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.
