Dr. Barbara Meisterernst from Germany (the first lady from the left)

Mandarin Advance Full Day Class (11/5 – 6/6, 2011)

Linguist, Sinologist, Researcher, Lecturer
Humboldt-University, Berlin, Germany

1, Why did you choose Hong Kong Language School?

I found Hong Kong Language School in the internet when looking for a language course fitting my very tight time schedule. The information was clearly provided and the price for a four weeks course appeared to me quite reasonable in comparison with other offers. Additionally my enquiries about enrolment and payment conditions were answered promptly and in a very friendly manner.

2, How’s the school environment?

There is nothing to complain about. It is easily accessible and nicely located.

3, How’s the class atmosphere?

The atmosphere in class was perfect. With only one classmate the courses were very intensive. Additionally, I was very happy with the choice of my classmate; we had a lot of fun together in class and found a lot of things to talk about and to discuss. I also had the impression that our two teachers were very well chosen for our interests and our personalities.

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

The two teachers we had were perfect, each in her particular way. It was very good to have two different teachers who are both native speakers of Mandarin but come from different areas and have different accents, which forced us to adapt to both of them instead of getting used to just one. Additionally, their respective idiolects and their focus in class were slightly different, partly due to age, partly due to differences in interest. I did not expect to learn so much about different aspects of modern Chinese culture, different ways of life in Hong Kong and Mainland China from two so well informed, nice and open-minded people. We had very lively discussions about many topics of the day, but also about general questions of life in China and in Europe. And we also had a lot of fun together. Carol always prepared some funny games for us, which forced me to talk, and this was exactly what I expected from the course. Additionally she opened conversations about a lot of important practical topics, such as computers, software, mobile phones, etc. and in this way provided us with a lot of relevant vocabulary for everyday purposes. With Lily we had a lot of interesting and well informed discussions about both Ancient and Modern Chinese history which I enjoyed very much. It was always great with both of them. I was never bored even for a minute and I would have liked to continue for another month or two. Already during, and particularly after the course I felt much more confident with my Chinese colleagues, I understand them a lot better now and I am less reluctant to join in a Chinese conversation than I was before.

Thanks a lot again to both of you, Lily and Carol. I really miss our discussions.

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

If I ever have the occasion I will definitely come back for another course like the one I had. I learned Modern Chinese mostly on my own, and although I went to some evening classes before, this course was the first that really suited me and my particular interests. It was very good for me to have the opportunity to speak Chinese in an environment that provided normal conversational situations and discussions on everyday topics and did not just follow the (mostly not very interesting) topics in an exercise book. Both teachers always reacted to every question and topic we raised and provided the relevant vocabulary, etc.

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

Certainly for all the above reasons. If all teachers are like Lily and Carol, nothing can go wrong.

Sanjay Garla from U.S.A (the gentleman on the right)

Cantonese Beginner 3 & 4 Full Day class (3/10- 16/10, 2012)
Cantonese Upper Intermediate Full Day class (17/10- 28/11, 2012)
Cantonese Upper Intermediate – Advanced (15/4 – 16/7, 2013)

From: Sanjay Garla

Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2013 1:04 AM
To: Branda Kwong; KAM C CAT
Subject: hi!

Hi folks! I just wanted to let you all know that I started volunteering this week with a union here in San Francisco. I’m helping them outreach to Chinese workers. The Union lost their Cantonese speaking staff person almost a year ago and they haven’t been able to find a replacement. So I have been talking with the workers and yesterday i helped translate at a meeting. The meeting was conducted in Spanish English and Cantonese.

It was all really difficult for me, but the workers were really happy to have someone who could speak some Cantonese and they understood most of what I was saying. I also understood most of what they were saying.

I was so excited to finally see my hard work starting to pay off. I still have a lot to learn, but I think if am working on a daily basis with Chinese workers I’ll learn quickly.

I’m also glad now that I chose Cantonese instead of Mandarin. Some of the workers that I spoke with told me they can understand Mandarin but can’t speak it. But everyone spoke and understood Cantonese.

Thanks for all your support and training. I am definitely putting it to good use!

Sanjay

1, Why did you choose Hong Kong Language School?

— I chose HKLS because I wanted to have an immersion experience that was fun but also challenging at the same time. The method of teaching seemed both rigorous and engaging. Furthermore, HKLS is one of the few language schools that also sets up a homestay with a Hong Kong family. I thought this would allow me to get the most out of my short time studying Cantonese in Hong Kong.

2, How’s the school environment?

— Free coffee, tea, and biscuits along with cozy, air conditioned classrooms – what more can one want?

3, How’s the class atmosphere?

— The class atmosphere is pretty casual. I sometimes didn’t even realize that I was learning because we would become engrossed in trying to communicate about a variety of topics. Only after class would end would I realize how much I learned.

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

— I had two different teachers, both of whom were extremely talented and effective. I’ve had several Cantonese teachers in the past and I can confidently say that the instructors at HKLS are by far the best I’ve ever worked with. They have the experience to explain grammar and concepts in ways that non-native speakers can understand. The teachers also teach a great deal about Chinese culture and thinking. All this is done in a conversational and fun way.

I enjoyed how rigorous the class was. Of course the instructor adjusts to the level of the class, but at the same time is always pushing students forward. I definitely got the experience that I wanted and felt that with the HKLS instructors I was able to learn very quickly.

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

— Yes! I plan to come back and take more lessons. I am so excited to be able to have conversation in Cantonese, but I know that if I want to perfect my Cantonese I need to come back and learn.

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

— Yes. I talk to a number of my friends about how great HKLS is. The teachers make HKLS the best. Attending classes at HKLS really made me realize how important it is to have experienced teachers.

Ms. Leslie Chan from USA

Cantonese Private Tuition (13/5- 9/5, 2010 & 3/6, 2011 – Present )

Financial Analyst, Assistant Vice President — Credit Suisse
External Reporting and Financial Publications
Zurich, Switzerland

1, Why did you choose Hong Kong Language School?

— I found the school by chance (or rather luck) in the HK weekly (free) newspaper

— I think this is a newspaper geared towards expats.  The school was the 1st one that I rang, but I immediately liked how friendly and accommodating the staff was.  I think it was good that they advised me to meet them first before deciding and letting them assess my needs.  They were never pushy (as we know Chinese can be!).  Price was fair, but not the main determinant of my decision making process.

2, How’s the school environment?

— Rooms and communal space were very comfortable and relaxed.  Loved the free drinks and snacks — which helped keep the energy levels up during 3 – 4 hour private lessons!  Air conditioning was a bit troublesome at times in terms of noise level and finding a comfortable level…my teacher had to keep adjusting it!  Convenient location near MTR.

3, How’s the class atmosphere?

— Structured, but fun and relaxed. Good environment for learning. Learned a lot in each lesson and laughed a lot while doing so.

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

— Loved my teacher. She was professional and fun.  Flexible enough to gauge lessons around personal interests, yet also stayed structured.  I appreciated her discipline with my pronunciation and thorough explanations of proper vs colloquial Cantonese –  and made sure I learned the correct way 1st! I had private lessons so I was better able to personalize the lessons around my needs. My teacher was very good at taking interest in what I liked and tried to develop my vocabulary and speaking / comprehension needs to cater to those type of situations.  I liked her practical approach to what a person should learn.

I think we could have worked more on comprehension since this is a weak area for me.  I seemed to be able to speak, but often misunderstood what was being said to me when being asked or s/he responded.

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

— Yes, because I felt my teacher knows me well enough to understand my needs and will continue to push me, while still encouraging me and keeping things fun and practical.  I appreciated how flexible / accommodating the staff were to ensure that I could fit in my lessons everyday.  Staff are motivated to teach and considerate to their students.

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

— I think it is difficult to say that each person will have as positive experience as I did since I had the luxury of having private lessons and also a very good relationship with my teacher.  I would definitely recommend my teacher, but as she is a representative of the school, I would feel more than comfortable to recommend the school itself to my colleagues.

Vriti Manaktala from India (the 2nd lady on the left)

Mandarin Beginners Level 1 (25/7 – 9/8, 2012)
Mandarin Beginners Level 2 (17/9 – 28/9, 2012)
Mandarin Beginners Level 3 – Lower Intermediate 3 (8/10 – 17/12, 2012)
Mandarin Lower Intermediate 4 – Upper Intermediate 1 (14/1 – 4/2, 2013)

Came back & continued from Mandarin Upper Intermediate 2 on 21st February, 2013

The school has a very lively and enjoyable atmosphere and far exceeded my expectations. I met some very nice people and made good friends on the course.

My teacher Helen was excellent. I have never had such a wonderful and encouraging teacher. I found her classes a lot of fun and intellectually stimulating. Helen is fully of positive energy and so I looked forward to going to class everyday. I will miss learning Mandarin from Helen and hope I may have the opportunity to pursue some more sessions at the school with her.

My special thanks to Branda and Mini for organising the classes so professionally.

All the best.

Dr. Wang Keh-Chung PhD from USA, Taiwanese (the gentleman on the right)

Cantonese In-house Training (26/2- 9/7, 2010)

Vice President and Group Director

IC Design Group

ASTRI – Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited

“I took Cantonese Beginners 1&2 courses together with 16 of my colleaguesfrom Ms. Branda Kwong of Hong Kong Language School. This was an effective and appreciable learning experience. Ms. Kwong taught us basic conversation,vocabulary, sentence making, pronunciation, etc. with dedication andenthusiasm. She also shared her pleasant attitude, positive thinking ,traditional Chinese value, and some precious life experience with us. We enjoyed attending Ms. Kwong’s classes and learned a lot from her. I highly recommend these courses and related ones to those who are interested inlearning Cantonese.”

Peter Beer from Australia (the gentleman on the left) & Ling Fang from Beijing (the lady on the right)

Cantonese Private Tuition (20/9,2011 – 24/10, 2012, 84 hours in total)

1. Content

‧ The structure of the student materials was clear and well laid-out. The New Words and Conversations etc sections all worked well to reinforce the vocabulary and subject matter

‧ The content flowed well, from simple everyday topics and vocabulary initially to more sophisticated topics as we moved into the intermediate stage.

2. Teacher

‧ Our teacher, Kaman, was very patient! It was sometimes difficult keeping the class on-track, as one of the students (my wife ) had a habit of leading the conversation off heading on tangents…. But we managed to cover all the relevant content each class

‧ I liked Kaman’s approach of writing relevant words etc onto the white (glass) boards. That helped reinforce various concepts and vocab groups also

3. Organization

‧ Time worked well – I needed a flexible structure because of my travel and it was no problem to do fewer classes a week or cancel if really necessary (giving enough notice)

‧ Communication with the management worked well via email. Very prompt and clear responses

4. Results

‧ We started at Beginners level, and after one year we had reached “Upper Intermediate” (Lesson 64). It helped that my wife is Chinese (but only speaks Mandarin), and I can speak reasonable Mandarin also, but still we made very good progress

‧ My vocabulary is now 500+ words (perhaps closer to 1000), and I can have a conversation (relatively simple), and even though my wife did not revise much each week, she can now understand a lot of Cantonese on TV or when communicating with local Cantonese speakers – so together we are in good shape!

So overall our experience was very positive, and we got lots of benefit from attending Hong Kong Language School. We might even come back for a refresher course at some stage in the future! And we will take Kaman out for dinner sometime soon too!!

Dr. Danny Ong PhD from USA, Taiwanese (the first gentleman from the right)

Cantonese In-house Training (23/2 -13/7. 2010)

Principal Consultant

Communications technologies Group

ASTRI – Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited

1, How’s the class atmosphere?

–The classroom was very quiet and the atmosphere was very good for learning language. All students are focused on listening teachers instruction and anxious to learn more Cantonese.

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

–Branda was an excellent language teacher. She has a lot of patience; always encourage us to ask questions, in addition to her good knowledge about Cantonese.

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

–Yes, Ill recommend your school to my friends. I believe you have excellent teacher and text book.

Tiffany Abril from U.S.A (the lady on the left)

Mandarin Beginners Level 1 & 2 (6/8 – 31/8, 2012)

1, Why did you choose Hong Kong Language School?

— I chose the HKLS because of the price and the willingness to work with my schedule.

2, How’s the school environment?

— The environment was nice! Coffee, water, and little snacks for break time and very clean.

3, How’s the class atmosphere?

— I enjoyed coming to my class knowing that we would have a good time and laugh a lot but also learn.

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

— My teacher, Carol, was fantastic! She was encouraging and a great instructor. I learned what I expected to learn and now I have a lot to practice on my own before going to Beijing where I will be able to use my new skill.

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

— If I lived in the area I would definitely take more lessons to develop a stronger understanding of the language.

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

— Of course, and I already have 🙂

Mr. Tan Zhigang from Hunan, CHINA (the first gentleman from the left)

Cantonese In-house Training (23/2 -13/7. 2010)

Intern
ASTRI – Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited

1, How’s the class atmosphere?

— Great!

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

— Excellent. Yes.

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

— Sure. The teachers are real professionals in language teaching

Mr. Zhu Lin, from Wuhan, CHINA (the second gentleman from the left)

Cantonese In-house Training (23/2 -13/7. 2010)

Engineer of ECE department
ASTRI – Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited

1, How’s the class atmosphere?

— The atmosphere is full of activity. we feel comfortable here.

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

— Our teacher is kind and serious. And My Cantonese has improved much during the class.

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

— I will recommend Hong Kong Language School to my friend. For I learned a lot things in the class.

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.