher? Was your class effective? Did you learn what you had expected?

— Teacher was excellent!!, she knew what we wanted and her forcus was to improve our areas. She was just great!!
4, Will you come back & take more lessons? Why?

— I will come back when the time is appropriate.
5, Will you recommend Hong Kong Language School to your friends? Why?

— Sure I will recommend the school and the teacher.

---

Mr. Daniel Ou from USA, Korean (the second one from the left)

Cantonese In-house Training (27/5/10 – Mid April, 2011)

Mandarin private tuition – from June 23 until now

Director
Product Development Gap Brand
Gap International Sourcing Ltd

1, Why did you choose Hong Kong Language School?

–My company highly recommended it and I have not been disappointed!

2, How’s the class atmosphere?

–Ours was a really great interactive and fun atmosphere but always emphasized language skills.

3, How’s your teacher? Was your class effective? Did you learn what you had expected?

–Myself and the three other colleagues/students loved our instructor Branda Kwong. She was so personable, persistent, encouraging, and enthusiastic. We also threw a lot of non syllabus related inquires which she always entertained with great humor and insight. The class was very effective as were able to interact and get by in daily Hong Kong life better.

4, Will you come back & take more lessons? Why?

–Sure, I would love to time permitting. It’s not only fun, but a great way to get to know Hong Kong more intimately.

5, Will you recommend Hong Kong Language School to your friends? Why?

–I would recommend it to those who are serious about Cantonese but also to those who want a more casual, colloquial understanding of the language. Cantonese seems very special in that there is a lot of slang and local intricacies and I think the Hong Kong Language School captures that in its practice and teaching methods.

Patrick So from France

Mandarin Advanced Level Day time class (25/6 -6/7, 2012)
Chinese Reading & Chinese (25/6 -20/7, 2012)

1, Why did you choose Hong Kong Language School?

–I chose this school because it was the only school suited for my level.

2, How’s the school environment?

–The school environment is good. People are nice. Branda and Mini are always smiling and available.

3, How’s the class atmosphere?

–The class atmosphere is also great. Classmates are friendly and warm.

4, How’s your teacher? Was your class effective? Did you learn what you had expected?

–Carol is a great and funny teacher who has a great understanding of China’s socio-political environment.
I learnt a lot with her.

5, Will you come back & take more lessons? Why?

–I don’t think I will have further opportunities to come back and take more lessons.

6, Will you recommend Hong Kong Language School to your friends? Why?

–Yes. Because Hong Kong Language School is a welcoming place with competent teachers.