Steve Erkens(From USA)

My wife and I came to Beijing in August of 2000 to teach English.  We have been periodically taking classes at TLI since the spring of 2001.  We heard about the school from other acquaintances that had studied at TLI and been very impressed with the teachers as well as the form of learning ¨C one-on-one classes.  They encouraged us to attend TLI because of the faster improvement in listening and speaking than other classroom settings offered.  After teaching English for 6 years, we decided to take a couple years off to study Chinese full-time ¨C knowing it would improve our daily life to be able to speak more fluently.   

When our oldest son was around 3 years old, we wanted him to study Chinese more formally than just speaking with neighbors and friends.  While we contemplated putting him into kindergarten at least part-time, we opted for TLI because of the one-on-one classes and the personal interaction (it¡¯s also not American custom to send children to kindergarten at such a young age).  We approached TLI about the possibility of having him study 2 hours every week.  They gladly found willing teachers, and our oldest son has made great progress in his speaking, listening, reading and writing.  Our second son has also recently started studying 1 hour a week.  They both enjoy ¡°going to school¡± every week, and we¡¯re very pleased with their language progress.  The teachers do a great job handling such small children and keeping them interested in the lessons.  They also prepare well for class and have developed great rapport with the children.

We look at the education that we are receiving at TLI as an investment.  We are pleased with the fluency we have been able to maintain (although there is still quite a ways for us to go), and we¡¯re excited that our children enjoy the Chinese language and are quickly picking it up (much faster for them than for us!). We have been very pleased with the classes we have received at TLI ¨C the ability of the teachers and the availability of good books to use.