Hello my name is Maria. I am from China and I am a student advisor at LTL Beijing. Please contact me using the details below.
Recently I retired, and suddenly with so much time on my hands, was wondering what to do with myself. I really love travel and China is my favourite destination.
I have been before and always regretted not being able to communicate with people. I feel you miss out on so much by not being to communicate with the local people.
David in Beijing
I was talking to a friend, and he suggested going to China and combining my trip with doing a short-term language course.
The idea was appealing, so I started looking online, and found LTL Beijing. I read the blogs and decided to make contact.
Within a day, we were exchanging emails and we were discussing course options available at LTL. I was a little worried about my age but they assured me I would fit in and they had had older people at the school before. I signed up for a four-week short course.
The school organised my accommodation. I chose a shared apartment, with my own ensuite. Other types of accommodation were home stay, and serviced apartment.
The school sends you an invitation as a student which I submitted with my visa application. LTL organised a driver to pick me up from the airport and take me to my apartment – too easy! The first day of school was great. I met my fellow students, the office staff and of course my teachers.
The class sizes are small, usually no more than six, so you get a lot of one-on-one help when needed. My teachers were patient and explained everything clearly.
Learning Characters was daunting at the start, but I found I loved calligraphy. “So beautiful!”, to quote my teacher.
School Lunch
Lunch time was enjoyable and everybody sat around and shared the great food, and stories. The office staff are more than helpful and can solve any problems you may have. There are excursions to Chinese cultural sites as well, like The Great Wall, Summer Palace, Forbidden City, the markets and of course local restaurants.
LTL stands for Live The Language, and by the end of my four weeks at school, I was confident enough to go the shops and speak, be it a struggle, to people around my building. Being at the school has made me want to become more fluent in Mandarin.
I will continue to study and I definitely want to return to LTL Mandarin School. The whole experience has been super enjoyable … even the Beijing Subways!
My whole holiday was great and has opened new doors. As a retired person, it is brilliant to find new interests and purpose. I will keep traveling, and keep going to China, as long as I don’t fall off my perch.
It is such an amazing country and the people are so nice. For anyone who enjoys travel, and wants to feel a sense of achievement, I cannot recommend LTL highly enough.
Do yourself a favour, you may find a whole new interest and be able to speak a foreign language.
Each weekday we had a four hour class, two hours in the morning and two more with a lunch break in between.
Our teacher also made sure that there was enough room for personal accents and questions.
