- My teacher, who was actually the owner of the company, blamed me when I did not understand her questions. Actually, I did not understand them, because they weren’t asked in proper English and I could not even recognize it was a question.
- She also blamed me, when I made some mistakes in spelling or pronunciation of words I had just learned.
- Furthermore, she always interrupted me and started blaming me, when I tried to talk about things which were bothering me, such as the unsuitable teaching-style or problems with my accommodation.
- Sometimes, she actually started shouting if I dared to express my views, which where different from hers. Yes, she was a quite bossy woman....
- She always compared me with former students and told me how slow I am and how fast they were. Not very encouraging, isn't it? Actually, most of them either studied in China or have already studied Chinese for several years. It seemed she considered me as quite lazy… at least, she treated me that way.
- One day, after we had another unnecessary argument, she started swearing in Chinese.
- When I asked for a grammar-class or asked questions about individual questions, such as, how to order a spoon in a restaurant, she told me, she doesn’t teach grammar and started shouting, that ordering a spoon is not in the book and that is why I don’t know it. Instead of answering my questions, we continued with the book. So, unfortunately, I am still not able to ask for a spoon in a restaurant ?

It is quite obvious, we did not get along…. But as a professional businesswoman, she should have offered to change teachers…. Of course, that option was not available.

Besides the rather unpleasant classes, everything was well organized. I was taken to restaurants in the surrounding area, and Jane really helped me, to find my feed in Lijiang.

Most of the time, I did not feel like a customer, who paid a lot of money, but like a lazy child in primary school. To put it in nutshell, I can NOT recommend Shangri-La-Learning Centre, because of the very inflexible way of teaching, the obsolete teaching methods, not suitable for grown-up westerners and above all, the very unprofessional behavior of the owner.

I highly recommend Shangri-la Learning Centre.

Last Edited on 19-Apr-2008 10:13 PM

Our "shared apartmenent" was actually a hotel room in the suburbs, she ignored our requests for somewhere more self-sustaining, so we moved ourself in to a hostel in the old town (one next to the one she advertises herself).

She "assessed" our level, which basically meant she highlighted how little Han Zi we knew, and even though we've studied for a year in a school in England, and put in Hundreds of hours of our own time, she still put us on textbook one "nin Gui Xing". After refusing to read after her the fourth time, we had, as you described it, an uneccesary argument. Where she did shout AT me, and refused to acknowledge either our level or what we wanted. It ended with me walking out.

After I left, she told Tracey, my GF about how she's seen people who think they know it all before, but they know nothing. She did her best to try and put us both down and this was in the first hour. We left that day, and didn't go back.

Inflexible with an obsolete style of teaching is a very good way of putting it. We moved to Kunming, to keats school.
The teacher took us out, on the street, in the supermarket and to temples, and slowly and clearly spoke chinese until she understood what level we were at. She sat us down and determined EXACTLY what we want out of the course, and explained how she could do it (very, very well indeed).

I also would NEVER recommend Shangri-La, to put it a little less intelligently, that woman can't teach!!