Great onsite 1:1 sessions
Going for onsite 1:1 sessions with That's Mandarin (Beijing) has been my best investment in a long time and I have regained hope to become fluent in Chinese some day. Just as I was about to give up on learning Chinese, I got a free onsite 1:1 session at That's Mandarin (Beijing). That was the gamechanger I needed and I've now done 20 lectures (~15 hours) and completed half of the new HSK level 1 much faster than anticipated and I will continue for additional 64 (~ 48 hours) classes before I expect to leave China. Onsite 1:1 at That's Mandarin is much better than my previous experience: 1. My teacher simultaneously writes down the important sentences/words/grammar on the computer while we talk, so I can review it afterwards on the online platform (Nihao Cafe). This really helps me to practice and remember the words and this is much more efficient for me than just talking. 2. That's Mandarin has a great online platform (Nihao Cafe) that provides the following for each lecture: realistic videos, list of words + grammar and simple but efficient exercises that reinforces the learning. Both Hanzi, Pinyin and English is available. There is absolutely no need for outdated books and boring audio CD's! The website also works very good on mobile phone as a progressive webapp, so there is no need for some annoying native app that constantly need updates. 3. The pace of the 1:1 sessions is totally tailored to my learning, so I never fall behind or get bored like I used to do in previous classroom sessions. The tailored learning has been very efficient for recapping my fragmented knowledge of HSK level-1. 4. The 1:1 sessions are not just about going through curriculum, I get a lot of practice in making conversations based on my interests. I get to talk about my home country, my hobbies, my family, what I've been doing since last session and what I'm planning to do for e.g. vacations. The teacher is very good at helping me to talk beyond the curriculum and learn to express myself. This gives me both confidence and practice, which really helps an introvert like me when I dare to try to talk with local Chinese people. 5. My teacher is always really excited to teach and her encouragement really helps me to overcome the struggle of learning a language that differs so much from my native language. 6. I also quite like the events hosted by That's Mandarin, where I can meet fellow students and learn additional useful skills for China such as playing Mahjong. My background story: I've tried (and failed) to learn Chinese abroad multiple times (Confucius Institute and other language school), but the lack of immersion abroad and one-size-fits-all classroom lectures (either your are bored or you are falling behind) killed my motivation again and again and I was left with fragmented knowledge in HSK-level 1. I ended up hating to study Chinese and I dreaded every time I had to listen to the super boring audio-CD that accomponied the very outdated propaganda books. So I went to China and expected that the immersion and some super cheap 1:1 sessions (other private teacher) would be a gamechanger, but I soon realised that I am not that good at learning by just talking and my progress was very slow even though I was living in China.