Students Case Studies
“I WANT TO DO BUSINESS IN MANDARIN IN 6 MONTHS”
Andries Diener, Partner and co-founder of Diener Syz Real Estate
Interviewer’s note: During 6-month intensive learning period, Andries has started his venture business in China and co-founded Diener Syz Real Estate to provide investment solutions and projects for real estate in China and Asia. The whole interview was conducted in Mandarin and Andries wwas impressively fluent in Mandarin! – September 2011, London, Switzerland, Shanghai
My firm provided professional Real Estate services in China and I believe that the ability to conduct business in the local language, Mandarin, greatly helps with the business process. In this way, I can build a stronger relationship with my clients through deeper cultural understanding and avoiding mis-communication caused by language barriers. With a strong motivation to learn, I was however unable to find highly structured courses that enabled me to reach Business Mandarin level in six months. My friend recommended Chinese Original to me and I found Yalan, the course director to be highly experienced and able to deliver general and business Mandarin courses. What’s more she was also able to find the right teachers for me in China.
After an assessment to identify my level and discussion of my requirements, Yalan designed a highly intensive course that would allow me to achieve my objective within a challenging time frame. I found that the course lives up to what it promised. It was well structured in all aspects: the grammar, expressions and vocabulary. Moreover, the Business Mandarin Course was properly designed, which greatly differs from other language solutions provided by other schools. The course was designed by Chinese Original and delivered by its sister school, Hanyuan through the China Immersion Course in Shanghai. I started as a beginner level student on a highly intensive course, with teachers who were supportive. They worked hard to help me through the whole learning cycle. They met weekly to review my progress and adjust ways of teaching me. They all love teaching and were patient and helped me improve my pronunciation greatly. It has been a challenge but a great experience and I found myself communicating confidently in Mandarin in business meetings.
Many people thought learning Mandarin in 2 years is impossible, yet my experience proved otherwise! I am still learning it and believe that I will be able to read complex reports in Mandarin if I keep learning.
“LOOKING BACK I AM EXTREMELY GLAD I MADE THE DECISION TO START”
Morgan Stark, PhD Student, August 2011
Part-time Chinese course student who has achieved advanced level within 2 year learning shares his Chinese learning experiences!
Date started: October 2009 as totally beginner
Current Level (2011): Advanced
Average class learning: 2 hours per week
Average self-study: 30-45 minutes per day, 3 -5 hours per week
Nationality: British
Language spoken: English native, Russian, Mandarin Chinese
Occupation: PhD Student (UCL)
Email: morgan.stark2@gmail.com
To enhance my career prospects after completion of my PhD, I decided to learn Mandarin. My goal was simple: I want to be a fluent Mandarin speaker with the ability to work in a Chinese speaking environment and conduct business in Mandarin. Yalan, the course director designed a course suited for my personal needs.
My approach to learning Chinese has been very intensive from the beginning, and I have found that my learning style has been very well supported. The teachers were as keen to push me as I was to learn, and the courses and classes offered have been incredibly flexible and orientated towards maximum attainment. In order to further aid my development I was also placed in classes with advanced students, and this in particular helped me as I had to work hard to keep up.
I am now in a position where I am about to finish my PhD, and am applying for jobs in Beijing. I couldn’t be happier with my decision to begin Mandarin two years ago, and I recommend Chinese Original in the strongest terms possible. Their consistently professional, flexible and intelligent approach has helped me develop and achieve the goals I had set myself.
- Morgan Stark, London 2011.08