LTL Mandarin School of Shanghai reviews

I studied with LTL for four months in Shanghai in 2015. It was very obvious at every stage from making the initial course enquiry to my final day in China that everyone at the school truly cared about my progress in Mandarin and having a great experience in China. This is one factor that really makes LTL stand out from the crowd. Everything else great about the school stems from this enthusiasm for learning and enjoyment - the fantastic homestay, my dedicated teacher, and the prompt and detailed support offered in response to questions regarding anything from effective study methods to daily life in Shanghai.

Classes were always interesting and the subject matter varied and flexible. My teacher was extremely professional, patient and friendly. 
My homestay family were very welcoming and soon became good friends. They made every effort to help me with my Chinese, settle into Shanghai and help with everything from finding a decent nearby gym to buying a Chinese sim card. They also made sure I was very well fed!

Having had short courses and trail lessons with various other schools in Shanghai I can recommend LTL as being very professional and reliable. They do everything they promise and advertise, and often more. Thanks for a great four months!

The school is great. You get to learn lots of Chinese all day and experience the culture when out of school. The school is also ripe with opportunities to make new friends, experience the city with those friends, and to just have lots of unique opportunities that wouldn't be available in another sort of school.

  Even though it is a school, and you're there to learn, the school has lots of creative ways to learn that can suit you, such as classroom setting learning, a safari class where you get to leave the classroom and speak Chinese to natives, and commonly known games with a Chinese twist to them. All of these are ways to learn Chinese, and everyone at the school wants to make your experience the best and for you to learn Chinese.

  The staff is great too. All of them are friendly and kind and understanding of you and your situation. These teachers are always willing to talk to you in Chinese to help you practice even if you're standing in the elevator together or taking a break for lunch.

  Speaking of lunch, the school does many group lunch activities where everyone goes out to a restaurant and gets to experience the different foods located throughout China.

  I would definitely not mind coming back for a second time, because of how amazing of an experience this school is and how unique it is with learning Chinese.

I am just finishing up my first 4 weeks studying Mandarin at LTL. I came to Shanghai not knowing a single word of Chinese and I am already writing basic stories and can have basic conversations with my host family grandma who doesn't speak any English. Everyone told me learning Chinese as an American was next to impossible so I am super stoked with my progress with LTL to date. The LTL teachers are phenomenal, not only at walking me through the textbook material but also with giving me context about cultural differences between China and the US. If you are serious about learning Chinese as a second language, I could not recommend them more!

As for cons: I have heard that the price I am paying is higher than some other language schools but I think it's well worth it. The school's main branch is in Beijing and their Shanghai branch is brand new and relatively small at the moment so you may only have a few fellow classmates. This means smaller classes but also less people to socialize with. This will likely change as they are planning on getting more students in the future.

Overall, I think LTL is awesome and I've enjoyed my experience here and can't wait to keep studying Chinese!

I did a 6 week stint with LTL in Shanghai in the summer of 2015. Organised by Alexander - it was not only a great experience - but improved my Chinese significantly. Amy, my Chinese teacher was the best Chinese teacher I have ever had: patient, hardworking, pushing me to really learn. I would recommend LTL to any prospective student of mandarin

I learnt a lot more Chinese than I thought I would! The teachers were very helpful and friendly and both of my classmates were very dedicated. We all made friends very quickly and it was great to have people to socialize with in the city.

I have been studying at LTL Shanghai with private teacher for 3 months in 2016, 20 hours per week. I started from zero and I can say progress was really fast and all the expectations have been satisfied. I had my own class room that allowed me to study without external disturbancies. Weekly activities like dinners, social events, city sightseeing are organized by the school team....you are free to join or not at your discretion. Teachers are awesome and the environment is very friendly and organized, during my stay in Shanghai I can say the school became not only a place to study but also the center of daily life.