Inge Netherlands

My name is Inge and I arrived in Beijing in February 2018. At the airport the LTL driver was nice and took me straight to my homestay. I stayed with an LTL employee Angelina.

Angelina was very open right away and spoke some English with me. She showed me the house and the city. The city is within walking distance of her house so that was very convenient.

She pointed the good shops and restaurants and told me which ones were good and others to perhaps avoid.

At home, during my first weekend, I could relax and the next day we went with few other students at a large market called Panjiayuan.

It was very cozy and nice to meet some students before heading to school the next day.

That Monday I had class. It was quite difficult at first because I was one week behind from the beginning and my 2 fellow students seemed to understand more but Angela helped me right away and gave me exercises to understand Chinese better I was happy about that.

Angelina, then invited me to her home town for Chinese New Year. I went for the first time on a train, which the compartment was full with people. The trip was 14 hours, it was an experience I’ll never forget! After 14 hours we finally arrived in Taizhou Jiangsu, her hometown.

Her family (father, mother, grandfather and grandmother) were very sweet and took good care of me so that I would be warm (-0 some days). We enjoy some great food made for the Chinese New Year.

I helped with making dumplings what was really nice to learn. I met lots of family members and heard many Fireworks (usually from 6 o’clock in the morning until the end of the day). During my time in Jiangsu province I learnt so much about the Chinese culture and the matters of how important family is.

After 13 days we left to go back to Beijing and it was a sad goodbye.

When were we back after 14 hours again I studied very hard to improve my Chinese.

I really had so much fun after school with the other students such as going for dinner and many other activities that the school organised. I look with a big smile to these 6 weeks in China.

LTL listened my living preferences and accommodated me accordingly. I feel confident in what I have learnt in these past few weeks.

Martin UK

Surely I’m too old to live with a homestay family?!

I have a couple of favourite hotels I stay in whilst in Beijing, so I took some persuading to go for the homestay option.

It’s the kind of thing you do on a French exchange programme back in middle school, right?

However, I quickly realised it was the right decision when I checked in to my hotel for a couple of nights prior to my course and homestay. I was speaking next to no Mandarin – which felt pretty pointless given my priority for the next two weeks was to practice and learn.

So, on the Sunday afternoon I went to join my host family.

I’d received a note a couple of weeks prior with their address and details – but I was nervous about meeting them, thinking about how I would get by with just a few words of Chinese and given the fact that I’m used to living in my own house, not being a lodger in someone else’s.

I won’t lie, the first few hours were overwhelming – it was the most Mandarin I’d ever heard out of a lesson environment.

I could only pick up little words here and there, but soon I was unpacked and we were eating dinner. I felt much more relaxed.

I was matched with a lovely family – a couple roughly my age with a 10-year old son.

It did feel a little funny being their adoptive second child for a fortnight, with toddler-level Chinese, but they were so patient and welcoming.

It was a great insight in to Chinese daily life, and it was surprising how after two or three days of class I had more confidence to have simple conversations.

A routine was quickly established – I’d get up for breakfast, head out to school, nip to a local gym before being back in time for dinner and then spend a couple of hours working or reviewing my lessons before bedtime. The two weeks flew past, and I’d now highly recommend the homestay option.

Read Martin’s full story about his business trip to Beijing here.

Kyle USA

Kyle gave up some time to tell us about his experience living with a Chinese family. As a beginner Chinese-learner and newcomer to Beijing this was a bit of an adventure. Watch him describe the challenges and the progress he made here…

Savannah Australia

Sun Xiao Ying and Lin Bai Le have been a fantastic home away from home. They make really, really good food and do their best to make you feel comfortable. When I was sick Sun Xiao Ying took me to the hospital and waited through the lengthy process with me. When you go out they make sure you know what bus or train you need to take. As long as you are respectful and helpful to them you will get the same and more in return.

They are a very, very lovely couple that really take care of you. I will really try to keep in touch with them.

Beijing city is all about convenience. Everything you need is close and you have variety. Every time you go out it’s an adventure, you discover hidden gems and so many places. You learn about the culture and meet new friends.

My LTL experience in Beijing was amazing, I came here with around 8 years of middle/high school knowledge of Chinese but every year I managed to be far below the average. I was not confident and I didn’t have enough opportunities to practice and solidify my Chinese. I came to Beijing with little to no confidence in my skill but being in the country and having to learn out of necessity, I surprised myself on my first day having a somewhat flowing conversation with my home-stay family.

The classes at LTL Beijing were fantastic, the teachers are friendly, flexible and helpful. What you learn in class you revise and practice outside of class with real people and real situations. You use your skill to communicate with locals but there are some students at LTL who can’t speak your language and you end up having to communicate in Chinese. I’m really pleased with how much I’ve learned here and would definitely consider coming back.

Juliette UK

I stayed with one of LTL’s staff members. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience.

As the couple I was staying was quite young and often busy, during the weekends I had time to go to sightseeing by myself.

Depending on your hours of study per day, I would recommend to students because it is a great opportunity to get to know the culture in China and practice Chinese outside the classroom!

The accommodation was great and suited my basic needs.

Furthermore, regarding transportation, depending on where your accommodation is, both bus and subway are very easy to navigate.