Mairead Ross from Australia

Mandarin Beginner & Lower Intermediate Full Day (5/3 – 2/5/2014)

1, Why did you choose Hong Kong Language School?

— I looked all over the internet at all my different options for studying Mandarin in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Language School was the only place that good value, small so I knew I would get good teachers and good quality teaching material, not also not too small or too new.

2, How’s the school environment?

–The school environment was lovely, everyone was so friendly and accommodating. Even the little break area was such a lovely place to meet people and chat.

3, How’s the class atmosphere?

–I really enjoyed all the teachers I had an felt like they would teach at a pace that best suited myself and my classmates. I also felt comfortable enough to commentate with them how I was feeling with the teaching pace.

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

–My teachers were all great. They were both able to judge just how much english to use and just how hard to push my. They were also great at balancing structured lessons with conversation.

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

–Of course, when I move back to Hong Kong in the future I will need to take more lessons and I will definitely be coming back to Hong Kong Language School.

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

–Yes, I have already recommend it to friends and family, because of how good, experience and well trained their teachers were, however friendly everyone was, and how economically priced their classes are.

Dr Timothy Costello from New Zealand (the gentlemen on the right)

Mandarin Beginner 2 (7/5 – 20/5, 2014)

Lecturer in Psychology
Gregorian University, Rome, Italy
2002 – 2013

I chose the HKLS after a careful internet search and reading some student evaluations. What attracted me were the location of the school, flexibility of the course times, and the general environment of the school. The school is very well located for public transport in the Wan Chai district. I also made use of the public library (225 Hennessy Road) which was good for free Wi-Fi connection. Both Branda and Mini were helpful sources of information and were always a cheerful presence at the reception desk. I enrolled in Mandarin Beginners 2 for ten teaching days. Helen was an excellent teacher, challenging but also very encouraging. The progress I made, especially in spoken Mandarin, was more than I had hoped for. I was very impressed with her teaching techniques that helped me greatly in gaining greater competency and confidence in the language. I found the atmosphere of the school positive, professional, and focused. The course was good value for the price charged and I would certainly recommend others to study at HKLS.

Ms. Sibylle Oester from Swiss (the second lady from the left)

Cantonese Beginner 1 – 4 Half Day class (15/5- 17/8, 2012)
Cantonese Lower Intermediate Level 1 – 3 Evening class (11/9, 2012 – 24/1, 2013)
Cantonese Lower Intermediate 4 – Advanced (4/3 – 18/12, 2013)

Markus Burri from Switzerland (the gentlemen in the middle)

Mandarin Beginners – Lower Intermediate Full Day (3/9 – 21/12, 2012)
Mandarin Lower Intermediate – Upper Intermediate Full Day (4/2 – 10/7, 2013)

Sick and tired of business meetings in China, where you cannot directly communicate with your business partner? Learning Mandarin as a seasoned European manager, is it worth the efforts and can one speak after let me say one year of intense learning?
I have tried it. 10 months of private lessons every day at the Hong Kong Language School. Yes, Mandarin appeared to be more difficult than French or Spanish that I have learned in the past, but yes, one can learn that language! After 10 month I can express myself and the Chinese seem to have fun listening to me, and I do understand provided the Chinese follow my “please, speak slowly…”
I was very satisfied with the Hong Kong Language School. Not only do they have qualified teachers, but also understand different needs of individuals at different stages of the learning. One can “customize” the lessons with the school, and also directly with the teacher. They are flexible, even if you have to cancel a lesson at very short notice due to other business commitments. Friendly yes, qualified yes, even the coffee is ok. I can recommend the school to all who are serious to make an effort and want to dive into the most widely spoken language on this globe.

Yukari Kawamura from Japan (the second lady from the right)

Cantonese Lower Intermediate – Upper Intermediate(6/6 – 11/9, 2013)

1, Why did you choose Hong Kong Language School?

— School location is close to my house and school fee was cheaper than others.

2, How’s the school environment?

— Excellent. I love free snack and drink. Thank you.

3, How’s the class atmosphere?

— Teachers and classmates were so friendly. It was gooood.

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

— Teachers are really helpful. My hk husband and I believe that I improved speaking Cantonese a lot since I go to this school. Indeed, I have taken a Cantonese class at another school. But it didn’t help me much. So I guarantee that hk language school is really effective to study Cantonese.

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

— I wish to come back to school after I settled my new job. Don’t want to forget Cantonese and learn new vocabulary.

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

— Yes, because I really enjoyed studying at hk language school.

Clare Visanji from UK (the lady on the left)

Survival Cantonese (21/10 – 26/10, 2013)
Skype Lessons for Cantonese & Chinese Reading/Writing (22/11/2013 – present, once a week on Thursdays)

I found the Hong Kong Language School after an internet search and luckily for me it turned out to be a very good school indeed! My classes were very enjoyable and adapted to suit both my needs and abilities. It made learning fun and didn’t seem like work at all. There aren’t many English-language tools available for Cantonese learners and having a good teacher is therefore essential in order to make progress.

I would not hesitate to recommend HKLS and look forward to continuing with studying Cantonese.

Diana Fahrmann-Li from Germany

Mandarin Upper Intermediate 1 & 2 (21/2 – 20/3, 2013)
Mandarin Upper Intermediate 3 & 4 (9/4 – 7/5, 2013)
Mandarin Advanced 1 & 2 (23/5 – 20/6, 2013)

1, Why did you choose Hong Kong Language School?

— First of all the location of the HK Language School is very convenient. I live on Kowloon side and could reach the language school easily by ferry. But there are many other ways to reach the school: subway, bus etc.

Secondly I met some teacher in person when I did the assessment test. Their person and professional competence convinced me that they are motivated and I could learn with and from them.

Finally I think the price for the language class is very reasonable . If you compare the price with other language schools in Hong Kong the one here is almost the cheapest and the classes small enough to learn as much as you want and as you yourself do for it.

2, How’s the school environment?

— The school environment is very nice. The school rooms are small but big enough to learn in a peaceful atmosphere. There is a tea corner where you can serve yourself with water, tea or coffee and there are even some snacks in case you get hungry before or after class. The other students are from different countries and you get easily in touch with them even if they are not your classmates because the size of the Language School allows it.

3, How’s the class atmosphere?

— At first I had private classes without classmates. Then one woman joined my class and we got along very easily. We had the same language level which I think was perfectly matched by the school. The class atmosphere was very good, we had good conversations in Mandarin and by learning from the other classmate’s strenghts and weaknesses I could improve my own language skill.

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

— I was very satisfied with my teacher. She is a native Mandarin speaker so I could learn not only vocabulary and grammar but she also taught me much about China’s history and culture. We constantly spoke Mandarin with each other so my Mandarin language skill noticeably improved within the months I took the language classes. Through the speaking practice I have now no more hesitation speaking with native Chinese people.

Actually my expectations were exceeded. I never thought I would make such a progress within this short period of time.

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

— If I would come back to Hong Kong I would take lessons again in the HK Language School. Besides the conversation class next time I would complement it with the reading and writing course.

The above mentioned shows that taking classes in the HK language school really paid of for me.

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

— Yes of course, I will recommend the HK Language School. I was very satisfied and achieved what I intended to. The location is convenient, the school fee is very reasonable and the teachers and staff of the school are friendly and competent.

Garry Law from UK (the gentleman in the middle)

Mandarin Beginners Full Day (19/8 – 13/9,2013)
Mandarin Intermediate Full Day (2/10 – 30/10, 2013)
Finance Mandarin Private Tuition starting from 19th March, 2014

“I immigrated to HK from UK and I knew that if I was to successfully find a job and to truly experience HK, then learning Mandarin would be essential. After researching on the different language schools available, I chose Hong Kong Language School because of it’s: flexibility, competitive costs, different range of courses and quality of teaching. The school lessons were tailored according to my requirements, as I had other daily commitments. The classes were professional yet relaxed and my classes were a mixture of one to one private teaching and with classmates. Both my teachers – Carol and Lily were experienced and made my lessons both extremely enjoyable and interesting and I was looking forward to going to my lessons everyday. After two months of daily lessons, I can hold a good level of conversation in Mandarin, as a result of the effective classes. My new Mandarin skills helped me to secure a job for one of the largest financial companies in Hong Kong, and if work commitments allow, I will definitely try to come back to take on additional lessons. I highly recommend the Hong Kong Language School as your Cantonese/Mandarin school, should you wish to learn either language for social or business”.

Gary Sciscent from U.S.A (the gentleman on the right)

Survival Cantonese (4/2 – 6/2, 2013)

1, Why did you choose Hong Kong Language School?

— I took a crash course in Cantonese (Survival Cantonese) but I was already familiar with HKLS because my daughters had taken a Mandarin class at the school one summer. In both cases, the school was able to offer customized language classes with a professional language teacher on very short notice.

2, How’s the school environment?

— The school is in a full-service business district easily accessible by the subway.

3, How’s the class atmosphere?

— The classroom and office space are clean and brightly lit. My classes began promptly and there were periodic short rest breaks.

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

— My teacher was superb and was sensitive to my ability to absorb the material and paced the class accordingly. I was interested in learning some introductory Cantonese, and this course was perfect for me. My class focused on everyday dialogue and useful expressions and we used the school’s in-house developed handbook and cd that I still refer to when I self-study at home.

Of course learning, especially language learning, requires a good measure of individual effort and study time outside of the classroom. I needed a teacher to provide leadership and to help me navigate the course but in fact a fair amount of progress in my case depended on doing my homework and preparing for class every day.

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

— Yes, I will take more classes in Cantonese – it’s hard to stop once you start.

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

— I would advise anyone learning a language to look for a school that is easily accessible and has well-qualified instructors who understand your goals and can help you design a realistic language program. In both cases, HKLS met those criteria and I had a successful learning experience.