One of the friendliest atmospheres of any language school that I’ve attended. Teachers and staff are personable and welcoming and offer a great environment to hang out and casually practice Chinese outside of class. I’ve been taking 1 on 1 classes for a few months now and my experience has been nothing short of excellent. My teacher, Yanqin, has not only been a great instructor but also has a fun (and patient!) personality. Under her tutelage, my Chinese has improved considerably and most importantly my understanding of China and its unique cultural heritage has been deeply enriched. For anyone with a busy work schedule considering taking Chinese classes, Silk Mandarin couldn’t be a better choice. Flexibility of teachers and staff and homey environment make Silk Mandarin a fun and engaging place to learn and improve your Chinese.

I spent 1 year working in China in the Investment sector. Silk Mandarin has been of great help for me to succeed in passing both HSK 3 and Jiao Tong Daxue exams. More than this, the lessons were designed so I could tackle interesting subjects and discover them at my pace. The teachers helped me to reach my objectives with creativity, patience and a lot of enthusiasm!

At Silk Mandarin, I found the right teacher. The teachers are qualified, motivated and always in a good mood. The atmosphere in the class is really refreshing, that’s why I really like to take lessons there. Thanks to Silk Mandarin I now can engage in a real conversation with my Chinese friends, that’s such a great feeling!

I started studying Chinese at Silk Mandarin after two of my friends with excellent Chinese highly recommended them. I had already lived in China for 2 years while working full-time and studying (in a half-assed way) on the side and had taken 1 year of university Chinese. But I felt really inspired at Silk Mandarin that my studying was going to pay off, which energized me a lot. One great part was that I was able to dictate what I wanted to learn and what would be useful for my work and daily life. That in and of itself was great, but it’s not the thing that sets Silk Mandarin apart from other schools I’ve gone to. Instead the big things these guys do is teach you the logic of the language, using a very straightforward and easy to understand method, but one that I’d never heard anything about before in university or other private schools. Once my teacher started teaching me this, so many pieces were coming together for me in terms of sentence structure and how Chinese works. I think my language was really inconsistent before and I was never sure where to put which words because I knew different rules but not a unified one. So I’d say these guys are incredibly friendly and flexible and cool, but they also really know their stuff. I’m a native English-speaking editing/writing professional who majored in lit and my Chinese teacher knows the English parts of speech better than I do– you have to understand language to teach it and these guys have it down 🙂

A friend of mine, who studied at Silk Mandarin before, highly recommended me this school when I told her that I want to learn Mandarin. I got in touch with Amy who promptly replied to my inquiry and helped me so well with finding the right course and accommodation. Furthermore, she helped me a lot with a VISA issue I had and smoothly coordinated the airport pick up in Shanghai.

When I arrived at the school (which is located on the 6th floor of a top modern skyscraper) l was warmly welcomed by everyone and amazed by the very clean and well-equipped school.
I had 80 hours of 1 on 1 private lessons with Andy who is honestly the best language teacher I’ve ever had (I’ve studied 4 languages before). With her you can laugh and learn a lot at the same time. Especially when you have difficulties to learn the Chinese characters, she can always make up a story how to remember them.

In general, everyone at the school encourages you all the time to speak Mandarin as much as possible. There are even talking corners during the weeks where teachers and students meet to practice their speaking, and this all for free! Every Friday there is a free time activity where the school organizes something such as pottery class, mahjong or a Chinese food tasting.

I want to thank the whole Silk Mandarin Team for such an unforgettable time I had with you. I will recommend you to anyone out there who wants to learn Mandarin in a fun and very efficient way.

I’ve been living in Shanghai for over five years and tried many different schools. At Silk Mandarin I’ve had the best experience by far and always recommend it to my friends that need a place to study Chinese. They make it fun, they care about your learning, and it works… I started around HSK 2/3 level and am now 6. Have introduced many beginners also who loved it and still go many months after starting.

Having studied in many language schools in different countries during my life gives me the confidence to say that Silk Mandarin stands out from other schools for different reasons. The foundation is made of enthusiastic and friendly people that are always encouraging our learning process; then it’s noticeable how they are really motivated in making us learn through different approaches, not only by using books, but offering their own material like flashcards, talking pens, customised apps and even SMS groups to keep us constantly engaged; and finally, their openness in asking for feedback is legitimate and they will always try to improve our experience with tailored classes, according to our needs, in the best way possible.

I have studied in two other Mandarin schools (one being in Shanghai as well) and Silk Mandarin is by far the best!!! They offer the best classes, very fun and dynamic, great teachers plus the super friendly staff!! They truly make you feel at home!! I once asked for the students to have more contact with the Chinese culture, and now, every Friday we have culture classes, and they are awesome!!! You can feel that they really care about the students and making them learn as fast as possible! I can already feel the difference in my Mandarin even with just a few classes!!! I would 100% recommend to everyone!!