Why Choose Master Mandarin™?

Putonghua is the official language of China and is commonly referred to as Mandarin or even Chinese. Our immersion program is truly a focused language curriculum where the student is encouraged to speak only Mandarin for the duration of their time with us. They will live with a Chinese family that encourages Mandarin in the home. They will interact with professional Chinese language teachers (who are fluent in English) who will support their Mandarin in formal and elective classes. These same teachers will travel with these students on local and overnight trips and act as their guides to ensure that they learn the language, the culture and history of China—in Chinese!

Finding a good Mandarin immersion program really involves more than searching the internet for schools that claim to teach you Chinese. Like so many things in life what, at first, seems like a bargain often doesn't meet either your expectations or your real requirements.

"For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them."
Aristotle

First, most programs have a 'travel and learn' orientation rather than a 'learn and travel' focus. In other words, you are enticed to join their program because they travel to exciting places as a part of their package. Let's be really clear, Master Mandarin's primary focus is to teach our students clear, accurate and understandable Putonghua (standard Mandarin). Yes, we also travel to exotic places but your teacher will travel with you and you will speak only Chinese while you are in China. This is a real immersion program!

Search the internet and you will find the general consensus is that the best and clearest Mandarin is spoken in the northeast and Changchun is centrally located in the northeastern provinces. If you search well, you will find that the Chinese do not speak standard Mandarin in Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong or virtually any place in southern China. DongBei Ren (Northeast people) are known for being a kind-hearted and generous people who are willing and often anxious to talk with foreigners who are learning Chinese. This is quite unlike most other large cities where the people are too busy and foreigners are common. This is of particular concern to students who want to practice their new skills "on the street".

Our classes are small. One teacher for each five students and a teacher remains with you for the whole camp. While our teachers are fluent in English, virtually all of your conversations will be in Chinese. Short explanations and some vocabulary are taught in English depending on the students' levels. Formal Chinese classes are conducted in the mornings and afternoons are used for elective studies. Most summer camp programs give you a taste of Tai Ji, Chinese paper cutting, Chinese cooking, Chinese watercolor painting, calligraphy, Chinese music or other arts. Master Mandarin believes that for an elective class to be a truly valuable learning experience, you should be allowed to really "dig in" to these cultural arts for an in-depth understanding. A Master Mandarin teacher is also with you during these elective courses to ensure that your Mandarin improves along with your awareness and appreciation of what you are learning.

Since Tai Ji is central to several Chinese cultural elements, we will conduct a morning's class every day you are in China Most Chinese schools focus on rote learning as their primary methodology in teaching Mandarin. This is to be expected since this style of learning is the most common style of teaching in Chinese schools, i.e., "sit, say and repeat".

"Experience is the best teacher" and we firmly believe that experiential education, or that process that occurs between a teacher and student that combines direct experience with the learning environment and content, is the most effective way to learn something that will last. It is a methodology in which teachers purposefully engage with students in direct experience and allow for focused reflection in order to develop skills, in our case, functional Mandarin.

"Street Smarts™" uses appropriate, organized learning activities occurring in the shops and restaurants and on the streets where 'survival' depends on the command of at least some spoken Mandarin. We employ the concept of cooperative learning in order to support the diverse learning styles and needs within a group. We also encourage students to journal their experiences on a daily basis so they become aware of their responsibilities and activities as a mechanism of personal feedback in the process of learning.

Master Mandarin is a division of Perfect English, Changchun's premier English language school. In the nine years we have been teaching we have stayed abreast of the latest teaching methodologies for language acquisition and lexis expansion as well as creative ways of using the latest techniques to teach all four communication skills—listening, speaking, reading and writing. In large measure, we apply our expertise in pedagogy to ensure our students' success.

You may ask, "Why would I try a new program when there are so many Mandarin summer camps with long experience?" A very good question and one that is not too difficult to answer. When we started Perfect English in January 2002, we had ten students. From that modest beginning, we have grown to become the largest foreign teacher school in Changchun currently teaching more than 8,000 students. We accomplished this by teaching fundamental skills, using the latest methodologies in an atmosphere that encourages the student to learn because they want to learn. Our classes are fun and the material we teach is age and level appropriate.

Chinese language learning is characterized by teacher dominated classrooms, textbook focused and vocabulary and grammar are emphasized. While this is accepted by Chinese students, western students find this model restrictive and counterproductive.

You owe it to yourself to take a closer look at Master Mandarin.