CLI is an institution for the study of Chinese language and culture. Through this core mission, it is so much more. CLI is a community, a Chinese language school, a custom programs provider, and your partner in China.

The Immersion Program is CLI’s core language learning track. With fully customizable short and long-term academic terms, 20 weekly hours of one-on-one Chinese lessons and an array of weekly activities and excursions, CLI provides complete language immersion in a comfortable environment designed to maximize learning speed and effectiveness.

The Best Way To Learn Chinese

One-on-one instruction and complete immersion within a safe, friendly environment are among the most direct paths to learning Chinese. Rather than vying for your teacher’s attention, your daily one-on-one lessons with three unique CLI instructors will give you an individualized opportunity to advance and validate your Chinese language skills hour by hour, day by day, and week by week.

Begin your stay any Monday of the year and immerse yourself in Chinese language and culture with CLI as your guide.

A New Level of Personalized Service

From the moment you contact CLI until your final day of coursework, CLI provides all necessary elements to ensure a highly effective learning experience, including airport pick-up and drop-off, housing accommodations, comprehensive program orientation and introduction to Guilin, a carefully developed learning curriculum, 24-hour assistance, and much more.

Activities & Travel Excursions

In addition to four daily hours (Monday through Friday) of one-on-one instruction, CLI organizes weekly activities and monthly travel excursions designed to immerse students deeply into Chinese language and culture. Join fellow CLI students and team members for bamboo boat rides down the Li River, hikes up Guilin’s breathtaking karst mountains, photography excursions to the Longji Rice Terraces, cooking lessons with Chinese chefs, tea house visits to Daoist monasteries, and more.

Program Dates & Fees

The one-on-one structure of CLI’s Immersion Program allows you to begin your study on any Monday of your choosing (except in late January or February, due to the Spring Festival holiday), and you may study for any length of time. Interested students are encouraged to complete CLI’s online application. Admissions are rolling. Accepted students will receive notification within five business days of submission.

Arrival & Orientation:

Please plan to arrive on the Saturday or Sunday prior to your session’s start date to allow for sufficient time to settle into Guilin. CLI’s orientation is held on the first Monday of your program (some activities may be held on Sunday as well). If you wish to arrive prior to the Saturday before your first Monday class, you are welcome to stay in a private room at CLI for 100 RMB per night (subject to availability).

CLI Meal Plan:

A delicious, authentic home-cooked Chinese lunch is served at CLI Monday through Friday. You may sign up for the CLI meal plan in advance for 15 USD per week, or pay for individual meals after you arrive in Guilin for 20 RMB per meal. If you would like to sign up for the CLI meal plan, please select “Sign me up” when asked about this on CLI’s application form.

Tuition Fee:

CLI's Chinese Immersion Program starts at $1.240 for 2 weeks, depending on the duration and accommodation type. The longer you study, the lower the price of your tuition fee. Kindly message us and choose from the tuition chart below the duration and accommodation type of your choosing.

What's Included in the Tuition Fee?

• 20 Weekly Hours of Chinese

• Comprehensive Orientation

• Support & Emergency Assistance

• Housing Accommodations

• Activities & Travel Excursions

• Visa Assistance

Housing Options:

• Private Room at CLI: CLI’s newly renovated 5-story learning center is the perfect location to live, study, eat, relax, enjoy China, and learn Chinese. The CLI center has a maximum occupancy of 60 students and is also home to several of CLI’s Mandarin instructors. All rooms have a range of Western amenities, including free WiFi, heating and AC, hot and cold water, and a Western bathroom.
• Homestay Program: 

  CLI’s homestay option provides direct insight into a typical Chinese family’s lifestyle. If you choose this option, you’ll be provided a private room in the host family’s apartment. Apartments usually consist of a dining area, family room, kitchen, two full bathrooms, and three bedrooms. Host families provide dinner daily, but it’s up to you whether you’d like to take part in these meals. All homestays are within comfortable travel distance of CLI, and we carefully select our host families from within the CLI community.

  CLI’s homestay program is the most immediate and intimate way to immerse yourself in Chinese society and culture – each day becomes a learning experience. Western students living in a Chinese household quickly learn cultural intricacies they may not otherwise encounter. For example, one rule that is fairly universal in Chinese households that students are often surprised to hear is that underwear and socks are not to be washed in the family’s laundry machine. Most Chinese families require that these items be washed separately by hand.

• Private Apartment: For many students, the best way to finish a long day of intensive study is to relax at one’s own apartment. Live in the city environment in a comfortable one-bedroom to a three-bedroom apartment while attending four hours of one-on-one Chinese language courses at CLI during the day. All apartments are fully furnished and ready for you to move in.

• Apartment with Chinese Roommates: A minimum program length of three months is required to take part in this housing option. Integrated housing offers students a fast track to Chinese fluency. Live with two to three GXNU university students in a Western-style apartment and discover China while constantly immersed in the Chinese language. You will amaze yourself with the speed at which your Chinese improves. All CLI students who choose to live in an apartment with Chinese roommates are provided with a private bedroom.

One-on-One Intensive Chinese:

CLI was founded on the principle that traditional large classroom instruction slows down learning speed because it affords students few opportunities to ask questions and actually speak Chinese. CLI’s one-on-one instruction solves this problem by maximizing the amount of time each student has to ask questions and utilize new Chinese words and concepts learned each day. It also allows CLI’s Mandarin instructors to tailor class content and teaching style to each individual student’s needs.
With 20 weekly hours of one-on-one Mandarin instruction, daily learning-based extra-curricular activities, a variety of housing options, and travel excursions to remote parts of China, CLI’s Immersion Program is carefully designed to maximize retention and learning speed, allowing students to rapidly improve their language level in as little time as possible.

Small-Group Classes Option:
Although one-on-one classes are the primary mode of learning in CLI’s Immersion Program, we recognize that different students have different learning styles. Sharing class time with other students in a small group setting gives you the opportunity to learn from your peers, and it also provides an alternative classroom dynamic.

Keeping with the CLI tradition of fully customizable language learning, we want to give you as many options as possible, and we do our best to make small group classes an option for students who request it. Setting up a small group class at CLI depends on several factors, including enrollment numbers, matching language levels, coinciding program lengths, and the preferences of other students. In order to maintain CLI’s high standards of instruction while allowing students the flexibility to explore other methods of learning, small group classes are generally capped at three to five students.

If interested in CLI’s small group classes option, please contact CLI’s Director of Admissions (tania@studycli.org, subject line: “Small Group Classes”).

Three Unique Instructors:
CLI provides each Immersion Program student with three unique Mandarin instructors. Your 20 weekly hours of Mandarin instruction will be divided according to your individual learning needs, with one teacher focusing primarily on your reading and writing, another on your listening and speaking, and your third, comprehensive teacher will tie all of these components together with in-depth lessons and review.

The CLI Method:
CLI’s Immersion Program integrates all aspects of the Chinese language (reading, writing, speaking, grammar, listening, pronunciation, and vocabulary) into a completely unique learning experience. Lessons and topics studied are tested daily in real-life situations to provide constant language growth and validation. CLI’s Immersion Program ensures that students are not just studying Chinese, but actually learning Chinese.

About the Chinese Language Institute (CLI)

Founded in 2009 by brothers Robert and Bradford Fried, CLI aims to provide students a unique path to learning Chinese and understanding Chinese culture. With a combined 20 years of experience in China, Robert and Bradford developed an individualized educational platform that will help students learn the Chinese language fast. 

CLI is home to a community of local and international educators. The institute is grounded by values of trust, openness, and putting students first. Educators at CLI are passionate about sharing the Chinese language and culture. CLI provides a welcoming and warm environment for students, ensuring that you have the best possible learning experience.

Location

Guilin is a small, but beautiful city in the southern part of China. Compared to other cities in China, Guilin is less populated with a population just approaching a million people. The city is known for its scenic spots, marvelous hills, clean rivers, peach blossoms, and amazing rice terraces. It's only one of the few cities in China with ethnic minorities. Located in China's Guangxi Region, Guilin is in close proximity to Hong Kong and Guangzhou. 

Campus Facilities

CLI has a 5-story center which includes 18 private classrooms, several study areas, and a full kitchen and dining area. The CLI campus also has 3 stories of private bedrooms (each with a full private bathroom), and a recreational room equipped with a pingpong table, electric piano, and mahjong table.

Campus Life

In addition to a fun learning environment inside the classroom, CLI schedules extracurricular activities for students. This may be in the form of incursions, field trips, culture immersions, games and sports fest and many more.