Description
After purchase you will be able to download the introduction form. Please remember to fill out the questionnaire on that document so we can plan the best possible course for you.
AVAILABLE TIME SLOTS
Please click here to see available time slots (Taipei Time)
Easy to use world Time converter HERE.
After purchasing we will be in contact via email to book your times. We will get as close to the preferred times as possible, as we also need to schedule with your teachers. We cannot guarantee an exact match but will get as close as possible.
Rasmus –
Absolutely fantastic! It was a lot of work, but i could see and feel, how my skills in forming sentences to convey meanings and feelings, not just short factual sentences, improved between every lesson. A big thank you to Mandarin Monkey and SuSu 老师 for an awesome course, can’t wait to find the time to do it again. 谢谢你们！
Ashley –
This course was perfect! It really allowed me to stretch my Mandarin in ways I had never done before. Loved being able to get creative and find different ways to explain the topics that I liked to talk about. I really saw my Mandarin improve throughout this course and have since had a boost in confidence using my Mandarin in daily life. SuSu 老師 was extremely helpful and knowledgeable and I looked forward to every class with her knowing we would have a great time laughing and learning. Absolutely recommend this course to anyone that wants to see real improvement in a short amount of time. Thanks Mandarin Monkey team for the opportunity to go through this course and really improve my language skills!
Steven (verified owner) –
Phenomenal. This course is literally what I needed to improve my Mandarin even further. The teachers on the Mandarin Monkey team is absolutely amazing. I had my concerns taking this intense course as IT IS actually intense. I was afraid my Mandarin wasn’t up to par. Don’t let that scare you, take this course. This course is what you may need to get over that Mandarin road block you may have. You won’t regret it, trust me!!
Stephanie (verified owner) –
What made my experience with the intensive course so incredibly rewarding, is their STAR panel of educators. All of whom are talented at teaching, and trustworthy in the building of teacher-student relationships. What one can expect: 1.) You will need to put in many hours of active preparation work, outside of the scheduled meetings. Yet you will also find yourself *wanting* and feeling inspired to do the work with much patience and encouragement from your teaching panel. 2.) The program is structured brilliantly–The division of work and attention from instructors, ultimately makes sense and serves the best interests of the student. Their framework taught me how to mindfully integrate information to accelerate my learning.
At the start of the intensive, Susu laoshi oh so patiently edited my first article and walked me through the framework of proper writing; once I could see the system, I just needed to be willing to make mistakes, and to make a lot of them. Beny laoshi had extremely helpful insights on making my presentation more concise; the dialogues with her helped me reinforce what I had learned since I had to present ideas to a new audience. Amy my ouxiang/idol laoshi provided a sense of familiarity/reset and she helped me both jumpstart and untangle my thoughts for future topics. Now, I had the bulk of my lessons with Cynthia laoshi, and let me tell you, it is fascinating to watch a professional work magic on the screen in front of me, and in real time. Her instructing voice exudes compassion and meditative clarity. She would often remark, “Ah! If I write it out this way, AND this way, you’ll be better able to understand the difference.” Humans are meaning-making creatures and Cynthia has a talent for extricating what I *meant* to say, out of my garbled thoughts and turning them into cogent arguments.
Lastly, the course is indeed intense, requiring add’l hours of preparation and study outside of the scheduled lessons. Didactics, it is not. Creativity and imagination, strongly encouraged. There was one particular evening where things got very real and that night, I slept so well and so soundly like Smaug in his hoarding slumber. Above all, the entire 2.5 week intensive course was so much FUN. The final presentation was important to take seriously, but also a pure joy to dialogue with Susu laoshi again at the end of my journey, and with fellow MM community learners who encouraged me throughout the very creative, very fun process. As an adult language learner plodding along, I must insist on Fun. This program increased my resolution of understanding and reminded me of the importance in keeping a sense of curiosity and imagination when it comes to language and connecting with others. Highly recommend. You’ll make no better investment than to place your trust in this nurturing teaching community.
Shannon (verified owner) –
This intensive course was a gift I bought for myself, and it’s true what they say- “the best gifts are experiences.”
As soon as the course was announced, I joined the waiting list and crossed my fingers that the course would launch during my summer vacation. Lucky me, I was able to start my summer vacation with this! I had no idea what to expect, only that the community of Mandarin Monkey has been so inclusive and friendly that it was probably going to be good, and that I would feel supported. I am happy to say I was right!
The first two days for me were tough in terms of my listening, but after the second day, more vocabulary and structure began “clicking” in my brain. I started hearing the words bubbling up randomly in my head during the day. For each class, I had to write an article on a topic of my choice. This was very intimidating at first, but after a while, I felt more and more proficient. It was very time consuming for me, but because the intensive course’s topic was of my own choosing, I was never at a loss for things I wanted to express. Since my topic was how I’m spending my summer vacation, this course also got me out the door more often so that I could have more interesting things to write about! My reading ability grew by leaps and bounds because I tried my best to only use pinyin for new vocabulary to challenge myself.
I loved having the rotation of teachers. I had attended private lessons before this, and at first knew only Ula and Amy that way. It was so exciting to have a new teacher each lesson, knowing we would loop around to one another during the following week. Hearing different voices is so helpful, and each teacher had their own style. Everyone was just as encouraging and supportive as I have come to know the MM crew to be, and as I stumbled along with my speaking, I felt like it was a safe learning environment to take risks in. (And whenever a sentence from my articles was declared “是对了” I wanted to jump up and dance!) The teachers are all really fun to talk to, and read my prior days’ articles in addition to the new one each day to prepare for the day’s lesson. It felt like they each were invested in this project and my learning success.
Another excellent tool for review and fluency were the recordings. Each teacher would provide me with a recording of themselves reading my (corrected during the lesson) article out loud. They would also provide recordings of the new vocabulary. During my review, these were so valuable. But even better, I replayed them as I was preparing my final presentation because the new vocabulary “sticks” better in context.
About halfway in the course, the lesson was me sharing photos and talking about them to my teacher. This forced me (in a good way) to talk more, and practice my articles’ vocabulary. That experience was so powerful that I modeled my final presentation that way- using only pictures on my slides.
I worked so many hours on my final presentation, writing out and practicing what I wanted to say! I wasn’t nervous though, even though I usually would be in a presentation. This was because, although I didn’t know who was going to be attending, I knew that it would be from this group of incredible teachers who had been witnessing my progress. Ula, Amy and Cynthia attended my presentation and I felt so supported!
The course motivated me to change tiers to have more lessons per month so that I can keep the momentum. I feel so fortunate to have found a place in the Mandarin Monkey community, and to have had the opportunity to take this intensive course. I just may have to do another one in the future! 加油!
Luoluo –
Such a great course! I learned so much and I loved the idea of preparing an article each time, it really broadened my vocabulary and gave me an insight into lots of new and really interesting topics. Although I was a bit nervous at first, all the teachers put me at ease so it was really easy for me to talk freely and discuss, despite me stumbling over my own words frequently 😀 It was great fun and probably the best intensive course I’ve ever had, so I really hope you’ll be offering this soon again! Thank you so much for this great opportunity, you guys are awesome!
Susan (verified owner) –
This course took my Mandarin to a new level! There are so many great things about this course. First, the scheduling is flexible. I was able to schedule mine during a 14-day quarantine after travel and was given the days and times I requested, so it fit into my days perfectly. Next, I LOVED the fact that I could choose my own topics. I learned so much reading articles and watching YouTube videos on my chosen topic and as the course progressed found both my reading and listening ability really progressing too. A week into the course I found myself watching YouTube videos in Mandarin and understanding a lot more the first time through than before. Then during the actual sessions, it was so much fun to practice speaking while talking about subjects I am interested in, and it made the 3-hour sessions fly right by! I reinforced the vocabulary I’d picked up while preparing for class and of course learned tons of new words and grammatical patterns too.
This is definitely a course that you get more out of the more you put in—and they don’t call it intensive for nothing! I prepared a few hours for each class and then reviewed an hour or so after as well. Writing articles was not easy either, but very good practice that complemented all the speaking practice within the sessions well. In fact, the balance of working on different skills was just right—reading and listening practice while researching topics, writing practice writing articles and correcting them in class, and TONS of speaking practice during the sessions.
I also enjoyed having a mix of teachers, and the teachers are all really great. They bring so much enthusiasm to their work and it really shows! I found we always had so much to talk about and often shared interest in the topics, which made the class all the more engaging.
I most definitely recommend this class to anyone who wants to invest in their Mandarin. It will take you to a new level!
Valerie (verified owner) –
I loved my first Mandarin Monkey intensive course. By making a focused effort I not only learned and used more Mandarin than is usually possible for me, but I also learned new related skills (electronic), notably being able to type using Chinese characters. Now I can bang out a halfway decent text in Manadrin in a flash! Beny, Su Su, and Cynthia halped me perfect several during the course. They were all great to work with. I will surely sign up for more intensive courses again.
Ragnar Þór Valgeirsson (verified owner) –
What a fantastic two-week journey!
This Intensive Mandarin Course was definitely a great learning experience. And just the thing that I needed. I picked up a lot of new words, phrases, and subtle nuances of Mandarin. The most impactful thing though, was how I went from being nervous and insecure when talking and listening to Chinese, to feeling quite comfortable discussing things that aren’t just superficial, but rather deep, meaningful, and interesting.
I’m not perfect, I’m a long way from fluency, and I still have a lot to learn, but I finally feel like I’m able to have interesting conversations that don’t feel forced and boring. It’s like a door was opened in my brain, giving me access to both new information, and also pre-acquired knowledge, ready for action.
Allan (verified owner) –
I had been looking for an intensive Mandarin course for a while, as I wanted to give my Mandarin a real boost. When I came across Mandarin Monkey’s intensive course, I knew I had found what I was looking for.
I really loved every aspect of it, the distribution of the classes, their duration, the fact that I needed to prepare articles for every class, the presentations, everything works really well for fulfilling the main goal of the course. And the teachers…they are all very professional and real fun. Impossible to get bored, even with 3-hour classes!
I have taken a lot of Mandarin courses, but Mandarin Monkey’s was truly the best one I have had so far. I highly recommend it to all those who are truly seeking to improve their skills in a short period of time. The great amount of effort will definitely pay out, I’m telling you!
Cara Rozell (verified owner) –
The Mandarin Monkey Intensive Course is just as advertised: intense, but don’t be fooled! It was also truly enjoyable. How great was it to get to pick my own topic, and then just go to town coming up with my own presentation, anything I wanted? I’ll tell you, it was great. And I had help every step along the way. The visits with the teachers allowed me to develop and refine, and I could pick their brain on why their suggestions were different from (ok, I’ll admit it) Google Translate. They often were able to give me those needed practical tips (“This is more often used in a more formal or professional setting, like a presentation.”). Going over my material again and again really imprinted things, and I expanded my Chinese charcter vocabulary (and I used the pinyin too). Then the presentation… there were other monkies there, and a teacher, and although I was nervous, the feedback was very positive about my presentation. So, overall, it did take me to a new level. I told Ula today I am even thinking of doing it again this year! 5 stars.