Great programme, Experienced & Caring teachers, Genuine Community
At first, I was hesitant to contact Xiaogua because I came across their content on social media and honestly wasn't sure if it was a legit programme. But I'm so glad that I did. I've been taking in-person Mandarin courses on & off for several years (mostly Continuous Ed classroom type) and just really struggled with finding a pace and method that works for me. I'd also see a lot of influencer/polyglot types online and their suggestions felt unrealistic for my setup. I just finished 6 months of learning at Xiaogua & will most probably come back by the end of the year. Started at beginner and now in lower intermediate. I really loved my experience with them for 3 reasons: 1) The Comprehensible Input method really clicked for me. Being able to listen & watch interesting content that is within my level or slightly higher really helped me learn in a practical and fun way. They provided access to so much well-curated content (not just theirs but also from other teachers/creators) which I really appreciated because I don't have time to wade through all the stuff out there online. 2) The quality of all the teachers I came into contact with in the programme is amazing. I met with my 1-1 teacher Fan Fan every week. She was genuinely supportive and caring. She's clearly a super experienced teacher and was able to push and guide me effectively. Same thing for the 3 or 4 other teachers that I met in the weekly group sessions. We also had great check-ins & masterclasses with Zhifei, Weixuan, and Oskar. Great team! 3) Lastly, but also very important for me, was the overall quality of the community of learners that I was able to connect with in the group sessions and in the Slack chats. People were serious about their efforts to learn but were also kind and supportive of each other. People share helpful resources that they come across and little tips that work for them. The programme is a bit more expensive than other options I've come across but I found it to be totally worth it given the amount of tailored support that you receive. If anything, I would just love to have even more group session times during the day in my timezone but I know that is something they're working on.