Silk Mandarin Language School

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.

Yanqin is WONDERFUL! She is a well-prepared teacher and is patient. I always leave the lessons with really useful language to practice and to use. Excellent Mandarin class. Much appreciated! :)

Yanqin ist eine sehr tolle Lehrerin. Sie ist immer sehr gut vorbereitet und hat wirklich viel Geduld. Man lernt in jeder Unterrichtsstunde hilfreiche Redewendungen und Begriffe für den Alltag. Der Mandarin Unterricht macht einfach Spaß. Danke für die Unterstützung und schöne gemeinsame Zeit beim Lernen. :)

Learning with Silk has been fantastic. Sisi (teacher) and Coco (sales) have been incredibly easy to work with and very helpful. Coco has been very thorough in explaining the different instructions options/pricing and consistently follows up. Sisi is great at clearly explaining language points I may be struggling with and is fun to work with.

My language skills have increased dramatically since beginning my study with Silk. When I speak with Chinese natives, they are frequently surprised at my progression and how much I have in such a short time.

I elected for 1-on-1 teaching sessions, which turned out to be a very good choice. The instruction that I receive is tailored to my specific needs (i.e. less pronunciation, more vocabulary). Also, the flexibility that the 1:1 sessions offer allows me to reschedule as conflicts come up.

Overall, the instruction is high quality and priced fairly.

It was pure accident that I ran into the website of Silk Mandarin. But our communication with CoCo was sooooo smooth that I decided to take a trip with my kids so that my 7 y.o. son could take classes with Silk Mandarin for 2 weeks on Suzhou. We've already had some learning experience but the problem is that having several 30-mins classes a week my son could understand Mandarin pretty well but speaking was a but of a problem.
We've spent 2 amazing weeks with the team, they did everything as agreed beforehand and it was just perfect! My son could show his knowledge and could gain a lot more, thanks to the teachers' efforts and the homework we had to do almost every day. The teacher even took him once to a local market to buy some souvenirs. My son was super excited about this opportunity！Now that we are back home my son keeps saying "next time we are in Suzhou, I will...", the way he makes plans for his future studies makes my heart melt.

During the Shanghai lockdown in 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. The learning environment that Silkmandarin can provide on the platform includes very professional, structured online media components for the self learning, in additional the online classroom on the ClassIn platform. Overall, the course is very well designed with tools for a professional, interactive class session environment. Last but not least, a big applause to the professional teachers - they very well align individuals, which brings a very good, motivated atmosphere. The outcomes and results for the students are accordingly at the same high level of quality. I passed HSK2 and preparing now for HSK3. I highly can recommend Silkmandarin.