Amazing teachers, friendly staff, unique learning method!

I happened to be in Shanghai for two weeks and decided to do the intensive lessons for two weeks, after doing some research online, I decided to go with Silk Mandarin. Yanqin was my main teacher (we had one-one-one lessons) whilst I was at Shanghai and she was amazing! She was so knowledgeable with Mandarin and her teaching approach and energy is one of the best out of any teacher I have met. You can tell she is very passionate and loves what she does, and her enthusiasm really encourage and motivates you to learn. She remembers what she has taught you, she reviews and emphasises on ones she sees you struggle on, and you can feel that she cares about your learning and progress, which I believe are very important traits in a teacher.

I am still doing lessons with Yanqin via online (starting HSK 2 now), and her teaching approach is still just as effective! I also had some lessons with another teacher, Christiana, and found her teaching approach also quite good and she has a lovely personality. I would highly recommend Yanqin and Christina to anyone who wants to study at Silk Mandarin. It’s an awesome school. All the staff there are friendly, approachable and helpful, especially Amy and Vicki who were always happy to chat and answer my questions. They made me felt so welcome when I arrived and when I departed Shanghai.

I am not sure whether other Chinese schools have this, but Silk Mandarin provides these really cool magic talking cards (with Chinese characters and pictures) and a talking pen which I felt helped me immensely with my learning. The school uses a “slow motion technique” to help students remember the grammar which I think is very clever and useful!

Also, during my time in Shanghai, I was at a homestay (organised by Silk Mandarin) with an older couple who were extremely nice and helpful. Mary was the host and she is one of the loveliest people I have ever met. She was incredibly accommodating towards me and spoke to me in Mandarin to help me learn. It was a very special and unforgettable experience. I would recommend Silk Mandarin to anyone, and I would love to attend the school again sometime in the future. The face-to-face lessons and online lessons are both equally good, and you will definitely see progress.