LTL Mandarin School is a private language school specializing in the teaching of Mandarin Chinese to international students. Founded in 2007, LTL Mandarin School has established itself as a reputable institution with a strong focus on providing high-quality language education and cultural immersion experiences. The school operates in multiple locations across China, offering a range of programs tailored to meet the diverse needs of students seeking to learn Mandarin.

One of the distinguishing qualities of LTL Mandarin School is its commitment to immersive language learning. The school combines classroom instruction with real-world language practice, cultural activities, and homestay opportunities to create a holistic language learning experience. LTL Mandarin School caters to students of all proficiency levels, from beginners to advanced learners, and employs experienced language instructors to ensure effective and personalized instruction. While not subject to traditional university rankings, LTL Mandarin School is recognized for its dedication to fostering language proficiency and cultural understanding among its international student community.

Introduction

Want to get a head start and prepare for your arrival in China in the best way possible? Or perhaps you just finished your language course at LTL and want to keep up your Mandarin skills while you’re back home? LTL's Learn Chinese Online courses might be just the thing you need.

This introductory course will be taught via Skype or WeChat (or another video app if you prefer) by their expert teachers, who also teach their full-time and part-time courses at LTL. 

They also offer a Continuation Course where you can keep on with your studies at home once you finish your LTL course. 

Program Features:

1) Join the LTL Family

• Top Teachers - Keep learning from your teacher when you go home
• Community – Become part of the LTL family before you arrive in China
• Friends – Make friends last a lifetime at LTL
• Long-term – Join a community of students around the world

2) Convenience

• Comfy - Get started learning Chinese in your own home
• Weekends/Weekdays - Choose the program that suits your schedule
• Consistency - Continue studying with the same teacher and textbook
• Schedule - Organise a schedule that suits your lifestyle

3) Make The Fastest Progress

• Prepare – Come to China with 10 comprehensive modules under your belt
• Rapid Progression – Learn as much as you can inside and outside of class
• Continuation – Don't let your progress slide when you go home
• Everything Covered – Learn the essentials for living in China

4) Certified Teachers

• Certified - hold a “Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language” BSc or MSc
• Fun - Their teachers make your class fun and interesting
• Experience - LTL teachers have 5 years of teaching experience or more
• The Best - Their teachers are some of the finest in China

Study Options:

Note: Kindly message us your choice of Learn Chinese Online Course, including the number of hours, from the list below:

1) Learn Chinese Online - Preparation Course

It will get you ready for all the situations you might encounter during your first few days in China and will make sure that you are well-prepared.

Students can choose from either the Basic option which will be 10 hours of classes or the Comprehensive option which is 20 hours.

The Basic course includes five modules that they think are essential for a beginner Chinese learner coming to China. The Comprehensive course builds on this, offering five further modules. Each module is a 2-hour class.

If the students choose the Basic option they can schedule all of the classes on weekends, whereas for the Comprehensive course they would need to be free on some weeknights too. There will be a fixed schedule, the same for each week arranged for them and their teacher.

Please also bear in mind that, this course must be booked around 6 weeks before you come to China to make sure the students have enough time to schedule the classes and complete all the modules.

Preparation Course Pricing (Chinese Yuan)

Includes:

• 10/20 hours of Chinese class before coming to China
• Taught by a fully certified Chinese teacher
• Learn Chinese before arriving in China and continue when going back home

2) Learn Chinese Online - Continuation Course

If you’re worried about forgetting all the Chinese you have learned during your time at LTL and want to keep progressing your Chinese level once you return to your home country, then LTL Mandarin's Continuation course is just the thing you need.

If you would like to study with the same teacher you had at their school in Beijing, Shanghai, or Chengde, they will do their best to arrange it for you.

This might mean you would need to be a bit more flexible with your availability.

The classes will be arranged to suit both you and your teacher’s schedules. You can keep studying with the same materials you used in China, or of course, choose to study with new materials too.

They will try to arrange your program to make sure your studies are as smooth as possible. 

3) Learn Chinese Online - Standalone Course

If you’re not sure when you’ll be able to have time to come and study at LTL or if for now you just want to learn Chinese in your home country, then they have you covered with their Standalone Online Chinese Course.

Any level of Mandarin learners is welcome to book this course, from complete beginner to advanced students.

You can decide how many hours per week you want to learn and the length of the course you want to book.

Before starting your online course, you will have a language assessment with their Director of Studies where students can talk about their language goals and discuss study materials, etc.

After this, students will be assigned a teacher and classes will be arranged to suit both of your schedules.

Continuation & Standalone Course Pricing (CNY)

• Each session you have with your teacher would be a minimum of 1.5 hours/class. 
• The minimum no. of hours that can be purchased is 20 and can go up to as many as you would like.
• You will have a fixed schedule, the same every week. If you give your teacher at least 24 hours advanced notice in you can rearrange a class if necessary.
• In case you do need to cancel some of your classes, remember you need to take the classes at the very most within 2 years of your booking.

Basic Course Modules
Five modules are included which are as follows:

Introductions – all the basics for meeting new people
Food – how to grab a bite to eat and survive your first few days
Airport – everything you need to know when you first land in China
Accommodation – learn the basics to communicate with your landlord or host family
Transport – Getting around by taxi or taking the subway in China

Comprehensive Course Modules
Basic modules plus:

Supermarket – how to do your day-to-day grocery shopping
Bank – Chinese for your banking needs
Travel Kit – survival vocab for traveling around China
Make a friend – talk about your hobbies and interests
Find our School – helping you to prepare for your first day of classes in LTL

Introduction

LTL Mandarin School was founded and established in 2007 by Andreas Laimböck, born in Frankfurt, who first came to China in 1999 and started studying Mandarin in Beijing in 2002. Since the school was established they already taught over 3,500 students from 105 different countries; it has 4 school locations in Shanghai, Beijing, Chengde & Taipei; Rated 4.8 stars on TripAdvisor; 19 classrooms with an average of 3 students per class; 32 Certified Chinese Language instructors; and accredited by International Association of Language Centres, German Education Industry (Bildungsurlaub), Swedish Higher Education Ministry (CSN), and Hanban/Confucius Institute Official HSK Testing Centre.

Why Choose LTL?

1) Their Teachers

The teachers are the jewel in the LTL crown it’s that simple. They take huge pride in their teachers in Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengde. They are the best in the business and they know this because they only employ the best at LTL Mandarin School.

That is why LTL Mandarin School has such a strict recruitment process in place for teaching staff. All LTL teachers must have a Bachelor’s or a Master’s Degree in ‘Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language’ (对外汉语). During this four year course, they learn how the Chinese language works, how to teach it to foreigners, and learn more about their own culture. They are also required to pass English language exams and do work experience placements.

Prior to starting at LTL, their teachers also have to complete at least two years of teaching experience at another school. They will then be interviewed and do demonstration lessons before signing the contract.

2) Over a Decade of Experience

LTL Mandarin School has been going strong for over a decade now and we have helped over 3,000 Chinese enthusiasts learn more about the Chinese language and experience the country’s unique culture.

Their centres in Shanghai, Beijing, and Chengde have always been built on a solid foundation of trust. Their students from around the world trust and allow them to organize all aspects of their program, and support them throughout their time in China. It’s important that parents trust them to ensure the safety of their children, and our network of Chinese homestay families trust LTL to arrange for students to live in their homes.

3) Central Location

Their schools in Beijing, Shanghai, and Taiwan are all perfectly located to make your life going to and from school so much easier.

LTL Mandarin School Shanghai is located in the heart of Shanghai’s Former French Concession. From the 9th floor windows they can see Shanghai’s famous tree-lined streets with their shikumen architecture and the glossy, modern skyline of Pudong beyond.

LTL Beijing is based right in the heart of the Central Business District just a five-minute walk from Dawanglu Metro Station which is accessible on two lines. There are plenty of eateries, foreign and local a stone's throw from the school. They also have easy access to bars, a gym facility and even a swimming pool at the Beijing centre.

LTL Taipei is located between the artistic, vibrant Da’an district. Packed with restaurants, cafes, concert venues and lush parks alongside cool, trendy Xinyi, home to Taipei 101 and a wide range of clubs and bars. Two of Taipei’s most exciting night markets, Gongguan, and Linjiang are just a short distance away from their school

4) 24/7 Support

For many, the idea of living and studying in China is a daunting one, especially if this will be your first visit to China. Before your arrival, your Student Advisor will be on hand to help you prepare for the trip and answer any concerns you may have. They’ll also be around the school during office hours for day-to-day queries once you’ve arrived (such as where to find the best dumplings!)

They also offer a number of extra add-on services that many newcomers find helpful in the first few weeks, while they adjust to life in China.

All LTL students are covered by their 24/7 emergency support guarantee – they sincerely hope you won’t need it, but should you need emergency help whilst living in China, they’ll only be a phone call away.

5) LTL Community

LTL Mandarin School is so much more than a learning facility. Whether the students stay short-term or long-term, they hope their school will become a ‘home away from home’ during their time in China. Their students mean everything to them and the bonds created between student and staff, teacher and student, homestay and students are strong and this is something they are hugely proud of. Many students will end up forging lifelong friendships with the people they meet in China.

That’s because although their students come from diverse backgrounds and speak different mother tongues, all are united by a common aim – learning more about China and Mandarin Chinese.

LTL also organizes a weekly social calendar so that new students quickly feel part of the community. Everyone at the school meets to eat lunch together every day and there are a variety of LTL social events throughout the week – from Wednesday Night Social Dinners to weekend day trips. They have a lot of fun and LTL knows you will as well.

6) Immersion

There are a number of ways LTL can help you immerse yourself into Chinese culture and language as soon as you set foot in China. For example, the majority of their students stay with a local Chinese Homestay family. If there’s a sport or activity you’re keen to get involved with while you’re here, let them know, and they’ll help you to organize it. Put into practice what you learn in the classroom and apply it.

For those who want to take the immersion experience to the next level, there’s also their Immersion China program, in which you’ll spend half of your program in the rural city of Chengde – where you really will be surrounded by the Chinese language 24/7!

7) Accredited

Don’t just take their word for it – various organizations have recognized LTL Mandarin School as a top-quality provider of Chinese language programs. These organizations include: International Association of Language Centres (IALC), Chinese Government, The German Ministry of Education, The Swedish National Agency for Higher Education (Högskoleverket/CSN), and by universities around the world such as the Michigan State University.

8) Diversity

LTL pride themselves on hosting students from all four corners of the planet. Whether you are from Holland or Haiti, the Vatican or Venezuela, the chances are they’ve had a student from your country before!

English is the main spoken language in and around the school, except for Chinese of course!

That said, you’ll hear a whole host of different languages being spoken and the great thing about our environment is everyone has the same passion. Learning languages and sharing language experiences.

They even have students becoming the closest of friends even if they cannot communicate with each other at all. After weeks of studying Chinese together, you’ll get an English speaker and a Russian speaker communicating in solely Chinese. In their opinion, this is just beautiful! If you don’t believe, they can put you in touch with these students!!

9) Become Fluent

Great teachers, a strong curriculum, immersive homestays, 24/7 support, a fun social community and so forth are all important. However, they are all just tools to achieve what is their most important aim: to get their students to Chinese language fluency. The myth that you need to be a Ph.D. level super-brain, studying Mandarin for years to achieve fluency, unfortunately, is still widely spread, sometimes even among Chinese language teaching professionals themselves. LTL was founded to get rid of this unfounded myth.

Of course, when you study in a class with 20 other people, do not speak Mandarin after class and do not follow a structured curriculum it can take many years to learn Mandarin. However, that doesn’t mean Chinese is difficult – it just means that most people learn it the wrong way. They are here to prove that becoming fluent is far from a miracle of supernatural learning abilities, but simply the result of good teaching, immersion and a well-structured program.

Homestays speed up your learning speed. The Chinese complete immersion program gets a complete beginner to HSK 5 – and sometimes 6 – within a year. Small classes and professional teachers achieve fast progress. There is no magic to this, but it is a simple application of sound language teaching principles. And the results show. LTL students start speaking Mandarin in their homestays from the first week. Their students have a 98% HSK exam pass rate and win Chinese language competitions.

Chinese language fluency is absolutely achievable and with the right program should take a beginner no longer than a year to reach. Whether you come for just a few weeks, months or a whole year, forget about all the bells and whistles, in the end, LTL is just about one thing: to get you to become fluent in Chinese as fast as possible.