FAQ

At Mandarin Zone, a professional Chinese language training school for foreigners, we offer a wide range of courses designed to meet different learning goals:

• Standard and Intensive Chinese Courses: Tailored for adult learners, we offer both small group Chinese classes and 1-on-1 Mandarin lessons to improve your language skills effectively.
• Summer Camp for Kids and Teenagers: Special programs combining fun and intensive learning for younger students who want to immerse themselves in Mandarin Chinese.
• Online Chinese Classes: For those who are unable to join us in Beijing, we provide flexible online Mandarin courses so you can study anywhere.
• HSK Preparation Courses: Comprehensive programs designed to help students prepare for the HSK test (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi), China’s official standardized test for Mandarin proficiency.

Our courses are designed specifically for foreigners learning Mandarin and cater to all skill levels, ensuring personalized learning experiences.

At Mandarin Zone, we offer different Chinese language programs depending on your schedule, learning goals, and preferences:

• Standard Chinese Program: Ideal for students planning to stay in Beijing long-term. This program runs for 4 hours per day, Monday to Friday, and allows you to balance your studies with time to explore the city, practice Chinese in real-life settings, and review lessons at your own pace.
• Intensive Chinese Program: Best suited for students with limited time in Beijing. This course is designed to achieve faster results, with 6 hours of classes daily, Monday to Friday. It’s perfect for those who want to maximize their learning in a shorter period.
• Tailor-Made Chinese Course: If you have specific learning goals, such as preparing for an exam or focusing on a particular industry, our tailor-made course is a flexible option customized to meet your needs.

When choosing between 1-on-1 classes and group classes:

• Group Classes: Perfect if you enjoy learning in a social environment with classmates. With a maximum of 6 students, you’ll benefit from peer interaction while still receiving personal attention from the teacher.
• 1-on-1 Classes: Ideal if you prefer a more focused, personalized learning experience. Whether you choose the standard or intensive program, 1-on-1 classes offer faster progress with lessons tailored entirely to your learning pace and objectives.

At Mandarin Zone, we group students based on their Mandarin proficiency level to ensure an effective learning environment. On average, our group classes have 3 students, with a maximum of 6 students per class. This small class size allows for more personalized attention and interaction, ensuring that each student can actively participate and improve their Chinese language skills.

At Mandarin Zone, all of our classes are taught in Chinese to create a fully immersive learning environment. Even for absolute beginners, our teachers minimize the use of English, relying instead on pictures, videos, gestures, and body language to aid in comprehension. As your Chinese proficiency improves, the use of English will gradually decrease, allowing you to engage more deeply with the language and understand more each day.

Our teachers at Mandarin Zone have been with us since 2008 and bring extensive experience in teaching Chinese to foreign students. All of our teachers hold a bachelor’s degree, and most also have a master’s degree in education or related fields. We believe our best endorsement comes from our students—check out our testimonials to see their feedback on our teachers’ dedication and expertise!

For all our programs, if you choose a fixed schedule we normally assign a teacher to the group in order to see your improvement since the beginning and act according to it. If your schedule is not fixed, and vary week by week, we usually have two teachers assigned to one single student in order to be able to cover any possible arrangement. Of course in case of major force events if the teacher assigned to the group can’t come for that day we will have another teacher ready to take over the class. Most of our teachers are working with us since 2008 and are reliable and professional and ,most of all, are passionate about their job to teach Chinese to foreign students.

Only for the students already in Beijing we can arrange a free trial class in our school. We are sure that if your try us you will want to join Mandarin Zone.

Each class lasts 50 minutes and between two classes there 10 minutes break: this time is necessary for the students to rest a while and at the same time to digest what they have learnt for 50 minutes.

Standard course are 4 hours per day from Monday to Friday: both group and 1on1 classes;
Intensive course are 6 hours per day from Monday to Friday: both group and 1on1 classes;

Our tailor made program is designed on you, so you will decide the schedule most suitable for you: for this program we require a minimum of 10 classes per week.

Every student’s learning rate is different cause it depends upon many different factors, like how many class attended every month and of course every student has his own aptitude toward foreign language learning.
Based on our experience with our standard course of 20 classes per week, a student can reach a survival Chinese level in more or less 2 weeks; with this level the student can hang around Beijing and have simple daily communication in Chinese (self introduction, ordering food, asking directions, shopping, expressing simple topics related to daily life, etc).

We had lot of students who have studied with us preparing for the HSK and passed the test successfully. We will create a study plan tailored to your Mandarin level in listening, speaking, reading and writing. Checkout out our dedicated HSK page to find out more information about the HSK test.

With our corporate programs we offer the chance for the student to have class in its own office: check out the related page and see how your company and our school can cooperate together.