I am moving to Kunming in the late summer and I'm finding it hard to get accurate and detailed information on intensive Mandarin study possibilities. Have you studied intensively in Kunming/at an advanced level? If so, I'd love to hear from you.

I am looking to study for around 6 months, maybe 4 hours per day of classroom time. I am at an advanced level of Mandarin, and am looking to work very hard for six months to become functionally fluent. I am looking for an established program that is not just one-on-one, but may include that. Other ideal criteria are (no idea if this all exists in one place):

- small classes (fewer than 10 people)
- quality teachers trained to teach Mandarin
- quality textbooks (if you could name what they are, that would be awesome)
- a no-English environment
- possibility for HSK prep

The kind of info I am NOT looking for is:
- details on the program/school that you work for
- offers to be my language partner or to tutor me one-on-one and show me the local bar scene

Thanks in advance!!
birdabroad

Sign up for classes at any of the universities. I would go for Yunnan University or Dong Fang. They can prepare courses for you, both in small classes of up to 10 students and 1-to-1 classes.

I used to study at YunShiDa but that school is just expensive and unprofessional.

If you need help finding more information, then I am willing to help. I've been stuck in this godforsaken town for 3 years ;)

Our school is a professional langugae treching school.Which
level of HSK do you want to pass? And we addvise you to
chose a one on one class because is helpful

By the way the fee is not expensive.We also can solve your visa . Please call me 13808752071. I am Shane

ShiDa uses a combination of HanYu JiaoCheng and FaZhan HanYu series. You are on their campus, can eat at the cafeteria, join their activities, etc... so there were more exposure to Chinese students. They are more expensive, about 6400RMB per semester.

DongFeng primarily uses the Fazhan Hanyu series. Tuition is a lot cheaper, 4800RMB for 10 hours. You will mostly be with other foreigners learning Chinese. The only Chinese will be their teachers and staff.

Both will give visa. No complaint about teachers at both schools. I did HSK prep one-on-one at ShiDa. DongFeng also has HSK prep course. Class size at both places are 8-12 generally.

I looked at YunDa. It's not on campus but right next to it in a hotel kind of thing. Tuition is not that cheap either. They also give visa.

Best thing is to get a tourist visa, come first and visit the schools. They will change the visa for you.

Thanks so much for the information!