Having taken an introductory Mandarin…
Having taken an introductory Mandarin class at the university level, as well as an 'intensive' summer class at that same university, I can say that I retained none of what I learned in that time Mandarin Blueprint, however, actually works differently, and I have (I think) all of their online learning tools. Luke and Phil are very pragmatic, and are, perhaps more importantly, very good at keeping things engaging and fun.