Our That's Mandarin Experience

My family and I are from the US and we’re here for just a couple of weeks. We were looking for an experience for our kids over those short weeks where they could be engaged in the culture, not just visiting and sightseeing, but really meet some of the other kids in the area and learn a little bit about the culture.

I have two boys, one is 8 and the other is 10. We didn’t know any Mandarin before this trip. My 10-year-old downloaded a couple of online apps and learned a little bit himself but otherwise they didn’t know anything. This is their first experience.

We were recommended to That’s Mandarin by someone else that has been here before. We’ve been really happy with the kids’ experience these past two weeks. They’ve learned a lot of Mandarin, some of the traditional Chinese handiwork and cultural events and they’re really excited about it.

I’m surprised by how much they’ve picked up over the last couple weeks. We had them help us order at the restaurant, talk to the taxi driver. They definitely learned a lot, really quickly. The teachers were really encouraging, and gave them the confidence they needed to be able to pick up the language, because it’s way different, obviously. They challenged them but at the same time, the level was just right so that they felt confident they could pick up those things asked of them.

A couple of days ago afterward they said, “Can we go back to China again?” They’ve really enjoyed being here and this experience. I feel like every time they go on a field trip, I want to go too. I look them up and see if I can go too.

I expected they would be able to meet other kids and I was surprised at how many countries the students are coming from. That was really fun. My kids still enjoy telling me where everybody comes from, who they’ve met.

We took the subway to get here and it was pretty easy from the subway station. I think it’s a good location, easy to get to.

I’m sure if we come back to Shanghai, we will do this again, probably next time I’ll take a class to learn a little bit myself. Thank you for a great experience.