I've studied in SN Mandarin around 6 month, my chinese skills has improved enough to keeping a basic conversation. I decided to study in this school because are small groups, I studied to a guy from UK and two girls from Russia. If you really want to

spoke chinese quickly I recommend SN Mandarin is a good choice.

1 - Product/Service purchased after discussion of my situation and requirements I opted for a standard semester package with three fixed classes each week and two personalised additional classes each week. Each class is two hours in duration. The top

up classes, which are on a one-to-one basis are very reasonably priced. I opted to use them as a way of reviewing and practising what I had learned in the fixed classes. After previous experience of studying at another school I wanted to spend more time on improving my speaking and listening skills. 2 - My experience to date (Excellent !) SNMandarin is my 2nd language school, previously I had studied at one of China's Universities, which was first recommended to me because..........it's famous and has a long established reputation as one of China's best universities etc. etc. etc......... I feel that SNMandarin has however, provided me with a much better learning experience and they definitely don't rest on their laurels !. I have been most impressed by the following:- 2.1 Personalisation and Flexibility They were and continue to be extremely helpful, friendly and responsive in helping me with any questions. After discussion about my specific situation and learning requirements they were able to make recommendations and help tailor the course to suit me. 2.2 Smaller Classes Smaller classes with much more time for discussion and review between teacher and student. 2.3 Experienced and High Quality Teaching There is an ever increasing number of foreigners who want to learn Mandarin and an ever growing demand for Mandarin language teachers. Naturally the range of teaching ability in this fast expanding environment may differ greatly. As well as knowing your subject I strongly believe that there some essential characteristics for good teaching. For me these include patience, a genuine passion for transferring knowledge to others and the ability to empathise with the student and change methods when something is not being clearly understood. I have really enjoyed having good teachers at SNMandarin. Some schools have a different approach, but I believe that it in the early days of learning a new language you often need to be able to discuss a point of misunderstanding and find an answer in your own language. Simply because you do not have the necessary vocabulary yet to express yourself or understand the answer in the language you are trying to learn. All the teachers and staff I have dealt with at SNMandarin have a very good command of English. 2.4 Value for Money I have contacted and reviewed many different language schools in Shanghai. I feel that all of the positives I have mentioned above have been provided at a very competitive rate and SNMandarin has provided me with more for my money than I received when studying at the University.. 3 - Any bad experiences or areas for improvement I can honestly say that I have not had any bad experiences or reasons for complaint at SNMandarin. I always feel that they have my best interests at heart. A minor comment regarding course material. All payments and reciepts were promptly processed and related correspondence and following communication was prompt and very clear. All course reading material content has been of hiqh quality, although perhaps the physical quality of some of the reading material could be improved upon.