Chinese Programs in Shanghai&Suzhou with Silk Mandarin

My experience of Silk Mandarin has thus far been a very positive one. All of the staff there are extremely friendly and helpful in a way that is sincere. This friendliness is coupled with a modern and bright facility in the heart of Jing’an making for a brilliant atmosphere, perfect for taking on the challenge of learning Mandarin.

I take one on one classes with a friendly, patient, fun and thorough teacher. I have had around 5 lessons (approx 2 hours each time ) and am more than pleased with the results so far. Silk Mandarin seem to have a simple but effective formula for helping foreigners such as myself improve their Chinese (and quickly so). Such is clearly demonstrated by the progress I have made with my pronunciation , ability to read characters and improved knowledge of correct grammar and sentence structure. Each week there is plenty of reviewing and homework to complete before the next class which I find gives structure and direction to my everyday learning. What is more my teacher is always willing to answer questions and provide extra help via WeChat.

Considering the price I am paying and the quality of the teaching I think it is great value for money. Before arriving in China I took lessons in England which covered far less and cost more.

So a big thumbs up for Silk Mandarin. I would highly recommend it for anyone keen to learn Mandarin or improve on what they already have ! :)

I would like to thank Silk Mandarin a lot!! In 3 weeks, with the « Intensive courses » option, I have validated my HSK 2.
I will start the HSK 3 this Monday, and I am really happy to pursue these courses here!
I really have the feeling my level has improved quickly during this time because I came the first day with an only dim memory of my HSK 1 and I did not know anything about the «Hanzi» things (Chinese characters).

Today, I am able to:
- Have a discussion in Chinese and structure my sentences.
- Write some texts with the characters.
- Read and understand not only pinyin but especially many characters.
I have taken these courses during the morning while I was working in a company in the afternoon (so if you have free time in the afternoon, you could even more improve your level !)
The premises are very nice and the large windows light up the rooms, with a magnificent view of Shanghai.
I deeply appreciate this warm and friendly atmosphere at Silk Mandarin! People are all amazing!
Within this program, we are very few students in the classrooms (we were 3 in my class), which allows us to quickly improve our level!
Finally, I would like to give a big thank to my professor Andy, for her patience and the perfect way she teaches, I would never be at this level without her.
谢谢🙏🏼

J’aimerais remercier infiniment Silk Mandarin pour ce qu’ils ont pu m’apporter.
En 3 semaines avec l’option « Cours Intensif » j’ai pu valider mon HSK 2 !
Je commence dès lundi le HSK 3.
J’ai réellement sentie une énorme progression durant cette période de temps, je suis arrivée sans connaître 1 seul caractère et en ayant de vague souvenirs du HSK 1, aujourd’hui je peux désormais:
- Tenir une conversion et bien savoir m’exprimer.
- Écrire des textes avec les caractères « Hanzi » à l’aide du pinyin (ex: nǐ hǎo -> 你好）
- Savoir lire et comprendre des textes non seulement en pinyin, mais surtout avec les caractères.

J’ai pris les cours le matin et je travaillais dans une entreprise l’après-midi.
Les locaux sont très agréables et les salles de classes illuminées avec une vue imprenable sur Shanghai.
J’apprécie sincèrement cette ambiance familiale et chaleureuse au sein de Silk Mandarin, et de pouvoir échanger avec d’autres étudiants (de tout niveaux et tout âges) pendant la pause est très agréable.
Les classes sont constituées de peu d’étudiants, dans la mienne nous étions 3, c’est un réel avantage puisqu’on progressive plus rapidement !
Je voudrais finalement remercier ma prof Andy, pour sa patience et son excellente manière d’enseigner, sans qui, je n’aurais pu atteindre ce niveau.
谢谢🙏🏼

我很高兴能在 Silk Mandarin 学习中文课程，如果你想快速提高你的水平，我绝对推荐这个地方！

Over 6 months I attended the HSK4 group class at Silk Mandarin.
Before the course began, the school were very accommodating with my tight schedule and ensuring that I was at the right level to start the course. My level was somewhere between HSK2 and 3 before the course started and the school gave me some make up lessons to cover the parts of HSK3 that I didn't know.
The teachers in Silk Mandarin are all excellent, with their own individual teaching styles. My teacher for the group class was great at making sure that everyone spoke equal amounts and she was very good at dealing with the students' different levels of Chinese (although we were all quite similar).
The teachers are all very helpful, supportive and always made the classes interesting and fun. The school has a nice atmosphere, where everyone is very friendly. It wasn't always easy to go to class after working all day but once I was in class, the time flew by and I was always glad that I went.
The group class had a maximum of 6 people, although it worked best when there were around 3 people in a class. Regardless of how many students attended a class, there were plenty of opportunities to speak.
If I was not about to leave China, then I would definitely continue to have classes with Silk Mandarin. My Chinese has significantly improved since I joined the school and I am sad to be leaving them.
I would highly recommend if you are serious about improving your Chinese.

The Method/ School: I have tried to learn Chinese three times (with different teachers/schools) and each time I came out of the classes disappointed and frustrated – I didn’t understand the Chinese sentence structure, I didn’t even want to learn Characters as it seemed way to complicated, etc. Silk Mandarin has a unique method that makes things easy to understand and fun. The courses are well structured and very visual, which makes it a lot easier to remember.
 
The Teacher: Hannah is a great teacher! She is patient and fun to learn with. I like that she takes the time to make me repeat things at the beginning and at the end of each class. She links the classes/learnings to my personal situation, which makes it more useful for me. Her explanations are clear and it’s a real pleasure to learn Chinese with her.

As an Indonesian whose professional work also revolves around Mainland China clients, I will not regret the 2 months intensive course package; (HSK 1 and HSK 2) I have completed in SilkMandarin! I took the program for these main goals; to be able to speak and respond in Mandarin, but not the character writings. You will be surprised of the profound program selections that awaits you, whether it’s a fulltime daily class or weekly evening classes or even private classes; I am too satisfied with their teaching techniques that includes the explanation of the entire Chinese grammar in one map; the Holy Structure map by Silk Mandarin! Having to experience the intimate group classes (a class of not more than 4 students) and private one-on-one classes, I am blessed to have alternate teachers with different but profound teachings methodologies. My unforgettable 5 teachers guiding me through this exquisite language were, Bella; her 101 of introducing the Chinese Hanzi characters and how to memorize them with stories, Marsha; a sweet oral-challenged and textbook reviewer teacher, Lexie; a superb presence to keep you intact with the Chinese grammar structure, Andy; a brilliant who hands you down with homework you will enjoy, and David; the man you will want to spend endless Chinese culture insights with, while keeping your intonations in the correct order. Silk Mandarin houses such a warm hospitality; I for one will always be thankful to Lina for her accommodative help from the first registrations up until my last few days leaving this gorgeous city. As of now, my goals have been achieved in ways that I may not even be able to explain here, lets just say I can slowly converse with my Chinese clients without anxiety now! Within the 2 intensive months of courses, I was comfortably challenged with the new language intake, the oral practices you will use in the daily routines especially while you are in the city and more. But what better to top it all with its pristine location, located in the heart of busy Shanghai! Silk Mandarin is more than a language course school; it will be your home no matter the duration of courses/programs you are taking! Looking forward to come back and further my levels!
HARIMAN – Jakarta, Indonesia.

It was a great experience and would recommend checking out this school if your searching. They support you a lot even outside classroom. Always ready. And you will definitely pass the level you’re going for with the classes.

Their school is in a top location downtown and well decorated. Always felt as ‘my school’ there. Staff challenges you to speak Chinese out side class and is patient if you’re low level and stammering a lot :) their own materials are well designed and look smooth and useful. I love the complementary flash card box and mediapen. They also have a great way of letting you listen to the CD, as who has CD rom these days? They offer an easy and quick work around so doing homework is great and easy experience too. No fumbling around with CD for audio exercises haha good job!

I guess learning a new language is already challenging by itself. I've studied some foreign languages but Chinese is, by far, the toughest one for me. The Chinese mind-set, the pronunciations, the five different tons, the Chinese characters... everything is a challenger. If you propose yourself to face this challenger you will need a lot of self discipline and motivation. Having a good methodology, good teachers and supportive staffs will help you to reach your goals. Silk Mandarim gathers all these qualities. Silk Mandarim, specially Jessica (my teacher), Allison (my very first teacher) and Amy (Silk Mandarim Coordinator), is helping me to keep myself disciplined and motivated.
Thank you Silk Mandarim to be together with me in this challenger!

If you actually want to learn Chinese, study at Silk Mandarin. It’s not the cheapest, but that is because the quality is the best you’re going to be able to find, especially if you’re a beginner. Here are my two main reasons why Silk is worth it: 1. Class Size - The group classes have a limit at 6 students, so you’re guaranteed to get tons of personal attention from your teacher and have the opportunity to speak a lot, which is what you actually need if you’re going to improve, especially at the early levels. 2. Teachers- The teachers here are the best. I had Jessica for HSK 1, Christina and Jessica for HSK 2, Jessica for HSK 3, and now David and Jessica for HSK 4. Christina is a boss. She don’t mess around and she makes grammar so easy to understand. Jessica is my savior, my fearless leader, my tug boat, pulling me along even when I have no gas left. She explains things so clearly that you don’t think you’re learning until you look back a few chapters and realize that you understand everything. Seriously, a teacher goddess. David is my newest teacher and is perfect for my HSK 4 needs and desires. His English is so goddamn good, which is really helpful because he can explain the nuances between similar words that a textbook can’t (really, the textbook sucks at this). This is very useful for me at the higher level now that my vocabulary is a little bigger (ex. Think about the difference between “but, although, actually, even though, even if, etc... “). He also has a decent sense of humor.

So yea, if you want to pretend to learn Chinese, buy some textbooks and “study” at Starbucks or go to a school where you’re listening to a teacher with 15 other students in the class and you never have a chance to speak. But, if you really want to learn Chinese rapidly, try Silk Mandarin out. I started mid HSK 1 in October (I had taken a single Chinese course two years before in America), and now 5 and half months (April) later I am mid-HSK 4 and a few months away from being conversationally fluent. I am so thankful I found this school and would recommend it wholeheartedly.