Our History
A History of That’s Mandarin
by 徐彦波 Xú YànBō
That’s Mandarin was born in the winter of 2005, with just one small school tucked away in a Wudaokou back alley. At the time, we had only 4 classrooms and 3 teachers. The school was decorated very simply, but had lovely full-length windows with white gauze curtains, and on the south side of the school, a reed screen kept out the blazing sun in the summer months. Each of the classrooms simply had a desk, a computer and printer. I remember that the smallest classroom was only big enough to squeeze two people in it, but it was cozy nonetheless! However, the biggest of the classrooms was spacious enough for 7 or 8 people. It was in these conditions that our teachers gave classes in the early days of That’s Mandarin.
Today, That’s Mandarin has over 50 teachers spread across our two schools: the Beijing Dongzhimen Chinese School and the Shanghai Jing’an Chinese School. Altogether there are over 50 classrooms across the three campuses. While we have stuck to the same simple style in our new schools, our classrooms are now more spacious, well decorated and comfortable. Our loft style schools in Dongzhimen and Shanghai have been admired by students and new teachers alike, and provide both a pleasant studying and working atmosphere for everyone at That’s Mandarin.
More important than our schools themselves, however, are the wonderful teachers that have made our school what it is today. Our teaching team is very diverse, coming from all different areas of China and all different educational backgrounds. Most of us majored in Chinese or teaching Chinese as a foreign language, but we also have teachers who majored in subjects such as Law and Economics. This is great, as it enables us to satisfy the needs and special requests of all the students who choose to study with us.
While our teachers come from all over the country, the students at That’s Mandarin come from all corners of the world: Germany, the UK, the US, Russia, Brazil, India, Japan, France…When we took part in the Beijing Expat show in 2009, we covered a map with flags of all the countries from which we have students and there were so many flags by the end! Our students include people with full-time jobs, university students, full-time mothers, government officials, 80 year olds and babies still in their mummies’ tummies… I have taught an official from NASA before and in one class, he told me that one of his subordinates was watching us having class from his space station! The job of teaching Chinese to foreign students is certainly full of challenges and surprises. I wouldn’t have done it for 6 years if I didn’t love it!
We have worked together with various different international companies over the past few years, including Google and Sun and have now partnered with CRCC Asia to offer a joint Chinese and internship program. Many of our former students have stayed in touch with our school since they have left and some have become our business partners. The boss of CRCC Asia, for example, is one of That’s Mandarin’s students.
At the very beginning, we only offered one-on-one classes, but now we have also started to offer small group intensive Chinese programs, one-on-one intensive Chinese programs, online Chinese classes and many more courses. As we have gone along and gained more and more experience, we have honed our programs to make them even more fun and varied. We have felt the pressure, but also the great sense of achievement that comes with our growing experience and success.
Last year, That’s Mandarin was featured in the New York Times, a very proud moment for us all. We are also just about to publish two new textbooks, which we have been working on for the past year and are very excited to see the finished product! I have enjoyed every minute of the journey over the last six years and hope that the next six will be just as successful and enjoyable for That’s Mandarin.
When I went to China I had 5 weeks and 1 goal - to get a sound basis in the Mandarin language. I can say that without a doubt it was the dynamic personality of Xu-laoshi from That's Mandarin that allowed me to surpass my goals. My only regret is not finding her sooner. I feel cheated that I wasted so much time with other tutors.
Xu-laoshi's teaching method is unique. Instead of a course book she uses a series of carefully selected stories which serve to introduce new vocabulary and recycle the old. She used her knowledge of both Mandarin and English, as well as her wit, to weave together a coherent and truly useful series of lessons. I not only learned many vocabulary items, but also how to use them in different contexts. The greatest thing about lessons with Xu-laoshi was that everything I learned became immediately accessible. Over 80% of things I learnt I actually used in real situations within 2-3 days.
The amount of energy that Xu-laoshi has and freely gives in her lessons is inspiring. I left the classroom literally buzzing with excitement at what I could now do, and actively looking for opportunities to use it. She gave me enough confidence in my abilities to get out there and actually do it. Not only that, but I was absolutely confident that the language she had supplied me with was relevant, and importantly, colloquial - no pompous "How do you do?". In fact, she actively discouraged me from using some of the 'old-fashioned' language that I had been taught just 2 weeks previously.
As a language teacher myself, it was truly inspiring to be taught be someone who not only obviously loves what she does, but is also very, very good at it. I can only hope that I am half as effective and imaginative a teacher as Xu-laoshi.