The ancient Chinese incorporated their observations and awareness of nature into the shapes of Chinese characters. Learn Chinese: 月(yue: “the moon”) The shape of this character is just like the meniscus. There is an ancient Chinese story named “Chang’e Flies to the Moon”. Chang’e is the wife of Houyi. She consumed the medicine of immortality […]
The ancient Chinese incorporated their observations and awareness of nature into the shapes of Chinese characters. Learn Chinese: 星 (xing, “the star”) The ancient Chinese people referred to all celestial bodies other than the sun and the moon as “星”. It refers to those bright and shiny celestial bodies that appear in the night sky. […]
The ancient Chinese incorporated their observations and awareness of nature into the shapes of Chinese characters. Learn Chinese: 雨(yu, rain) The character for “雨” offers a clear depiction of rainfall. The horizontal line on top represents the sky, and the outer structure looks like a house which represents a layer of clouds covering the world, […]
The word “liaozhai” first came from the book “liaozhai zhiyi” (1766; “Strange Stories from Liaozhai Studio”: “liaozhai” is the name of a place), which is a book of Pu Songling(1640-1715)—a famous Chinese fiction writer. It is 431 tales of the unusual and supernatural stories, freely adopting forms and themes from the old marvel tales. Some […]
Study Chinese: 木(mu, wood/tree),林(lin, many trees),森(sen, forest) The Chinese character of the oracle bone scrip for “木” resembles a tree with roots and branches. In the old days, the character “木” meant “tree”. It is used as a component in many Chinese characters which denote the names of trees or have meanings related to “wood” […]
Study Chinese: 竹 (zhu, bamboo) As you can see, the Chinese character “竹” looks just like a bamboo stem and leaves. The Chinese people are very fond of bamboo. This is because they believe that bamboo is incredibly strong and capable of resisting strong winds and cold temperatures. As a result, bamboo is known as […]
瓜 (gua, “melon”) The ancient Chinese character for “瓜” looks like a growing melon. There are many different kinds of melons in China. In Chinese, watermelons are known as “西瓜” (xi gua: literally means “western melons”), since they grew in China’s ancient Western Regions. Pumpkins, in Chinese is “南瓜” (nan guang: literally means “south melon”). […]
In China, when people write or speak, they frequently make use of such idioms such as “the cold falls on the third nine-day period in winter” or “the coldest days of the year in the nine-day periods”. In China, the winter is measured in nine-day periods because the winter is divided into nine-times-nine. After struggling […]
There were customs of “counting the nine-day periods” and “drawing the nine-day periods” among the ancient people. That is, people noted down the passage of the nine-day periods and the relevant weather changes with interesting pictures and poems. Sometimes, a painting of a plum tree with 81 blossoms was hung on the wall, and in […]
The custom of “Writing the Nine-Day Periods” appeared in the early reign of Emperor Daoguan in the early 19th century. He drew a picture of the nine-day periods by himself with a line on it, “The willow in the front yard respectfully waits for he spring breeze to return.” The line comprised nine contoured Chinese […]
I have really enjoyed the Chinese course in China at Keats and meeting the teachers here and the students. We have a lot of fun in class. It is a really great school to learn with good teaching methods and a really good textbook, examples and games, and everything.
The place is very cool. I am with a great group of people in my class, so coming to classes is very enjoyable. It is fun, we have a lot of discussions, games, activities. Our teachers are also very good, very supportive. Learning Chinese is intimidating at the start because you have so many questions. But I would advise coming to Keats because the atmosphere for learning is great. It is very relaxing. I would recommend the school.
We use a lot of games to learn grammar and new words. We have really good teachers, really patient. She helps us a lot. Our class is really nice and we have people from all over the world, different countries. We often discuss topics in Chinese in our class. I live in the dorm of Keats. It is very convenient. I don’t have to spend time traveling. You can just focus on learning Chinese.
I’ve been at Keats school and Kunming now for one month doing the one-on-one Chinese lessons with two different teachers. I really enjoy it. Both of my teachers are very friendly and patient. They really helped me to improve my Chinese, both of my reading and speaking. I really enjoy studying Chinese in Kunming as well. This city is really beautiful and the weather is nice, the air is clean. It’s one of the best cities in China to study Chinese.
This is my second time coming. Last year, I also came for about 12 weeks. This time I came for 13 weeks of a summer program in China. The reason why I particularly want to come to this school was because of the one-on-one classes. I was able to increase my level and learn Chinese more quickly than in group classes. If I have a chance again to come next year, I certainly will.
I have been to Keats School to learn Chinese for 4 times now. The reason for coming back to this school is pretty much that the teachers I did work with were very good Chinese teachers. I make it a 5-year plan or even a 10-year plan to come back to this school. All the teachers have methods of looking at what your skills are. They are aware of at what level you are. I think it is worth for everyone.
I really had a wonderful experience at the school. The teachers are very very friendly. In my class, we practice speaking, listening, reading, and writing. We play games and other fun activities. We have trips around town. The staff at Keats is phenomenal. My teacher is one of the best teachers I have ever had in my educational experience. She comes in with a smile every day.
My teachers are all excellent. They trained the teachers so professionally. I feel like I learn very quickly with my teacher. They are very serious about their students and I know every teacher is like this. I would highly recommend that you come to Keats if you are looking for the best Chinese school in China.