Nihao! I'm already in Guandu teaching English but I'm finding it very hard to get along with the amount of Chinese I came here knowing. I'm wondering what the best way for me to pick up Chinese would be. Whether it be interacting with more people, studying by myself or taking formal classes. I already have a basic understanding of Mandarin but I don't know enough to be conversational.

If you have any tips for learning in Kunming I would appreciate it!

Time. Give it time.

Interaction + formal classes with homework.

All three are good paths and doing some of all three is probably the best way. However, taking part time classes at keats or some other private school is definitely a good way to go if your schedule and budget allows. Time alone is hard, because locals all speak kunminghua, so you wont pick it up through your daily life.

Chinesepod my friend. Either pay for it or download free on torrents. The content is geared towards daily spoken Chinese which is what you need. Goes from complete beginner to very advanced. Worked for me.

Also I discovered a cool app called Memrise which is useful for vocabulary. Pleco is good for flashcards.

All good shit but of course completely useless without a strong effort on your part.

Downloading it now (Chinesepod) on your recommendation.

Cheers.

Local bar + drinking. Start with dice games.

Dice games have been a great way ... As well as several other drinking games. Plus in the morning she will teach some useful words later.

Hi. I am Chinese. Talking with Chinese people is the best way to learn Chinese . Practice more and more. Your Chinese will be better and better. Good luck! I am studying German. It is very very very hrad
If you want to practice your Chinese, maybe I can help you with free.
I like travelling around different countries, many local people help, So I want to help foreigners in China.
My wechat is 11999002 hope that I will help you

Alex is right that locals speak Kunminghua, but plenty also speak Putonghua and you can find plenty of people who will speak to you in Putonghua. I've been here a long time and I can't handle real Kuminghua, but I can usually handle the local accent of Putonghua and it's good to be able to do that.