1 REASON YOU SHOULDN’T LEARN MANDARIN IN SHANGHAI
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You may have been thinking that you should study Chinese in Shanghai, but Shanghai may not be the best spot for you after all.
While Shanghai is a major city in China, the air quality makes it an undesirable city for many international students.
But before you forget about studying Chinese in China, you could study Chinese in Kunming, which is another city in China that has spring-like weather year around. This means clear blue skies and no air masks.
AIR QUALITY IN SHANGHAI
If you decide to learn Mandarin in Shanghai, you can expect to wear a mask nearly every day. It’s normal for locals there to wear the mask and not see the view in the distance.
The air quality in Shanghai rests around 100-105, which is unhealthy. This means you can expect the “Shanghai smog,” which we’re sure you’ve heard about. Last year, the western press and Shanghai ex-pat media wrote articles about how “Living in Shanghai Takes Nearly 6 Years Off Your Life”.
Ozone, a serious pollutant that can harm a person’s respiratory system studying Mandarin in Shanghai, increased in the first five months of 2017. Another unfortunate statistic is that the winter of 2017 was bad for Shanghai smog too. While the smog started to lessen throughout the spring and summer of 2017, it did a 180 and began to get worse as the year went on.
WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT IF YOU LEARN MANDARIN IN SHANGHAI?
If you decide to learn Chinese in Shanghai, you can expect to wake up to heavy smog nearly every single day. Shanghai recently released the first pollution alert for 2018. Residents of Shanghai woke up in January to a blanket of heavy fog, which covered high-rise buildings and left everyone questioning why the air quality was so bad.
While it may look cool for a photograph, the smog in Shanghai creates many health risks. This isn’t the city for you or your lungs for those who want to study Mandarin in Shanghai but have asthma.
When residents woke up to that smog, Shanghai released a blue air pollution alert. The blue alarm is the lowest in the four-tier alarm system. It suggests that in 24 hours there will be heavy air pollution.
A blue alert means children, the elderly, and those with heart and lung diseases are advised to stay indoors.
This is a concern for many study abroad students, as they don’t want to be forced to stay indoors in their new city.
AIR QUALITY IN KUNMING
Unlike Shanghai, Kunming has a healthy air index. The air index for Kunming normally rests around 50-55. That’s half of Shanghai’s air index.
In Kunming, students experience blue skies, temperatures around 20-28 degrees, and moderate/good air quality. Air masks are not a common accessory in Kunming. Since there aren’t many manufacturing plants like there are in Shanghai, the air is fresh.
When residents of Kunming wake up, they’re able to see the views from their windows and breathe in the fresh, clean air.
WHERE TO STUDY CHINESE IN CHINA
So instead of studying Mandarin in Shanghai, why not pick a healthier city?
Keats School in Kunming, China, was founded in 2004 and is the first choice for hundreds of study abroad students. At Keats, we offer eight different Study Mandarin options, which means we will have something for your study needs.
If you choose intensive one-on-one classes, our most popular option, your tuition includes food and a private room. You couldn’t get this in Shanghai if you decided to learn Mandarin there. It would be at least triple the price with bad air quality on top of that!
So, instead of picking an air mask and not seeing the views Shanghai has to offer while studying Mandarin there, apply to Keats School instead. You won’t have to bring a mask, and you’ll be able to see all of the beautiful views this city has to offer.
Still on the fence? Contact Keats today, and we can discuss more reasons why you should pick Kunming over Shanghai when deciding to study Mandarin in China.
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OVER 7000+ STUDENTS
HAVE STUDIED AT KEATS
Kunming’s scenery is very beautiful. It is the best place to study Chinese in China. My favorite learning method at Keats School is one-on-one because it is suitable for everyone. My teacher is very good, very caring, and lovely. My life when learning Chinese in Kunming is very good and the weather is very good. The air is very good. It is good for the elderly’s body.
My first semester that I studied at another school, and the pressure there was pretty high, the classroom hour was long, and the homework was pretty tedious. Since I came to Keats, I found I have a lot more opportunities to speak in the classroom. My classmates all are fluent and love speaking and participating in the class. We have great classroom dynamic.
About studying Chinese here, I think the living condition is very convenient because the dorm is very close to the classroom. Our teachers really enjoy teaching Chinese. They are also very passionate. Compared with other cities in China, Kunming has really good weather.
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.
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.
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.
In the one-to-one intensive Chinese course, you can choose the learning method you like. The small group Chinese class in China at Keats follows the HSK textbook. Teachers often collect feedback from the students, teachers listen to our requirements and opinions. I felt that my oral level is better than before .
I decided to learn Chinese in Kunming because I like smaller cities and I like the climate here. We had four hours a day study here and my dear teacher taught me very much and never lost her patience with me. It was a really wonderful experience to be here and I recommend Keats school and the teachers here to everyone who likes to learn Chinese in China.