New to Chinese? Start here!

This crash course is designed for beginners who have little or no previous background in Mandarin Chinese. Our goal is to nail the basics and build a strong foundation for your future study.

⭐️ Enrollment for Spring and Fall 2025 is Now Open with limited spots! 

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Who is this course for

  • You are interested in learning Chinese but not sure where to start

  • You tried learning with apps & free resources by yourself but it’s not going anywhere

  • You studied on your own but felt lost and discouraged without guidance

  • You struggle with understanding, producing, and differentiating the sounds and tones in Mandarin

  • You are looking for a professional & inspiring teacher to guide and support you through your learning journey

  • You want a community of like-minded learners to hold you accountable & keep you motivated

What you will get

  • A well-structured course that takes you on a journey to learn and speak Mandarin

  • Guidance and support from a dedicated teacher, leading you every step of the way

  • Carefully chosen materials created by expert educators, allowing you to focus solely on learning

  • Enjoyable and engaging lessons that challenge you, ensuring real progress while having fun

  • A supportive environment to learn, make mistakes and develop your language skills

  • Master the basics of Mandarin Chinese and start speaking confidently within 5 weeks!

What you will learn

By the end of the course, you will be able to

  • Understand the Chinese pronunciation system and read pinyin

  • Understand the Chinese writing system and handwrite characters

  • Use Mandarin Chinese to introduce yourself

  • Know how to count from 0-99 and to ask for phone numbers & prices

  • Know popular city names and talk about where you want to go

  • Learn 20+ must-know phrases for beginners

  • Type in Chinese and use a dictionary

What's included

  • 5 live lessons on Zoom (90 minutes once a week x 5 weeks)

  • Weekly office hours in between classes for further practice and Q&A

  • Preview assignments and after-class homework to enhance learning results

  • Personalized feedback on all of your homework

  • Lesson recordings for convenient review at any time

  • Access to my Google Classroom and exclusive learning materials

  • Connect with a community of enthusiastic learners like yourself :)

Course information

  • Instructor: this class is taught by Linglong

  • Language: Simplified Mandarin Chinese (English will be used mainly for instruction)

  • Schedule: 90 min Zoom Class once a week x 5 weeks

  • Start date: January 20, 2024

  • Meeting time: Saturday at 9 am (New York time)

  • Class size: Maximum 8 students per class so that everyone can participate, interact, and ask questions. You can also attend office hours in between classes for further practice and Q&A

  • Early Bird Price: $395 USD  $295 USD  

  • Refund policy: No refunds are applicable for this online course

  • Age limit: You must be 16 years old or above to sign up since this course is designed with a teaching approach that’s more suitable for adults

What’s special?

  • Small-Group Class

    Our class size is limited so everyone can effectively engage with the teacher, ask questions, and receive personalized feedback

  • Intensive Drills

    There will be intensive drills to fine-tune pronunciation, expand vocabulary, and internalize grammatical structures

  • Technology Enhanced

    I’m going to use my expertise in online teaching and educational technology to make our classes super fun, engaging, and effective

  • Extra Support

    You'll get extra support through our weekly office hours and an exclusive study group with a community of enthusiastic learners

Student Reviews

  • The class is taught with a lot of enthusiasm and with an appropriate level of difficulty for our skill level. And it is very fun; making me enjoy the experience of learning Chinese fully!

  • Your classes were the ones that I felt really pushed me, and made me make the most progress in the shortest amount of time, and I felt they were extremely productive.

  • I really enjoyed your class. I immensely appreciated your organization, constant enthusiasm and willingness to always help.

  • EVERYTHING that you taught us was so helpful. I looked forward to your classes because I knew you would make it fun. The exercises were applicable and practical such as finding an Airbnb or practicing ordering off of a menu.

  • Your slides have been great study resources and I always get a better understanding of the grammar points in our dialogue after your lessons.

  • Overall, I really enjoyed your teaching because you helped me feel more confident in my speaking abilities. Thank you for being a wonderful teacher :) 玲珑老师， 我想说谢谢。你是一位好老师！

  • I appreciated that you would speak in Chinese as much as possible in a beginner class.

  • Literally, you're fantastic! I'm sorry you have to correct my pronunciation so sooo often :)

  • I really enjoyed the personal questions you asked us and all of the opportunities that you gave us to interact with our classmates.

  • I genuinely enjoyed the teaching style, and felt like it helped me understand both Chinese and how I need to think about the language when studying.

  • I believe she focused more on real-life/relatable conversations using Chinese. This is a great mix up with how intimidating speaking can be at times. Also, she taught valuable colloquial phrases that the textbook did not teach.

  • I'm glad that you call on people rather than waiting for volunteers, as it makes the class move much more efficiently. Asking people to speak and answer questions on the spot in Chinese also helps us think more quickly, in my opinion.

  • I really appreciate it when you help us with our dialogue recitation and take the time to get our tones right. I definitely enjoy the format of your lessons and I really love the effort that you put into your presentations!

  • I like that you don't have as rigid a structure when it comes to questions and answers and that you're open to helping students construct their own, more creative responses.

  • I've noticed that you're really perceptive when it comes to what each of us needs practice with, and you're able to respond to that quite effectively by pushing us in certain areas.

  • You're very personable and you're easy to relate to; you make learning more "real-life" in the sense that you have us do activities related to the lesson without keeping us in the textbook all the time.

  • I think pretty much all of the practice is consistently helpful, and your feedback is always on point and good! I'm glad you always tell us the most natural, common ways to speak.

  • Linglong’s style of work is sincere, thorough, very patient, focused and supportive. She approaches her teaching with commitment and inspires us to work. Very rare nowadays.

Watch Student video

FAQs

+ Which level should I take?

  • If you already know how to read pinyin, I also offer higher level classes. You can email me for more information: linglongmandarin@gmail.com
  • If you have specifc needs and goals, you can book 1-1 lessons that are tailor-made for you

+ How much time should I spend on learning every day?

  • In order to achieve the learning goals, I recommend taking at least 30 minutes every day on homework, lesson review, vocabulary flashcards and handwriting practice

+ Do I need to buy a textbook?

  • No, the materials for this crash course will be provided when class begins

+ What if I miss one of the classes?

  • Each live session will be recorded and sent to you for learning and reviewing at your own pace

+ What if I have questions outside of class?

  • You can attend the weekly office hours in between classes for further practice and Q&A, or use our Mandarin study group to get extra help

+ What if the time/level of this class doesn’t work for me?

  • If you have specifc needs and goals, you can book 1-1 lessons that are tailor-made for you