Testimonials

Testimonials

"One Sunday afternoon I decided to ignore my skepticism and give online Chinese study a try. I wrote to three different companies asking for a trial chat that day. SpeakMandarin.com came back within a few hours, the second never came back and the third replied on Monday when their office opened. By that time, I had already had two trial sessions of 25 minutes, had agreed on a study plan and had booked my first 50 minute 1 on 1 with SpeakMandarin.com. The first thing you'll notice is that the pricing is easy to find, whereas other companies want your details - this is a pet hate of any internet user. The next is the cisco meeting room system they use: one click and you are taken to a virtual whiteboard where you can both write, draw, look at text and of course converse. New words are then emailed to me each day after class and you are encouraged to give feedback, request new topics, give direction etc. Finally, the quality of the teaching, and the attitude of the teachers has been first class. They are all top University graduates with degrees in teaching Chinese as a foreign language. This means their Mandarin is well spoken so you pick up the right accent, and that they know how to teach the language, not just how to speak it! It feels like I have a team of 5-6 people supporting me. They all know my progress after each class and are in contact as much as you want them to be - you choose each class time.

Please feel free to send me an email if you have any questions regarding classes, teachers, how it works, payment, what's good/bad etc. As an Australian who studied the language at University 10 years ago maintaining my Mandarin has been a constant struggle so I am happy to help anyone in the same position."

                                                                -- Jack FitzGerald,  jack.fitzgerald@gmail.com

"It's great to have learned to write characters and read pinyin while studying in Shanghai, but SpeakMandarin has truly helped me continue my pursuit of refining my accent while being back in the United States. Having limited access to Chinese speakers, conversing with my SpeakMandarin teachers prepares me for work when I go back to China"

                                                               -- Chris Mendez, Student at Pepperdine University, U.S., c_r_mendez@yahoo.com

"We piloted the project at Harvey Mudd College for four weeks and achieved excellent results. Our students found the experiences at once intense and liberating, challenging and relaxing. As a result, our
students not only improved their proficiency in the course materials, but also had more confidence to use the language in real life."

                                                              -- Professor Chang Tan at  Harvey Mudd, Part of the Claremont Colleges

"At first I relied on SpeakMandarin.com to augment my formal classroom studies of the language. Now I'm no longer taking classes and exclusively use SpeakMandarin because it's so flexible and the teachers are excellent." 

                                                             -- Tom Montgomery, Air Force officer,U.S., montgomery.thomas@gmail.com

I liked the confidence it gave me in my ability to communicate in Chinese with strangers, especially since there are many different teachers to practice with - it was reassuring and helpful. The lesses are informal enough to not be stressful but involved enough that I am learning. There was no awkwardness and I spoke continually for the hour! The teacher made me feel competent and at ease.

                                                             -- Casey Gordon, Harvey Mudd College student, U.S.

The sessions were good complementary practices for my class. I liked how natural it was and that there was consistent dialogue occurring!

                                                            -- Lucy Drummond, Harvey Mudd College student, U.S.

I have been using speakmandarin as my main method of studying and practicing Chinese. The ability to ask for specific discussion topics allows me to study the things I really need for my job and helps me communicate better with Chinese companies. An advantage of SpeakMandarin is the quality of the teachers (they can prepare any lesson for you in less than 24 hours) and also the flexible schedule. With this method I can practice oral skills, listening, grammar etc. but also learn about Chinese culture, places and many secrets about China. I have already recommended some of my friends to try speakmandarin.

                                                           -- Andro Vazquez, lawyer and commercial Attaché in Beijing

I see the Speakmandarin program, when combined with the supermemo program, to be a nearly ideal way to learn a language online.  The supermemo program allows the student to learn and practice on his own without help of a tutor, at his own convenience, and at his own pace.  While the tutor gives much needed exposure to real-life conversation, corrections in speech, and so forth.

During the day, I use the supermemo program which, as you know, is totally computerized, but allows the user to customize a “forgetting rate”, which will generate more repetitions.  Then, every night, I schedule a 50-minute “live” session with one of the speakmandarin tutors. 

I find this mix of learning media to be virtually ideal, allowing me to learn both passively at my own pace (supermemo) and actively with the help of a coach who also helps correct my pronunciation and usage and who forces me to more actively utilize what I have learned. 

                                                     -- Keith E. Herzog.