That's Mandarin in Wudaokou - thoughts?

[El Macho]

Hi, everyone,

I live in Haidian, and am considering taking lessons at That's Mandarin. I've searched through the forums here and on other sites and haven't found many reviews about the school and its methodology...most of the posts I've come across have been about disagreements with the office staff.

Has anyone here studied at That's Mandarin? What were your experiences like? Did their methodology seem effective?

I'll only be in Beijing for a few months, so this will be a short-term project for me. I'm hoping my studies at That's Mandarin (or wherever) will let me know if I want to devote more time and energy to learning Chinese.

Thanks!

[Brian US]

Is that the program based out of a hotel? The other day my friend told me she is taking extra classes in the afternoon (maybe "That's Mandarin") for about 600 yuan a month. She said lessons are pretty good with 4 to 1 student/teacher ratio.

[dillon1530]

I realize you posted this a while ago, and may have already settled on another program, but I thought I'd put in my two cents, for what it's worth.

I came to China in 2007 on a scholarship from my university to study Chinese. I didn't do very much research about programs and just applied to BLCU. I enrolled and left two weeks later because I wanted to learn to speak Chinese, and with twenty-five students in a class and an emphasize on reading, it was clear that that goal was not going to be met.

I found That's Mandarin in Wudaokou and have been a student there ever since. I have had six different That's Mandarin teachers over the course of 2 years, have been very impressed with every single one of them, and actually speak Chinese now (unlike 2 years ago). In fact, I am such a believer in their teaching methodology that I started working for the school at the end of the summer. I still take classes with TM and if you're interested in deciding whether Chinese is something you want to pursue long-term, I highly recommend that you do as well.

Email me at cdillon@thatsmandarin.com if you want to try a first class for free.