I was thinking of starting a Chinese language course about two months ago and thought about going to KCEL. Now that I've decided to enroll, it seems like they have recently upped their course price from 4000 to 4300. That's not considerable, but most schools I've checked haven't changed their costs.However, most of those schools are located downtown, and I am located in the north.
I am looking for school other than KCEL because I want one that focuses on education rather than focusing first on their business money. Are there other schools or even universities in the north that offer Chinese classes?

They all focus on the money.
Try telling them you are going to have to sign up somewhere else. Unless they can give you last years price.

As I read this thread I'm looking at the top of the screen and see an add for Ten West Mandarin School in the North. I believe it's in the Beichen area. Don't know much about it other than that.

Mei's Mandarin (banner showing at the top as I write) are offering courses under 4000RMB... WenLin area.

Mei's should be a good choice (WLJ area), otherwise Keats (downtown, east) or TenWest (North). KECL has degraded.

I'll check with Ten West. Mei's and Keats are too far. Thanks.

hey, i'm due to sign up for another year with kcel when i get back to kunming next week. if they've upped the price i might have a look at some other schools to compare, although i'd rather stay with kcel because actually my experience with them has been very good (my teacher's excellent and there's only one other student in the class, and generally it's a friendly place). but i was wondering whether anyone's been to TenWest, because actually their location is more convenient for me, and also if their intermediate class is in the afternoon it would make my life easier than having to get to kcel for the 08:30 class every morning, which is a bit of a ball-ache especially when i have a hangover..

Just wanted to ad my experience to the discussion for those in the future to consider. Take it as you will.

I can't compare others but can say my KCEL experience was not good. If you are a true beginner like I was, you had better hope that you get placed in a class with other true beginners. I joined the most basic class available. There were only three students. One however was far from a beginner. The teacher did nothing to address the discrepancy in level, advancing ever faster with this individual student. The other student in the class quit. I followed a couple weeks later in frustration.

The teacher claimed she was very sorry and there was nothing she could do. Granted its not easy to teach different levels in one class. But I saw very little effort from the teacher and generally got an attitude somewhere between I dont care/why don't you understand. Somehow the onus was mine alone.

I've since gotten a tutor, am making more progress, and enjoying the process considerably more. Maybe some get lucky and get put in the right class with the right teacher. But my opinion is KCEL doesn't really care much about their students.

Also trying to deal with the tuition, visa, fees — after quitting was not fun. I had no power because they already had my money...and I was subsequently nickle and dimed....I would never go back to KCEL, nor would I recommend it to others — I don't know about the other schools in Kunming but they can't be worse.

Hey there,
I'm actually thinking about going to KCEL myself right now. I have'nt arrived Kunming yet and have'nt a clue about what's going on there. Could someone tell me if the living prices around are affordable? I'm usually an easy going person, can get along with many roommates, but preffer the nice ones.. Don't need my appartment to ba fancy (at all), but will decorate it a bit, you know..

how can I look for an appartment? What area is KCEL located in? And most importantly, what's the avarage rent in the area?

Rents run from about Y800/month up - Y800 isn't bad for a share of a 2-3 room flat, but it can also get you a small, not particularly modern apartment.

On language schools: my experience (some years ago) at KCEL was okay, not great; my experience at Keats in 2010 was slightly better - the teachers seemed to try slightly harder for the students. I was not a beginner at either school, so I could perhaps make up for some lack of teaching quality through my own efforts. The language teaching methods at both places were not the most up-to-date, but then that's usually the case with Chinese-language instruction, in my experience. The bottom line is, if you are willing to put in the effort, you can do it (and not just speaking ability either, without which it would be rather silly to live in China).