Silk Mandarin Language School

Program Reviews

Default avatar
Heleen
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Silk Mandarin

Our teacher, Christina, is great! She understands what the difficulties are for foreign people to learn Chinese. Silk Mandarin also organizes outdoor activities so we can learn to speak Chinese in the real world. I learned a lot in a short time. They have a clear structure, which makes the class interesting. Silk Manderin also offers a lot of digital help so you can practice your Chinese at home. And off course, they are really flexible, you can say what suits you and they try their best to organize the classes.

What was your funniest moment?
At the end of HSK 2 we got the assignment to go to the streets and ask questions to people. It was really funny, at the end we where able to get all the questions!
Default avatar
Jenni
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Christina @ Dongfangzhimen

Silk Mandarin in the pants building in Suzhou is a great environment for learning. There are open classrooms with beautiful views from the 53rd floor. All of the teachers are lovely and fun to hang out with. They sometimes organize activities for the students, such as Chinese New Year dinner or calligraphy lessons. I was very fortunate to take my Chinese classes with Christina. Studying HSK 5 is no joke, but Christina and I got along well from the beginning, often laughing and bonding over our mutual love for cats. She is a wonderful and thoughtful teacher, always prepared, and willing to tweak the class to fit the needs of the students. Overall I have had a great time at Silk! ~ recommend !

What would you improve about this program?
More simple group activities would be great, especially for students who do 1-1 and don’t have the opportunity to meet classmates.
Default avatar
Charlie
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Silk mandarin

I was sceptical about joining a training centre when I first heard of Silk Mandarin. However, after a free trial class and experiencing all of the in house resources along with the welcoming teachers and host, I was convinced!

The school in Dongfangzhimen is small and has a lovely small community feel. The teachers are all lovely and very experienced in teaching Mandarin. Siqin - the consultant is always very welcoming and helps with any problems you may have!

My teacher Christina, thoroughly prepares for classes and constantly double checks my understanding of new grammar points and vocabulary.

Being in this training centre has definitely motivated me and kickstarted my studying! Highly recommended!!

If you did this all over again, what's one thing you would change?
To be honest, if I was to do it again I would either:
a) buy more classes in the package deal (to make it cheaper)
b) study with a partner together in class.
Default avatar
Litvinenko
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Подготовка к 5 НСК

Translated by Go Overseas:

She completed a month-long preparation course for the fifth NSK at the Silk Mandarin Chinese school in Shanghai. I passed 5 NSC successfully. I was pleased with the result. I really liked that the lesson plan was individually selected for me, based on my wishes and learning goals, which was very important in my case, since I already had a certain knowledge base, and I just needed to fill in the existing gaps and work out weak points, and do not engage in any pattern.
Special thanks to teacher David Wang for the work done.
I also want to note the atmosphere at the school, pleasant, polite staff and clean, cozy classrooms. My rating is five out of five.

Original review:

Прошла месячный курс подготовки к пятому нск в школе китайского в Шанхае Silk Mandarin. Удачно сдала 5 НСК. Осталась довольна результатом. Очень понравилось что для меня индивидуально подобрали план занятий, исходя из моих пожеланий и целей обучения, что было очень важно в моем случае, так как определённая база знаний у меня уже была, и мне нужно было именно заполнить имеющиеся пробелы и отработать слабые моменты, а не заниматься по какому то шаблону.
Отдельное спасибо учителю Девид Ванг за проделанную работу.
Так же хочу отметить атмосферу в школе, приятный, вежливый персонал и чистые уютные классы. Моя оценка пять из пяти.

Default avatar
Elaina
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Learning Chinese Online

If you want to learn Chinese, I think this program is perfect for you!
 
I wanted to brush up and improve my Chinese abilities. I was introduced to this company through an acquaintance. My classes were conducted online, and this worked perfectly with my schedule. I loved that I can be in the comforts of my home and attend class with qualified teachers that are trained to teach foreigners Chinese. The classes are conducted on the platform called “Classin” and to this day it is the best learning platform that I’ve used.
The staff who registered you with the course will be in charge or will assign someone to check-in and assist with any issues that you might have; they are all super friendly. My teacher Yanqin, has been exceptional, carefully guiding me with my studies. She is not only bubbly but made each lesson comfortable and enjoyable. What I appreciated the most was her adjusting each new learning curve to my study needs. I highly approve of this program!
 
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to talk to the staff at Silk Mandarin.

Default avatar
Jairus
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

American Student Online Class Review

Coming into the Silk Program, I had 0 experience in Chinese. The only language I could speak was English. I started in the middle of July with no knowledge of speaking, tones, or writing, and now I am studying for the HSK3 test. That being said, studying Chinese as an American has been extremely challenging, but studying at Silk has made the process quite enjoyable. They tailor the classes to your schedule to help you get the most out of their program. I personally work two jobs so I don't have the time to dedicate myself full time to studying Chinese. My teacher understands this situation, so we set up classes and workload accordingly.

Lastly, I want to speak a bit about my teacher Yanqin. Starting my first class I felt so uncomfortable with myself because I didn't know anything. Really, Yanqin made me feel very comfortable from our first class. There was no judgement on my abilities, but rather patience and understanding. We are taking Chinese step by step and I can feel the improvement each month. Our first class we could only talk about what our names were, but today we talked about the Coronavirus vaccine.

It really has been an amazing journey to learn Chinese and I think that learning at Silk (online) is a great investment of time and money. I highly recommend this program 10/10 for everything (staff/teachers/program).

Default avatar
Maria Helene
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Mandarin learning in a friendly, cooperative, and constructive atmosphere

I have started with Chinese language classes in Mid-October 2020. Due to my work schedule, I decided on a one-on-one course.
Silk Mandarin matched me up with my teacher Lexie.

Lexie is a very positive and sociable person. All our classes together are in a friendly, cooperative, and constructive atmosphere.
She is great at motivating – especially when I keep mispronouncing the same words or when grasping some of the more complex Chinese grammar rules isn’t so easy. Lexie proved to be very patient.

I think that having a private teacher is especially helpful with intonation. We have been practicing Chinese tones a lot and I do feel a significant improvement in my understanding of the tones – although there is definitely a long road ahead to master correct pronunciation.

Chinese characters are very fascinating to me; therefore I do enjoy reading and learning how to write them. Admittedly – technological advancements make it particularly easy – but nevertheless, it is great to have a WeChat conversation in Chinese or use online shops.

Finally, I highly appreciate Lexie’s flexibility regarding the scheduling of classes. Several times we had to rearrange the bi-weekly lessons, since my job interfered. It was never a problem.

I am looking forward to continue my Chinese learning experience with her.

Default avatar
Nicole
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

The progress I have made with silkmandarin is very outstanding

Having studied with Silk Mandarin for over one month now, I am very satisfied with the progress I have made. The school's teaching method is very structured and focused towards learning fast and efficiently.
My teacher Lexie is excellent, explaining words and contents in a motivating and fun way. I always look forward to attending her classes.
SilkMandarin always has interesting acitvities in weekend, such as debate, open mice that we can really practice Chinese express in Chinese with fun. I'm highly recommend it programme.

Default avatar
Noah
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Mandarin learning from zero

I started taking classes at Silk Mandarin about 5 months into living in Shanghai and I'm so happy I made the decision to study with them. I had been taking some informal lessons before that and reached more or less HSK 1, but my friend convinced me that if I was serious about learning Chinese I should take actual lessons. It took me about one year to pass HSK 2 and 3, and one more year to pass HSK 4. There's no way I could have learned this much and learned so quickly without my teachers, Christina and Lexie. I've been taking two classes a week with Lexie for the past year and I'm about to start HSK 5 with her now. The school has a great curriculum and provides really helpful resources, like flashcards. I love Lexie's teaching style. We spend a lot of time chatting about our common interests and our personal experiences, which has helped me speak more fluently and become better at understanding how Chinese people actually speak. The lessons have also helped me learn all of the characters I need for HSK. The way the lessons are set up help build on the vocabulary I already know and integrate the new words into the lessons. I feel very confident with my reading skills. Listening can be a bit more difficult, but Lexie has been really helpful for me to work on that specifically. I find the teachers are very attuned to different students' learning styles and willing to adjust for them. I also like the warm atmosphere of the office. Everyone is very friendly and the events Silk holds are very fun.

Default avatar
Maria
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

improvement in 3 months

I started the course with SilkMandarin and teacher Lexie 3 months ago and I can already feel the improvements. My speech became more fluent. Lexie is a fun and very experienced teacher, always prepared and knows her subject. I’m very satisfied with the outcome.
The location of SilkMandarin is in downtown Jing’an in Shanghai, very convenient and very nice classroom. Everyone here is very nice. I also join some of the activities hold by SilkMandarin, it’s always related to Mandarin learning, very helpful for your improvement. Unfortunately because of my work i couldnt join more.