Choosing a homestay provides a secure, home-like environment that fosters significant oral proficiency gains by integrating you into the daily rituals and social support system of a local family.

Keats School's homestay program offers a transformative experience where you move beyond the "expat bubble" to achieve significant oral proficiency gains through 24/7 linguistic reinforcement and authentic domestic rituals within a supportive local family.
We will send out a survey before you arrive to match you with a Chinese host family for you based on your preferences. We will pick you up at the airport or the train station and then take you to the school. You will meet your teacher at the school to discuss your learning goals and expectations first. Then your teacher will take you to settle down in your host family.
Taking online lessons with Keats before departure is recommended to manage expectations and provide basic survival phrases. Most host families in Chinese immersion programs are accustomed to varying levels of HSK proficiency and use simplified language to help students adjust.
Common stressors include adjusting to the family’s specific schedules, feeling uncomfortable in an unfamiliar domestic environment, and navigating different lifestyles.
Yes, you will have two meals with the host family, breakfast and dinner. You will have lunch at the school Monday to Friday with your teacher and schoolmates.
Yes, you will have your own bedroom. But the bathroom can be private or shared.
Yes, Keats organizes activities almost every day, and you are very welcome to take part in the school activities and make friends with other international students.
It doesn’t matter what level of Chinese you have, or even you can start from the zero level. Your teacher will prepare the lessons according to your requirements. The advantage of living in the school is that you will have your tutoring, you will have your private accommodation with your own bathroom and all the meals provided. I highly recommend everybody to actually take the whole package because you get to meet other students.
Last year I started studying Chinese at University. The reason that I came here is that currently, I’m preparing for the HSK 5 test. Also, I heard that this is one of the best schools to study Mandarin in China. After I came here I realized that Kunming is a pretty cool city to live in and with regards to the teachers’ teaching methods, I think they’re very professional. And I think the language environment is good so now I’m ready to take the HSK 5.
I really enjoy coming here because it is like kind of a home for me. It is a great environment to learn Mandarin Chinese in China and meet great people from all over the world. Everyone here is extremely friendly. Kunming has a really nice climate. It is a very good mix of the modern city and also a lot of historic Chinese culture. Probably got the cleanest air in China and possibly the cleanest water too. I invite you to come to study Chinese in Kunming.
One thing I really liked was that I was able to work with my teacher to make an individual plan of study. Another really nice thing is that you live at the school, you feel completely safe. You always have a group of people who are willing to do things with you on the weekends or in the evenings. They are serving you all the 3 meals a day, the food was excellent.
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.
I took the one-on-one Intensive Chinese class for 6 hours a day. The classes are very interesting. The teachers are caring and the content the teacher teaches me is suitable for my level. It is an easy way to learn Mandarin. I have a lot of time practicing Chinese in class. The food is great here. I have improved my Chinese through this program at Keats.
I can’t tell you how much I liked it. The thing I liked about the teachers and the teaching method is that there is so much flexibility. The other thing I liked about the teaching is the combination of classic textbook learning and going outside. I loved it! I like getting to know other students. Everybody shared the same goal and that’s making their Chinese better. Kunming is a big city, but it is very safe to live here. Another thing I liked about Keats is the idea that people here help you. I can’t recommend it enough. I think it was a valuable experience. Looking forward to coming back!
The best part of the school is the patience the instructors had and the time to focus on the fundamentals like pronunciation. I think it is very easy to skip over those and go to vocabulary. But by learning the pronunciation, I feel like it helped me gain a better understanding of the language.