Silk Mandarin Language School Reviews

I have been with Silk Mandarin for over two years now and can highly recommend it to anyone who wish to develop their Chinese skills while having a full time job! I do the part-time course, which means I have classes twice a week in the evening after work, which is perfect. No matter how busy a day I have had I am always looking forward to go to classes. One of the reasons for this is definitely because of the warmly atmosphere of the school, which allow you to get a great relationship with both the teachers and your fellow classmates. I have also taken a semester at university studying Chinese, but find Silk Mandarin school a much more personal, flexible and professional place to study.

A friend of mine, who studied at Silk Mandarin before, highly recommended me this school when I told her that I want to learn madarin. I got in touch with Amy who promptly replied to my inquiry and helped me so well with finding the right course and accommodation. Furthermore, she helped me a lot with a VISA issue I had and smoothly coordinated the airport pick up in Shanghai.
When I arrived at the school (which is located on the 6th floor of a top modern skyscraper) l was warmly welcomed by everyone and amazed by the very clean and well equipped school.
I had 80 hours of 1 ON 1 private lessons with Andy who is honestly the best language teacher I've ever had (I've studied 4 languages before). With her you can laugh and learn a lot at the same time. Especially when you have difficulties to learn the Chinese characters, she can always make up a story how to remember them.
In general, everyone at the school encourages you all the time to speak mandarin as much as possible. There are even talking corners during the week where teachers and students meet to practice their speaking, and this all for free! Every Friday there is a freetime activity where the school organizes something such as pottery class, mahjong or a chinese food tasing.

I want to thank the whole Silk Mandarin Team for such an unforgettable time I had with you. I will recommend you to anyone out there who wants to learn Mandarin in a fun and very efficient way.

My one on one classes at Silk Mandarin have helped my Chinese significantly. I like that they tailor the classes to my needs. I've never learned well from following a text book, but they had all sorts of other materials and techniques to help me learn in ways that work better for me.

The fun and friendly atmosphere makes learning easy, and the flexible schedule allows me to keep up my studies even while I’m working full time.

I am so lucky to have found this Chinese school! I was able to select practically whenever I wanted to have my class online, and the material was very interesting and practical. My teacher was patient and knowledgeable and even introduced me to a lot of useful resources for self study. I would recommend anybody with an interest in learning more about China or Chinese culture to start today!
While I was traveling in China I was unfortunately not able to make it to Shanghai but my teacher still took the time to help me by text whenever I had a question. Above and beyond!

I have started learning chinese just over a year ago with Silk Mandarin. The learning curve of chinese can be very difficult and is full of ups and down but I have the chance to have a very understanding teacher that knows very well how to motivate and make me understand the intricacy of Chinese language. I am not the best student (far from it) as my job is really demanding and I have little time to spend on homework but Lexie has got enough patience with me to keep me on the right track and motivated. Without her I will have more than likely dropped out by now. The learning technique with the flashcards is great and very helpful to review your vocabulary on a daily basis. I know that I don't go as fast as the program demands it but I got at my speed and that is what is important to me and Lexie appreciate that and follow my pace. Learning chinese language enough so that I can be autonomous in everyday life is what I am aiming for and Lexie will certainly manage to get me there, with great difficulty, I admit, but I hope she will not lose faith in me as I will not lose faith in her ability to push me to achieve my goal. Thank you Lexie for all the patience you have, the motivation you give throughout your teaching. As I reward to you: I only hope that one day we can have a full conversation in your native language ! 谢谢

I have attended class for three weeks before beginning an internship in Shanghai, The course was really interesting, never boring and the teachers were nice.

I personally think that my Chinese is going to be more powerful and perfect for the daily Life....

They also help me in finding an accommodation and they introduce me to Shanghai more popoular places, while helping me with Visa problems

I have studied in 2 other mandarim schools (one being in Shanghai as well) and Silk Mandarim is by far the best!!! they offer the best classes, very fun and dinamic, great teachers plus the super friendly staff!! they truly make you feel at home!! I once asked for the students to have more contact with the chinese culture, and now, eveyr friday we have culture classes, and they are awesome!!! you can feel that they really care about the students and making them learn as fast as possible! I can already feel the difference in my mandarim even with just a few classes!!! I would 100% recommend to everyone!!

I had been starting Chinese multiple times before entering this school. It was always in universities so in big classes, it was always the same things that we learnt, it was slow, we didn’t have any books or workbooks to practice, it was repetitive because no one remembered the previous class and it felt like I wasn’t making any progress.

When I started the classes at Silk mandarin, my level was evaluated at half HSK1, my teacher understood my strengths and weaknesses, each class was prepared, we followed part of the books and I exercised on the workbooks after class. Thanks to this, we managed to moved quickly to a superior level. I started the courses of HSK1 at the beginning of March and now, in July we are starting HSK3: I definitely feel like I’ve made some progress. Every teacher is certified and you can hear the right prononciation from them as you learn. Although my schedule is very busy, my teacher and i took the time to find hours that could work for the both of us and I currently have two classes per week. Learning Chinese is challenging but learning that way makes it easier and you will reach your goal faster.
Everyone in the school is very nice, if you have any type of question they will always offer to help you. The school organizes trips as well as Chinese corners where you can practice with other students from every level. Also, if you want to get an HSK certification, the school offers to sign you up.

It's been a one year since I started my adventure with Silk Mandarin School. One year was enough to convince me that I am able to communicate with Chinese people. Silk Mandarin gave me a step by step guidance on how to read, write and the most important, how to speak this beautiful but complicated language. My biggest win from Silk Mandarin School is the confidence that everything is possible only if you work hard. Teachers there are full of energy, creative ideas and faith in your skills! My parents are proud of me, my friends are proud of me, but most of all, I am proud of myself for never giving up and making the right choices, no matter how bad it got. Silk Mandarin truly changed my life and the way I understand China and their language.

Silk Mandarin was recommended to me by a good friend last year when I had just started my then three months stay in Shanghai. As I had already acquired some Chinese basics before at my university in Germany, I had at many occasions been told that studying this language first and foremost consists of meticulously and consitently reviewing Chinese characters and that, most of the time, it requires a large portion of motivation to not give up too early. And that was exactly what my univserity course was like: outdated teaching and learning methods not really encouraging the students to actually enjoy the whole learning process.
However, my opinion on this radically changed when I started my first class at Silk Mandarin last year! Among the countless things that fundamentaly differ from my previous Chinese experiences, it is probably their practical, daily life oriented approach combined with the unique slow motion technique that amazes me the most. It is just unbelievable who fast I could see first progresses in my language skills. And also, the entire staff is so motivating that even in times of despair and discouragement they somehow manage to put you back on your feet and gain new energy for the challenges ahead.
I have at no point regreted my decision studying Chinese at SIlk Mandarin and can wholeheartedly recommend the school to anyone coming to Shanghai to study this beautiful language!!!