Learning Mandarin IS possible and fun!
I fell in love with Mandarin at the end of 2022, when one of my colleagues introduced me to the intriguing and exciting world of Chinese drama, which I started watching endlessly. I very soon decided to also take up a one-on-one Mandarin course. Unfortunately, the method used in class was not engaging enough, too reliant on the textbook and memorisation, and the teacher would speak English to explain the rules as I was a beginner. I was not fully satisfied; so, I started searching online for alternatives. I was lucky enough to come across Silk Mandarin Instagram page and some of their entertaining content. I found the presentation of everyday Mandarin very appealing, the explainations were short, easy and fun, all accompanied by slides showing Chinese characters, pīnyīn and an English translation of each phrase/sentence. I decided to contact the school and had a quick call with one of the PRs to preliminary assess my Chinese level. Soon thereafter I had a demo class and was introduced to my awesome teacher, 思思. During the demo, I noticed that 思思 was well prepared, and I was positively impressed by the “Slow Motion Technique” as it quickly gave me a clear idea of how Chinese sentences are constructed. I thus decided to enrol in a one-on-one online course. I started in July 2023 with HSK 2, and now, in August 2024, we are almost halfway through HSK 4 上. I think 思思 is a great teacher; she is totally adaptable to my needs. Additionally, since day one she would use Mandarin to speak to me, and switch to English only if she noticed that I was really struggling to understand her. This “immersion mode” helped me get used to the sounds of this beautiful language. Additionally, 思思 always sets the bar a little higher for me to challenge myself and improve my level, but not too high to lose confidence in my abilities. Finally, we have a lot of fun learning new aspects of China and its culture, which makes the experience even more exciting. I’m really grateful to Silk Mandarin staff for being so committed to helping students succeed by offering high-level professionalism and engaging methods that make you feel at ease and progress fast. I can’t wait to travel to China and put to practice what I’ve learnt so far! :) Silk Mandarin 加油！