Program Reviews

I first noticed Silk Mandarin when i saw them at their booth at the yearly Expat fair in Jing’an (downtown Shanghai). I had tried other Chinese schools before so it didn’t really get my attention at first but then i saw 3 familiar foreign faces on their billboards advocating about the school. After a great talk with Silk Mandarin at their booth i phoned the 3 faces from the billboards just to be sure that this school would be different and better that the other ones i had tried. They all confirmed it and after being a student at Silk for a little over a year i can say that i surely have been more than happy with their way of teaching. My teacher Yanqin has been way above all expectations. What i love most about our classes is that she gives me the time and attention to go over whatever question i could have in Chinese instead of strictly sticking to the book and curriculum. She’s always smiling and that energy just makes it a true pleasure to go to class every time!

I had a career break and wanted to get settled in Shanghai. Living there, it makes sense to learn the basics of the language and the culture. The course from HsK 1 to 3 is very flexible, it can adjust to your individual needs while still being embedded in some small groups from up to 4 students. It’s great if you don’t know how long you can stay exactly and how much time to invest. Loved it and with 2 different teachers each day, you can learn about different teaching methods and get used to different accents.

I am General Manager of my Spanish company branch in Asia and I needed to improve my chinese skills focused on business, vocabulary, speaking, etc. I joined 2 plus 1 Business Chinese lessons and experience is being great. Now I am able to have business meeting with my suppliers without need of my chinese coleagues. The school and the staff are simply fantastic. Convenient location at Jingan area, native teachers totally bilingual. I’m totally sure I will pass BCT exam. That’s my next goal with Silk Mandarin. Thanks for this experience!

I had classes during almost a year once a week. My teacher Was amazing. Always very energetic, positive, passionate with her job and really patient! She is very talented to teach language. I learned a lot with her. She is quite well structured, method is efficient, and always available when I have a question. The school is very welcoming and professional. I really enjoyed the method which gave me a great learning experience mixing interactions, reading and listening - I will definitely continue my learning with Silk Mandarin.

The course consists of good themes, valuable for living in the country.
I was very lucky to have my teacher Hailey. She is very patient.
I, as working person, can't spend enough time for systematic review. But she always explained me the theme again if needed.
It's very necessary to have someone, who can help you with language in real life. This kind of person is my teacher. She helps me all the time, not only working hours.
Furthermore, school proposes different kids of extra activities for learning culture, not only Chinese language. For example, for me playing Mangjong was very fascinating
I'd like to have more time for each theme to practice. Also it would be good to include more pinyin pronunciation practice into the book.

I have been a student at Silk Mandarin in Shanghai for 7 months. My choice could not be more appropriate.
Amy and all the staff has been friendly and exhaustive introducing me the school.
After a trial lesson I have started one to one sessions twice a week, with my super teacher Yanqin.
Every class is perfectly managed with a clear structure and you can feel the knowledge and the competence of the teacher. She is ready to answer to all my questions and makes me feel at ease to speak.
The slow motion method is great and makes easier to build up sentences; also the other tools recommended by the school, such as cards and pen reader are useful and help you a lot while studying to get the right pronunciation.
Silk Mandarin has made me feel in love with Chinese language and culture to the point that now that I have moved back to Italy, I am still having remote classes using the ClassIn app, which is an amazing e-learning platform, and I am willing to take the HSK examinations.
I definitely recommend Silk Mandarin: a high standard, professional, experienced and welcoming school.

Yep that is right. I wish I had started working with Silk Mandarin sooner than later. Initially, I was taking Chinese lessons with other institutions and honestly after every lesson I would feel discouraged and unsettled. As an engineer, I am use to learning with structure and proper format. My goal when living in China was to learn Chinese. I was told by my parents that the best souvenir you could ever get from a country is learning the language. Everything else is materialistic. This is why I am so happy I found Silk Mandarin. All thanks to my friend Elke who introduced me to the school. I was at first skeptical giving Silk Mandarin a try as it was my 5th attempt in looking for a proper Chinese school. However, after the first consultation, I quickly learned that I had been learning Mandarin incorrectly the entire time. My husband and I immediately signed up for one on one tutoring. I love their learning materials and tools. Especially the talking cards and their online tutoring platform. My tutor Shirley was and still is fantastic. She was patient with me and really helped me unlearn the bad habits and develop the proper structure to learn and fall in love with Mandarin all over again. It makes sense and its really not hard if you have the proper teaching. Fast forward today, I can now speak survivor Chinese and passed HSK 1 and 2. Now that I no longer live in China I do have the option of continuing taking lessons because they teach online world wide. Yess!!! I am forever grateful to my friend Elke, my Silk Mandarin teacher Shirley and the Silk Mandarin team for giving me the confidence to not give up on learning this live long souvenir. I wish I had found them sooner. If you are interested in learning Chinese and are looking for a proper Mandarin school look no further. It's Silk Mandarin!!!

After a few months in this school I can only recommend it. I started with one of my colleagues our course, at the beginning we had doubts about the academy, but after some lessons we saw that it was exactly what we were looking for, a flexible school with modern teaching techniques that can adapt to our needs and help us to keep improving our level.
At the same time we were super lucky with our teacher, Amélie, who makes of the lessons a very fun and productive activity.
All in all, 100% recommendable

I had been studying mandarin for 9 years when I moved to Shanghai 2 years ago. After an accidental meeting with Silk Mandarin’s founder, I decided to give this school a try. Over my previous 9 years, you can imagine I have been through my fair share of schools and teachers. Silk Mandarin is world class and my teacher Andy is easily the best I have ever had. Its a joy to come to class and my level has skyrocketted over the last 12 months. The facilities are really great and the staff helpful/friendly. Highly recommended!

I was introduced to Silk Mandarin by a friend, he had a great experience and got to HSK4 level quite quickly with intensive group classes.

It only took me attending the free introduction class for me to see that Silk Mandarin’s ‘Slow Motion’ approach was simple, structured and going to work for me.

I don’t have time for the more full time classes, so I’m taking 2 night 1:1 classes with Amelie each week, it’s only been a short time and she has helped me get to half way through HSK2 level already!