iTutor-20 hours per week

My language teacher was very thorough and spot on for my ability. In addition to our targeted daily lessons, our conversations were very helpful with helping me to navigate shopping, cafe's and getting around the street. She took a personal interest in making my experience the most fulfilling it could be. The entire staff at iMandarin was very friendly, helpful, and dedicated to creating a whole experience to help me get the most out of one short week in Guangzhou. As for the City, I found Guangzhou to be my favorite city of the half dozen or so I visited; a perfect place to learn and enjoy. While the promotional materials indicated that the host residence would be within a half hour walk of the school, mine was about a one hour subway ride. Wile at first this seemed a little inconvenient, my host made sure I learned how to navigate the subway system within the first couple of says, making the trip to the campus (three lines and three transfers) a breeze. By the end of the week, I felt like I could navigate my way around the city with ease. In the end, I am glad to have had that experience. My host also did the best job possible of introducing me to areas of the city and notable sites and experiences. In all, I am very glad to have had the whole one-week experience, and look forward to doing this again.

I like that they were able to take me in with such a short notice and even though I was the only student I was able to take my class, but with shorter time per session than the normal class. My teacher was great and adapted to what I wanted and needed from the class.

I think studying at iMandarin was very helpful. At iMandarin you can choose a private class so you can improve your Mandarin. iMandarin teachers want to help you know something new and you can ask them. But after this you must use Mandarin often, so you can practice your Mandarin.

I recommended choosing iMandarin.

Before I went to Guangzhou and was still in Sydney, I already talked to the manager of my school location through phone and Internet. This made me feel comfortable about coming to Guangzhou. I arrived in GZ on a Sunday morning, very early. Two of the employees were at the airport to pick me up. They showed me the school and we went out for coffee. They were very friendly and funny and open, which made me feel like I had friends in this city immediately. The only thing I was nervous about was the host family they picked for me: This family never had a foreigner before, and they were not very accommodating. This made me nervous, also because the manager who had arranged everything was nervous about it. In the end the host family turned out to be okay, even though some things I didn't like. For instance, they didn't give me a key to their house, so that I didn't feel free to move around whenever I wanted. The lessons I got were good and very pleasant. This mainly had to do with the teacher I had. She is a very good teacher, and a very friendly one. I not only see her as my teacher, but also as a friend. Every day, I had Chinese group lessons from 9am to 12am, and then half an hour private lesson. In the beginning it wasn't very clear what kind of lessons I would have, and the manager asked me to decide where and what kind of lessons I wanted. This was a bit strange, because I didn't know anything. But in the end it all turned out really good. I loved my teacher, my classmates, and the school. The school was very conveniently located, close to a bus stop to my house, and close to the subway. The classrooms were small, but not too small. There was always tea and hot water, and I could use other rooms for surfing the internet if I wanted (as said before, I wasn't free to go to the host family all the time). I had only 1 social activity, which was a cooking class. It was too busy in a room that was too small, and I don't feel like I've learned anything. But it was a nice way to meet others. For me, I would have loved more activities outside, in the city. Also, the people working in my school weren't very helpful in advising me where to go in the afternoons, when I wanted to go sightseeing. They don't know that much about the beautiful sites in GZ - this might be something that should be improved, and that can be more valuable for people who came as tourists such as me (I realize that most people that go to the school are working and don't have the same needs or time as me...) I owe a lot to my wonderful teacher, to Celia and to Don. In 6 weeks time, we became friends, and they made my stay in GZ wonderful