Chinese Programs in Shanghai&Suzhou with Silk Mandarin

Dear Jane,

I hope this review finds you well.
I am writing to express my gratitude and provide feedback on the Chinese course I undertook under your guidance for the past year. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on my experience and share my thoughts.
First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere appreciation for your dedication, expertise, and passion for teaching the Chinese language. Throughout the course, your commitment to ensuring a supportive and engaging learning environment was evident. Your enthusiasm for the subject matter was contagious and played a significant role in my motivation and progress.
One aspect that stood out to me was the structure and organization of the course. The curriculum was thoughtfully designed, gradually building on foundational concepts and incorporating a balanced mix of listening, speaking, reading, and writing exercises. This comprehensive approach allowed me to develop a holistic understanding of the language and its cultural context. I particularly enjoyed the incorporation of diverse materials, such as videos, and dialogues, which enhanced my language skills and deepened my cultural awareness.
Moreover, your teaching style was highly effective in facilitating comprehension and retention. Your explanations were clear, concise, and tailored to suit the diverse learning needs. You seamlessly integrated interactive activities, discussions, and role-plays, which not only made the lessons enjoyable but also encouraged active participation and fostered a sense of camaraderie among us.
Furthermore, your commitment to individual progress was commendable. You consistently provided constructive feedback, highlighting areas for improvement while also acknowledging achievements. Your patience and willingness to address my questions and concerns further enhanced my learning experience and instilled confidence in my language abilities.
Lastly, I would like to acknowledge the cultural insights you shared throughout the course. Your personal anecdotes, historical background, and anecdotes about Chinese customs and traditions added a unique dimension to the learning process. It not only enriched my understanding of the language but also fostered a deeper appreciation for the Chinese culture as a whole.
In conclusion, I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to be part of your Chinese course. Your expertise, dedication, and engaging teaching style have undoubtedly contributed to my progress in the language. I leave this course with improved language skills, heightened cultural awareness, and fond memories of our class interactions.
Once again, thank you for your commitment to excellence in teaching and for creating a supportive and inspiring learning environment. I would highly recommend your Chinese course to anyone seeking to learn the language.
Wishing you continued success in your teaching endeavors.
Sincerely, Duy

Silk Mandarin is conveniently located in a modern tower in the Jing'an district of Shanghai. You can find many options in the area to have lunch after class and even a Starbucks coffeeshop to boost your energy before class😉.
At Silk Mandarin, they limit the number of participants in the groups (usually 6 students or less), which is ideal to make progress, to participate orally and ask questions to the teacher. Each teacher has of course her own personality and specific way of teaching, but they're all friendly, hard workers and very dedicated to their students. The method is a good mix of grammar, vocabulary and conversational skills. I highly recommend Silk Mandarin.

I'm very happy with my experience, it was easier than i thought to learn my first chinese characters. I went through an online class for 10 lessons, the teachers are here to explain details about characters that make them fun to learn and easier to remember. My teacher was Sisi!
Also the school helped me a LOT with getting my visa and with the problems i had while applying for it. I've been in contact with a total of 5 different teachers/managers, and all of them were lovely and very polite. I can't wait to go on with my course in Shanghai!

Prior to starting Silk Mandarin’s Blended Learning Course, my learning experience consisted of the hundreds of hours spent on a few of the popular language apps on my cellphone. When we moved overseas to China this past August, I learned quickly that this method is not going to be enough for me to carry out a relatable sentence, yet alone, a conversation with someone local.
I found out about Silk Mandarin through a Chinese New Year ad on social media. CoCo has been a pleasure to work with. She explains the program courses in detail, listens to your wants/needs, any concerns/feedback, & always follows-up. In just a couple of months, 3 hours per week, I’ve learned so much more and have a deeper understanding of the Chinese language & culture. This course has given me a strong foundation to build upon. I just completed the HSK 2 private 1:1 course with my teacher, Yanqin. She is amazing & well-spoken! She knows more about the English speech structure better than I do. Her teaching-style, patience, & humor makes learning Chinese fun. I always look forward to our classes, so-much-so, that I’ve enrolled in & will soon start our HSK 3 lessons.

After not having spoken Chinese for a long time, I was very insecure about my speaking skills so I decided to book 20 online one-on-one lessons. After four classes my fluency and confidence were already improving thanks to my wonderful teacher who made me feel comfortable enough to speak and with whom I had a lot of fun during the classes. Everyone was super flexible adapting to my schedule as well as my current Chinese level and fully accomodated my expectations from the classes and personal goals. Would highly recommend!

Prior to Silk Mandarin I had no knowledge of Mandarin, but I had strong desire to learn.

I came to Shanghai for work in the beginning of 2023, and since I planned to stay in China for a while (more than 3 years), then of course learning Mandarin was a necessity as one cannot rely on phone translators forever. My first experience was with another school, however they lacked enough structure for my taste and the lessons felt very disorganised and structureless. However, my work colleague told me of another school nearby that they and their friend have had great experience with: quicker learning, structured lessons, friendly staff - the full package.

Firstly, the pricing and flexibility of Silk Mandarin gave a very positive first impression and it made the cumbersome non-language-learning part of the process much easier: easy to pay, to plan classes, a lot of flexibility and guidance. Additionally, if I had an emergency or preoccupied with work, switching to an online lesson was incredibly easy, although I preferred offline classes overall.

Secondly, I finally felt an astronomical increase in my perception of the Chinese language and characters. Mainly, the structure and professionalism of the lessons ignited an actual desire to practice outside of class, either with downloading Pleco to practice han-zi, or using DuChinese to practice listening and comprehension. However you feel about "studying by the book", sometimes it is warranted, and the last thing you want in your language learning is a lack of structure. Although Silk Mandarin don't go strictly by the book, i.e. chapter by chapter, they are able to streamline and compress the HSK books into a digestible, easy-to-revise format.

Thirdly, the main methods of revising/homework/practice provided by Silk Mandarin (ClassIn) proved to be the most efficient and easy to use. My only other experience with a Chinese learning school was lacklustre as it only provided a web portal. Having an application like ClassIn on my android phone and Mac made it so much easier to practice on the train/car/office/etc. without the difficulties of websites that sometimes glitch out on the phone.

Lastly, the positive vibes are paramount to a good learning experience. I have difficulties balancing my work obligations with extracurricular activities, being it language learning or just going out, but the positive atmosphere and personal contact from the teaching staff made me *want* to learn to balance these things and actually improve my Mandarin. It's one thing to translate on your phone, but a whole other feeling to speak the language of the land you are a guest in and fully immerse yourself.

I plan to not only continue studying at Silk Mandarin (after 2 months), but hope to return the favour by speaking fluently and fully appreciating their country and culture. Would recommend whole-heartedly.

During Shanghai lockdown at 2022 I was searching for a qualified Chinese online school and luckily I found Silkmandarin. I applied for the HSK1 course and it was an fantastic experience what Silkmandarin can provide on the platform with very professional structured online media components for the self learning, additional the online classroom on the ClassIn platform very well designed with tools for an professional interactive class session environment. Last but not least a big applause to the professional teachers where they very well align individual to the students which brings a very good motivated atmosphere and the outcomes and results for the students are accordingly at this level what Silkmandarin offer. Meanwhile I passed HSK2 and preparing now for HSK3. I highly can recommend Silkmandarin and wish you have fun 🤩!!!

I've been studying at Silk Mandarin for approximately two months, and as my time here concludes, I want to share my positive experience.
Silk Mandarin has been instrumental in organizing my journey to China, and their welcoming and supportive approach made the transition seamless.

The staff is genuinely welcoming, and the teachers' dedication, coupled with a well-structured curriculum, fostered a positive and effective learning environment.

I highly recommend Silk Mandarin for anyone considering language studies in China. It has been a rewarding experience, and I am grateful for the support they provided.