Mandarin Program

We Offer

  • Evening Classes

  • Great Teachers

  • Emphasis on Conversation

  • Mobile Study Tools

  • Many Class Levels

Classes Designed For You

Our program was designed with adults in mind. Whether you’re planning to visit China, have family members who speak Mandarin, work in multi-cultural retail environment, or just want to learn for enrichment. Our program is designed to make the best use of your time. We make the language feel natural, and provide contemporary material that will help you connect with Chinese people.

We make it easier for you to succeed

Using the a language is the only way to learn it.  We emphasize listening and speaking in class.  We minimize explanations, and maximize practice. We also use props to increase retention. You learn faster, and retain longer, by keeping the language simple, and increasing slowly.

Optimal use of Classroom/Online

We keep students engaged with conversational activities in the classroom.  Where else can you find people to practice with? Other schools want you to believe that listening to grammar explanations are more important than practice.  Don’t let them waste your time.

Mobile Study Tools

In these days of ubiquitous mobile devices, it is a shame to have to drag books around to learn stuff.  Our first three levels, 30 lessons, are all accessible on a mobile responsive web site.  Using your mobile device you can read about the grammar, listen to the dialogs and use flashcards. We expect student to practice at least 20 minutes a day with our materials.  And having it all online makes this doable.  By practicing between classes you will make better use of the precious time in the classroom with native speakers and

Relevant Language

All of our lessons evolved out of experiences of interacting with native speakers in China.  The pace of change in China is rapid, and, just like the US, the language is evolving rapidly.  We not only teach you the basics of pronunciation and grammar, but we give you the language as it is spoken in China today.  In our second level class we give you useful strategies for enlisting native speakers to help you improve.

Comments from Students …

We had such a wonderful time in China. We used our Mandarin in Shanghai and Beijing and were understood. It was fun ordering food and drinks. My sister was impressed. We taught her to to say Ni Hao, count to 10 and bu yao – this really worked well on the hawkers. One hawker was following me and when I said bú yào he closed his case and said, “You Chinese?”. -Steve
 
 
 
 I like the independence and informality of Effective Chinese.  It’s clear that the students are genuinely interested in learning the language.  I like the instructors. They are engaging and their English skills are at a high level.  Typically they are recently from China so they can speak authoritatively about current language usages, idioms, and cultural subtleties. That’s important because languages change. -Gary
 
 
 
 
The variety of teachers allows for different teaching methods. I enjoy the emphasis on conversation. The book is very easy to follow and the instructors are good. Nice to be in a class with folks who are about the same level as me. The school is well organized and teachers are always fun and friendly and helpful.  Also, such a wealth of help with the online aids and apps. Amazing really. -Nick
 
 
 
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