Questions & Answers
What is this summer camp and how long is it?
Please refer to the home page for the date and duration of the summer camp.
We want to stress that this summer camp is mainly a Chinese language learning and culture immersion camp. The majority of the learning and activities on weekdays will be held at a school campus in a classroom with a learning setting. Also, the majority of the weekdays’ afternoon activities will also be in the school campus to utilize the school’s facilities with similarly aged local students. Students will be paired with local Chinese students.
On weekends, we will arrange volunteering, socializing, sightseeing (such as the house of former Prime Minister of the Qing Dynasty – Li Hongzhang, and the Memorial Palace for the Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty – Bao Gong, and the historic site of the Three Kingdoms) and playing time together.
Which high school is the summer camp held?
It is held in a school called the (translated literally) HeFei No 6 High School which makes a list in the top 100 high schools in China. This school has established programs for international students over 5 years and is very experienced in educating non-Chinese speaking students.
What is a typical day like?
Student will eat breakfast at host family. Student will be send to classroom before 9AM in the morning by host family. Chinese class will start at 9AM. There will be breaks and class will last till 11:30. Lunch will be served at school after 11:30.
After lunch, kids will help cleanup and break till 1PM. From 1PM on, our kids will join with local students have activities arranged by local school, local culture entities involve in culture, interests, sports, games, movies, talent shows..
Host family pickup kids from 5PM and eat dinner with host family. We will have 30-60 minutes homework task for student to work on each day, mostly reading assignments.
How are people chosen and what is the limit?
This is prioritized by the timestamps of submitting deposit(s) with application(s); we will also have online applications.
Do you accept none-ethnical Chinese kid?
Yes, we do! All students who are interested in learning Chinese/culture are welcome!
Will there be a group of tickets and everyone flies together, or do we/they have to get there on their/our own?
You can go with a chaperone or by yourself. One of our chaperone’s ticket info will be posted at the bottom of the FAQ whence it is available.
How do I get to HeFei?
If you flight into ShangHai, They are High Speed Train going to HeFei every 30 minutes and cost around RMB200. (about $30) Whence we have everyone’s travel plan, we will try our best efforts to have different groups beside chaperone group so kids can go with other parents if their own parent is not coming.
What sort of activities are there? Will there be local tours to any historic places?
Mainly study Chinese and Chinese culture in a school setting. There also will be playing and fun in the afternoon on weekdays mixed with similarly aged local students. The weekend will involve volunteering work in social activities at a local setting and local tours to historic places.
Where do they stay?
Kids will live with a local host family who has a kid (similar age ) attending HeFei No 6 high school. Boy will stay with a boy family and girl will stay with a girl family. The hosting families are screened by schools with requirements from this program. The weather there is a little cooler than Dallas, TX.
How about if I have two kids, can they stay with one host family, or if my kids have a friend here who is also going, can they stay with same host family?
Yes, it can be arranged, please let us know as soon as possible. We really hope our kids will stay in our host family to have a complete Chinese language and culture setting so they can learn fast. We are afraid they will just talking English among themselves if two friends/siblings stay together.
How about if my kid is so shy and can not get along with the assigned host family?
We ask as much info from you regarding your kid so we can do our best to find a host family who has a kid of much similar interest as your kid and hope that they will get alone together quickly but there is no guaranty that they will. We will try our best to switch/change host family if it does not work out. If all else failed, we will try to arrange your kid to stay with Chaperon in hotel but this will be our last resolve and we do not want to see this happens.
It is very important that answer all questions in our registration process and early so we can do our best to find a good matching host family for your kid. And we do think that this will be a good grow up experiences for any kid.
We encourage you as parent to do Chaperon work for us, what is the requirements?
We welcome parent chaperon duty if you can. To ensure smooth working order and efficiency, we like chaperon to stay with us minimum two weeks and we will pay your local hotel and food (most likely to stay with other chaperon or our staff and close to the school to work closely together). There is no other pay to chaperon but we will consider reimburse reasonable 50% cost of your economical airline ticket from U.S. to China.
How about internet/cell phone service
Every host family required to have broadband internet service and local SIM card are easy purchase and service plan is relatively cheap ($10-$30 per month)
What is the ratio of students to teachers/chaperones?
They are local Chinese teachers, local school administrators, and parent chaperones. We will have a full-time staff stay with students to address any issue
The ratio is one teacher to ten students, and the same goes for student to chaperone (or less).
How will the group be held together?
They will be in school class rooms and accompanied by parents, chaperones, and local admin personnel at all times.
What is the cost and what does the fee cover?
An additional $20 per day will be collected to give to a host family for food and transportation. The $275 per week covers everything except travel to the site. Some pocket money will be needed for some incidental spending.
If my child cannot stay for minimum two weeks, can he/she join a day or two later or leave a week or two earlier? Basically, can my child join late or leave early?
It is possible. Please inform us as soon as possible.
We strongly suggest all kids start with us on a Monday and finish on Friday, but understand that to meet a hard date on a summer camp is hard for some of us, so yes, you can start a date of your convenience and stay minimum two weeks time frame.
Travel Insurance
There are lots of insurance providers have policies to cover individual need if you want to buy coverage.
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More Q & A from parents:
(1) How many summer classes will be there? What is the maximum number for campers for this summer program? How the students are placed into the various classes? My daughters and their friend have been taking a Chinese class as a second language in school for 4 years in school. They know the pinyins and some simple characters. However, they will need to improve on their converational language since we don't speak Chinese at home. Will they be placed in the classes with other students who have similiar language proficiency? Will there be any exams to test what they learned in class? will the instructions of the Chinese classes be taught in English, Chinese, or both?
This camp will be held at Hefei #6 high school, one location and one camp. Our idea limit is 50 campers for better management, but 51 or 52 will not be problem but not more than that. We plan to have two classes, one for very beginners and one for a bit advanced. There will be no test but teacher will give a very simple and effective evaluation and place them into appropriate classes and it can be adjusted as the program goes to make kids feel comfortable and easy to learn. We have teacher who is experienced in teaching none-native Chinese speaker so it will be English/Chinese mixed teaching and other campers can help out too.
(2) Is it possible for my twins to stay with the same host family? If not, can they be assigned to host families near each other?
We will try our best to arrange your twins with one host family if that is your preference.
(3) Since schools in NJ won't end until June 20, they will missed the first 2 weeks of camp. Is it possible to extend the summer program to end of July for them? Perhaps, hire a tutor for 3 of them and others, if any, for 2 additional weeks.
Yes, it can be arranged and depends on how many campers left, we will have to decide what kind of class format it will take. If only three of your group, most likely it will be a tutor situation for 2 additional weeks.
(4) Are there any chaperones / students registered for this 2019 summer program from NJ?
So far, we do not yet have any, we did not do much marketing in that area and maybe you can help us spread the message and maybe able to get more family interested.
(5) What Visa and insurance would be required for travel and camp?
You must have a visa (very easy to get, talk to your local Chinese travel agent) travel to China, insurance is not mandatory and it will be your own decision and our Q & A section have some suggestions.
(6) When will the host family be assigned? Can we communicate with their assigned partner (s) and family (ies) prior to arrival? Do the hosts speak English? How far are the host families to the school? Are the host families and partners be allowed to bring the students to night market, shopping, etc during nights and weekends?
As soon as we have camper registered, the host family matching process begins, we will let you know the profile of the host family and have chance for you to talk to them. The hosts may or may not speak English but their kid usually speaks some. Host family is the parent of student of this HS and they are usually live close to this school. Yes, we encourage host family to take camper out at night for varies activities for camper to get a very first hand interaction with local people and events.
(7) Upon arrival, whom and where should we go to meet?
We will arrange meet at Hefei Airport or highspeed train station. We can also arrange meet at Shanghai Airport if you come in a group and prearrange all schedules.
(8) What are the expected duties / responsibilities for each chaperone?
Chaperone main duty is to assist in daily camp management, assist in any issue arise unexpectedly and nightly visit to host families to make sure camper is comfortable at host family.
(9) Can you provide a few referrals of campers who have previously attended this summer camp? Would like to know their experiences and camp preparations.
This is the very first year at Hefei.
(10) What are some of the items we are required to packed for this summer camp? pens, notebooks, etc
Pack light, Hefei is pretty hot in summer, to bring a couple of pens and notebooks will be fine and we can provide those too if you do not mind.
(11) Are there any dress code requirements for the campers? Are there any cell phone usage restrictions in school?
No dress code. In class, we prefer campers do not use cell phone. Our Chinese text book can be in digital format, so an Ipad/laptop would help.
(12) Besides this exchange summer camp running in Hefei #6 HS during this period, are there other classes and activities going on in the Hefei HS during this period?
There will be lots of activities at this HS, we will have similar number of local students interact with our campers in the afternoon session, so we will keep them busy.
(13) Are there any chaperones from NY? I'm trying to find way to get my girls there with a chaperone since I won't be available to accompany them. However, I will be able to pick them up after the camp ends. Also, since this is the first year for the camp, who the camper will call for help in case of emergency (whether there's issue with the host family or in school)? Will the camp be cancelled if there are not enough enrollment? If so, how soon will we be notified and will we be refunded? Is this camp affiliated with any organization or schools in Dallas, Texas? Who owns Proud Culture Exchange and where is this camp marketed? How is this organization affiliated with Hefei #6 HS in China?
Currently we do not have a chaperon in NY area. I think there are flight from EWR to Shanghai. I do understand that a Chaperone can go will be the best option.
We will have at least one of our staff from ProudCulture be with the camp all the time to help with any unforeseen situation in China. And we will be in close contact with parent if anything need your attention. We are pretty confident the camp will not get cancelled due to the responses we had so far. We will decide by 4/15 for sure and notice you on or before that time and any fee/fund will be refunded in that case on that day. We are working very closely with a few Dallas area Chinese schools and with Association of Anhui and other associations that has connection to Anhui. We also have support from the Oversea Affair's office of Anhui government. We are not affiliated with Hefei #6 HS and they are our local hosting school, a renowned and exemplary school in Anhui with special attentions given to kids that want to study abroad like US/UK and also welcome foreign student to come to their school to interact with their own students.
Our goal is to have total language and culture setting for our kids so they will get the most in terms of learning Chinese and Culture in the camp. My daughter (10th grade now) will also be in this camp.