The Harbin Mandarin School, Harbin

[112233]

I’ve been meaning to write this up for a while now but have been lost for time. I studied at Mandarin Workshop for ~1/2 a year and had a fantastic experience. I’ll try to run through most of my experience here, but if anyone has any questions please don’t hesitate to ask and i’ll get back to you as soon as i can.

My background / Chinese level

I came to Mandarin Workshop after 1 semester at a Chinese university in Beijing (standard 20hrs per week program w/ 15-20ppl per class). During this period I also took 1on1 classes 3-4 x week for 2hrs per session at a private school. Before starting studies at the university I had studied Chinese for a few months in my home country and was still very much a beginner. While I think the university system for Chinese is great and a very cost effective way to learn if you are at an upper-intermediate or advanced level (smaller class sizes, most students seemed very serious), at the beginner and pre-intermediate levels it’s a bit hit and miss. I actually had quite a good experience at the university, but found I needed to work with a tutor to practice speaking, and to try to work through more material at a faster pace. After the semester I was finding it too tiring / not efficient juggling the university classes and private tutoring, so I decided to just go with private tutoring because I thought it would be more efficient and would let me work at the pace I wanted. I decided to go to Harbin because of the lower living cost, lower number of foreigners compared with Beijing, and standard accent (will go into this later).

Class info

Over the period at the school I changed my schedule a few times, but for most of the period I was studying 3hrs/day, 6 times per week (Monday-Saturday). While I was at the school, the majority of the other students were studying the standard 4hrs/day Monday-Friday, but I found for me 3hrs / 6 times per week worked well for me so I stuck with that. The school were more than happy to accommodate for this and for any other preferences I had. At the start I mostly studied in the afternoon (1pm-4pm), but after a while changed this to the morning (8/9-12pm) and the school was happy to do this.  

I studied with Ma Chao (known as Ma laoshi and also the school's teaching director) over the 7 months and could not recommend him more highly. Over the time I was there the other students were studying with the school’s other teachers and were all happy. I decided to stick with 1 teacher over the 7 months, but it is possible to either work with 2 teachers at the same time (i.e. 2hrs 1 teacher, 2hrs next teacher), or alternate between teachers if this suits you. When I arrived at the school, I already had a plan of what I wanted to study and had brought textbooks with me, but for most students they will do a short assessment of their level and then design a plan with textbooks around this.

The quality of teaching was fantastic and the school prides themselves on this. Ma Chao is very personable and is extremely passionate about his craft. He took a great interest in my progression and I also learnt a lot about chinese culture from him. We predominately spoke chinese during the lessons, but his english is excellent and when i needed a more difficult concept explained in english, he was more than capable. I found my chinese level improved rapidly over my time there. By the end of my time there I was studying advanced textbooks, and Ma Chao had no problem teaching these. After returning back to my home country, I decided to keep studying with Ma Chao over Skype. At the moment we’re doing 2hrs per day 6 times per week.  

School / accommodation / surrounding area  

The school is located in a modern apartment building in the Dao Li district of Harbin (dao li qu 道里区). There are 3 main classrooms and a large communal room with a kitchen. Each day Ayi (also owner of the school) cooked us an amazing lunch between 12-1pm and while I was there most students went to this. I found this was a good way to meet people at the beginning. It was also good to be able to practice Chinese over lunch.

I stayed in the accommodation arranged by the school. It was a modern 1 bedroom studio apartment approximately 5mins walk from the school (I could see the school from my window). The apartment was very spacious and I didn’t have any problems while I was there. One of the other students had an issue with some appliances, but the school was quick to get these fixed / replaced. Once I had an issue with the WIFI at about 9pm at night, and Ma Chao / Ayi both got on to it straight away - I thought this was really great. It is obviously possible to rent an apartment by yourself in Harbin, but most landlords will only rent on a long term basis, and there is risks involved depending on your Chinese level. I wanted to keep things simple and decided to go directly through the school.

Dao Li district (dao li qu 道里区) is a modern area, and the school is about a 5min walk from the river. I remember there being about 5 coffee shops in a 5min radius and also lots of restaurants and bars. There is a luxury shopping centre called “charter” about 5mins walk from the school / apartments which had an international supermarket that I went to a bit. There’s a bus stop next to the apartment block, and wall mart is about 10mins away on the bus. There is also a gym about 2mins from the apartment block. I didn’t end up going to this but a few of the other students did and were pretty happy with it.

Social life

I found Harbin to be a pretty enjoyable place to live. While I was studying at the school, most of the other students stayed in the accommodation arranged through the school (1 bedroom studio apartments in same apartment building) so we met up for dinner / coffee most nights during the week and went to the bars / on trips around Harbin on the weekend. The school arranged a few activities on the weekend while we were too there which was great. Ma Chao took us along to the old architecture area, and to a few markets and other places. We also went to the snow and ice festival which I would highly recommend. If you do end up going to Mandarin Workshop and want to go on trips anywhere in harbin / surrounding areas, just speak to Ma Chao and the other people at the school and they’ll be more than happy to go with you / help you out.

I also found the Chinese people in Harbin to be very friendly and it being quite easy to make chinese friends. I built up a good group of friends over the period, and also found it pretty easy to find language exchange partners. The school is about ~10mins on the bus away from HIT and the student area, and I went up there quite a bit to meet with chinese friends at the coffee shops / bars.

Other points

One of the main reasons I went to Harbin was for a more “immersive” experience. There are far less foreigners there than in Beijing, and a lot of chinese people there don’t / won’t speak to you in english. Over my period there I spoke far more Chinese than english, and if I had decided not to hang out with other westerners, it would be very much possible to operate completely in chinese while living there with not much distraction. I found the Mandarin on the most part very clear and standard. Of course there were cases where it was difficult to understand people, but this is going to happen anywhere.

 

All in all it was a great experience, and i'm happy with my choice. Again if anyone has any questions please don’t hesitate to ask!

[Vostochniye skazki]

Hello everyone!

 

I’m 33 from the UK and I was a full time student for 6 months from November 2014 until end of April 2015. The school has changed it’s name and website from 1 to 1 Mandarin Workshop to The Harbin Mandarin School.

 

I am a few months late writing up my study experience because I’ve started a new job in China and as you can imagine I’ve been super busy getting settled with that.

 

 

My Mandarin Background

I spent some time at university studying level one and two Mandarin in the UK and Ningbo. I always enjoyed it, however the group classroom method of learning did not suit me at all – I knew I would prefer and be better off having one-to-on study one day, as I wanted the teacher to myself and wanted to go at my own pace without getting left behind or holding up a group of others. That was a few years ago now so I basically started at the school as a beginner again. I knew some basic characters and didn’t need to spend time learning tones and pronunciation; I also knew how to write characters. So with my background I was able to start a textbook immediately and start reading and writing.

 

 

Why I came to Harbin in the winter

Originally I looked at Shanghai and Beijing, however as my friends pointed out – you’ll spend loads of time with other foreigners and you won’t learn anything, not to mention the cost was really high in these places. So then I explored Harbin because I really fancied the adventure of a cold winter and lots of snow and the Harbin residents speak really clear Chinese. I’ve lived in the Middle East before in super hot weather so I wanted to experience the opposite as the UK seldom has snow and minus temperatures. I’m so glad I came during the winter because it was magical. Yes the weather gets cold but it’s actually fun to dress up all-nice and cozy and see lovely white snow often; plus inside everywhere you visit they have full heating - its just fantastic! There are not many foreigners in Harbin which actually is an advantage because you really have a full-on language immersion experience.

 

 

Accommodation

The accommodation was a studio apartment with western bathroom. It had under floor heating which was really good. While outside the temperature was minus 20 something degrees, inside you’ll be so toasty and warm you’ll be wearing shorts and t-shirt or your PJ’s. I had a kitchen but never used it because I ate lunch at the school and always had food outside. The apartment was large and nice and located on the 13^th floor.  I was really happy with my room and I liked the fact it was a real apartment in a residential building and that the school was located just over the road.

 

 

My Class and Study focus

When I started I didn’t really have any idea of what I wanted to study or study towards – I just wanted to learn Chinese. Anyway, we decided on a textbook and the first few days we spend actually learning some survival Chinese and useful everyday stuff which allowed me to get out and about in Harbin. We loosely followed the text book lessons, and we added a lot of additional information to the lesson. The first week our lesson structure was one hour speaking, one hour listening, one hour reading and one hour writing.

 

After the first week I decided I wanted to work toward something different, so I decided to work towards HSK level 3, which is 600 characters.  My lessons for the following weeks and months involved learning the characters and making 2 or 3 sentences on my laptop (in characters) for each word. I found this really productive and great practice as the sentences also incorporated the various grammar structures. We also read the sentences out loud at various speeds which was great for my speaking and listening and the typing on laptop was good for my writing and character recognition.

 

Because of the new focus on HSK level 3 my lessons took a different structure. For the first two hours I would do sentence creation and grammar and then the  following two hours I would do the reading, listening and speaking. The time actually passes incredibly fast.

 

As I got to learn more vocabulary we introduced proper recordings and exam practice for the HSK level 3. The school provided me with some of the recordings and tests and I also purchased some books myself from the bookshop that they took me to. The school also made me some mini tests and challenging work sheets ever week which all focused around HSK vocabulary. This provided my class with some variety and fun.

 

 

My Class Times

Originally for a few weeks I had the 8am till 12 noon class and then had lunch afterwards. I later moved my class to the afternoon, as I wanted to go the gym in the morning before class.  I arrived for 12 noon and had lunch and then class started at 1pm till 5pm. They are really flexible with class times, I remember while I was there someone was even doing 10 till 12, then lunch and then 1 till 3.

 

 

Missed Classes

I got the flu for a week and went travelling for over two weeks with my mother so missed some class time that I paid for. This is not a problem as the school keeps your hours saved for you to use at a later date, or if you want as Skype classes after you leave. I remember some weeks I took a day off in the week because I wanted to do something, and the school let me have class at the weekend. I also remember that a few times I finished class an hour or two early without warning them, just because I felt tired and they still saved these hours to use later. They are totally flexible with changes of days and times so please don’t worry.

 

 

My Teachers

I originally started out with Ma Laoshi for all 4 hours, but after a few weeks I decided to have two hours with him and then two hours with Shi Laoshi. I really enjoyed the change in teachers and enjoyed getting to know them both through my class. The teachers know your strengths and weaknesses and are good at helping you overcome these. Ma Laoshi was excellent with my grammar challenges and Shi Laoshi was excellent helping me with my speaking and pronunciation, she was also good a pushing me that little bit harder.

 

 

School Lunch

Ayi who is the school owner cooks the lunch every day and it’s delicious. I remember reading all the reviews about the school lunch on this site and thinking all these people must be easily excited Hahaha. Anyway, I am a vegetarian and she catered to my diet really well and made the most delicious dishes.  It is true what you read – the school lunches are amazing!!!!!

 

 

They Take Really Good Care of You

Below are just a few examples of how they went above and beyond taking care of me during my 6 months:

·      My glasses broke and they took my to the opticians and helped me get a new pair.

·      I needed to extend my visa for a few days at the end and they took me to the public bureau and did everything for me.

·      My phone broke and they took me to buy a new one and get a Chinese sim.

·      They took me to the bookshop and helped me buy some new Chinese textbooks for HSK level 3.

·      I got offered a job in Guangzhou after study and they took me to the hospital to do the physical examination the new job required.

·      My laptop bag broke and Ayi repaired it for me.

·      When I was sick they gave me medication.

 

My Progress

My level of Chinese went from very basic to above HSK level 3 before I left. Before I left Harbin we had already started to introduce HSK level 4 vocab into my lessons. I was really impressed with my level of Mandarin and what I achieved in such a short time. Compared to my university group class experience in the UK and Ningbo – this one-to-one learning experience was really successful. I arrived in Harbin not being able to communicate with anyone and by the time I was leaving I could actually speak with the local people who always understood my accent without any trouble and always congratulated me on my Chinese. I was confident speaking to people and I could keep up with what they were saying and their speed of talk. I was really impressed with how well my listening improved as I find this the biggest challenge. I need to continue to build my vocabulary knowledge now so I can understand more, but I don’t have any problem listening to people speak at speed.

 

 

Other Students At The School

While I was at the school there were other students studying one-to-one and I used to see them at lunchtime everyday. There was Australian, American, German, Italian and another Briton. Also I met one of the students who lives and works in Harbin and has evening classes. Everyone was really nice and the ages of the other people there ranged from university age to older than me (33yo).

 

 

Life After my Harbin Experience

As I mentioned at the start, while in Harbin I managed to get a job in Guangzhou to start after my study and the school staff are still looking after me even now! I can’t thank them enough because I would not be here now having this new experience if it weren’t for all their help. When I rented an apartment here in GZ, they school staff vetted the sales agents and even checked the contracts for me to make sure I wasn’t being cheated. The school also took me for my health check in Harbin for my new job and they even checked my employment contract for me amongst other things.

 

 

Final Thoughts

I would highly recommend studding here because the environment is perfect for learning Chinese and you are forced to use it everyday. Also, the Harbin people are really nice and the school and accommodation location is perfect as you are located not far from the famous Zhong Yang Da Jie shopping street and can lovely walks along the Song Hua river which is all beautifully lit up in the evening with colorful lights and many people exercising and walking. The best thing about the school is that they focus on one-to-one classes only, which means they really have the time to care and get to know you and your strengths and weaknesses. The teachers are friendly, helpful and really care about your progression. Everyday Ayi will chat with you in Chinese, which is another way to practice what you have learnt.  The flexibility they offer you is also brilliant, I changed class times, I changed teachers, I took vacation and I used to finish early sometimes and it was never a problem for them and they always save your missed class hours for you. The other brilliant thing about Harbin is that everyone speaks really clear standard Mandarin and my listening skills improved so much, now I’m in Guangzhou and I find it a bit challenging to understand some people’s Chinese because of the local dialects.  The price is also good compared to Beijing and Shanghai and the cost of living is much lower.

 

I not only enjoyed the experience, I got value for money and most importantly saw my Mandarin improve beyond my expectations.  I am planning to return again to the school for one or two weeks at the end of the year for some intensive classes and to visit the ice and snow festival.

 

 

Oh finally, thank you to everyone who wrote reviews about this school because it was the reviews on this site, that played a major role in me making the decision to finally study here. 

 

Good luck learning Chinese everyone

[James3]

Vostochniye thanks so much for your write up. I've been planning on coming to Harbin to study Mandarin once my business gets to the point where it makes sense. I plan to study there at The Harbin Mandarin School. Say, I wonder if you could tell me, did you go to Harbin on a tourist visa? And if so, can you elaborate on how often you had to leave China, and then reenter? Also, if you have time, maybe you could say something about how easy/hard it was to get a work visa when you got a job...and if you had to leave China for that.

 

Oh, I found the new site here.

[Vostochniye skazki]

Hello James I totally forgot to mention the visa details, but let me share that with you now.

 

I got my visa from the Manchester Chinese visa office in the UK, I prefer to go there because you can park just a few footsteps outside (in China Town), and as they are so fast in there you are in and out in like 15 minutes.

 

I had a Student X Visa for six months BUT this visa is single entry only, which meant I was not able to leave China during my study and come back in. If I did leave, I would obviously have to have a new Chinese visa to get back in the country.

 

From what I understand, when you complete your application and take it to the Chinese visa office in your country, it’s totally down to their discretion what visa they issue you with. Obviously I had the official invitation letter from the school with my study start and end dates on as they require some form of ‘evidence’ for the purpose of your visit and stay in China. The woman at the counter actually checked through the application form before I left and she corrected my visa choice. I had originally picked the other student visa option for 12 months, but that is only for university students and requires a lot more official forms but is multiple entry.

 

From what I know talking with the other students at the school (one other UK student and two Australians) they were all on tourist visas and we all assumed that because they were studying a much shorter time than me, they were issued tourist visas which I think were single entry and only valid for 3 months.

 

The reason I had to extend my visa at the very end of my study was because way back before I even arrived in China, I booked my return flights to and from London, but I didn’t calculate the dates correctly which resulted in my return flight home being 2 days after my visa expired. So the school took me to register with the police and then we went to the public bureau to hand over the passport and police registration in order to get an extension. There was a limit, because I was on a 6 month student visa, the only option they could do there was extend my stay by an extra 10 days which was fine I my case. I think it cost about 150 kuai. The cost to change my flight with virgin was some stupid amount (I think because of bank holiday and being last minute) so to extend my visa was the best and cheapest solution.

 

In regards to my job and the visa for that, I went back to the UK because I wanted to go home anyway and I did my visa in Manchester again like I always have done.

 

So to round up my visa experience, you just need to complete the visa application form and submit it with required documents and obviously the school invitation letter. It’s then up to the Chinese visa office what visa they issue you with, they might fancy giving you a tourist visa or it might be the 6 months single entry student visa – it’s their call, however I do believe it depends more on the length of time you plan to be in China.

 

For some reason people seem to have a panic about the visa but it's so easy. If i doubt just select any old option on your application and when you hand it in the clerk will correct it anyway.

[JoshCN1991]

So I have just finished my time here at The Harbin Mandarin School. I spent 8 weeks here and I must say the city has really grown on me. This was my first time in Asia, and although I had done some prior studying, I really was unable to say anything beyond the basics when I arrived. The group of teachers at The Harbin Mandarin School has been amazingly supportive inside and outside the classroom. I feel that the 1 on 1 approach was very helpful to me. Especially because I was having problems with some of the basics, and I was able to spend long periods of time just perfecting each sound and tone. Even if I were in a group of 3, I would not have felt comfortable slowing down the group to go over these things, but 1 on 1 gave me the time to get these important things down.

 

I quite liked my apartment. Some people during my stay had some issues, but beyond some basic fashion quibbles, it was perfect for me. It was big enough to comfortably fit one person, and it had a desk, TV, sofa and basic amenities. At first I was disappointed with the lack of cooking utilities in the kitchen as it only had a microwave. But, after asking Ayi, the principal, she was able to loan me both a hot plate and a rice cooker which allowed me to cook some basic dishes. 

 

As someone who had no experience with China or Asia before this, having Ma Chao and the teachers was incredibly helpful. Whether it was help booking a train ticket, advice on restaurants, or taking me to the hospital for some dental work, the group here helped me settle into this city. On the topic of the city, I quite like it here. The apartment and school are located in a nicer and newer part of the city within close proximity to the riverside park, a nice place for a walk. Further I was here in August and September; the weather was fantastic, though now at the end of September I feel it is starting to get a bit colder. All in all I could see myself living here more long term as the people seem friendly and the city itself is an interesting place to explore. Further it feels like a very safe city, at no point did I ever feel in danger even at night coming back from a night out. It is a nice mix of being big enough to have everything you want without being so big that a lot of people can speak English.

 

If you are in a position that was similar to mine, looking to make as many gains in Mandarin as possible in a shorter time frame and nervous about transitioning to a life in China, this is a wonderful option. Harbin itself forces you to practice as there is little English. The school will let you work on the things you need to move forward with your language skills. And the teachers will help ease any of the transition pangs by explaining all the weird and wonderful things you can find in China. Ultimately, I would highly recommend this school, and plan on returning myself some time in the future.

[TheZooCoffeeCollective]

I studied earlier this year at the now renamed Harbin Mandarin School for 2 periods of 10 weeks each, with a break in between to travel around China. Much of what has been said above by other reviewers regarding the school I can completely agree with so I will not repeat it all here. I will try and add a few things that I would have found helpful when considering the school and also some things I would have found helpful when I first arrived. As a first point the school has a new website which launched when I was there so any links above may be outdated. Their new website is http://www.theharbinmandarinschool.com.cn


School
---------

The school is very flexible in how you approach your lessons. I started doing morning classes but then switched to afternoons and this was not a problem. I also started with 4 hours a day but personally found this too much after a few weeks. I switched to 3 hours a day and again this was not an issue. I also ate lunch sometimes at the school and sometimes away from school. I just let Ayi know in advance which days I would be eating. I also switched between Ma Laoshi and Shi Laoshi several times to keep things fresh. Obviously this depends on fitting in with other students but the school did their very best to accommodate my wishes which I thought was great.

Lesson Style
----------------

What I would suggest here is to have a good idea of how you want to be taught before arriving at the school. The school can follow different methodologies (I was mainly using an conversational input based approach) based on what you prefer and what suits you, but I think its best to have an idea up front so you can work with them to best plan your time at the school. If feeling frustrated its best to raise this with the teachers as soon as possible. Many times I struggled on longer than I should have when all that was needed was a bit of a change to freshen things up. Sometimes the teachers are not too proactive in checking how you are finding the lessons especially if you sit there like I did just nodding along

Harbin
--------

On certain websites there seems to be an image painted of Harbin being a somewhat rough town. After spending nearly 5 months living there I found this to be a very false view of the city. I found Harbin people to be very friendly, welcoming and hospitable. Harbin people I would describe as gregarious, they love to go out eat, drink and be merry but at no times did this ever have a bad side. Countless times eating at BBQ places and street food stalls I would have locals enquire about me buy me drinks and engage me in conversation. Most locals do not speak English which makes it a great place to practice Mandarin. Being a foreigner in Harbin is to some extent still a bit of a novelty so you will find locals genuinely curious to get you into conversation and find out more about you. This is unlike Beijing/Shanghai where you will see lots of foreigners and most of the locals seem indifferent towards you.

Nightlife
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I spent a bit of time investigating the various watering holes of Harbin and found the best selection of cafes and bars to be along Qiao Nan Jie which is about a 5-10 minute taxi ride from the school/apartments. Ma Laoshi can help you find it. As it is near HIT this is probably the only area in Harbin where you see larger groups of expats. I found it nice every now and then to have a drink down there especially if you are in Harbin for a few months and need a bit of home comfort. Nearby to the apartment there are also several good coffee shops (Zoo, Cozzee, Maple Leaf) that are nice both to relax in or study in. Again Ma Laoshi will always be able to show you if you ask.

Weather
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I arrived in Winter and left in Summer so I was lucky to experience a range of weather in the city. Being from London we don't have the very cold winters that you find in Harbin so I was slightly apprehensive before traveling however I found winter in Harbin to be a great time. Harbin is very well designed for the cold with everywhere having central heating. Both the school and the apartment have under floor heating which means at all times inside you felt very comfortable. The ice festival is great fun and there are amazing ice sculptures in the different parks around the city you can visit. I would suggest having a good pair of boots for walking round in, some good thermals, a decent pair of gloves and a warm hat and you will be fine. Harbin has a lot of very good value clothes malls so if you need anything it can be very cheap to buy there.

Summary
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I would recommend the Harbin Mandarin School if you are looking for a good value one to one experience in a place where you can really get immersed in the language. My langauge skills improved a lot in the time that I was in Harbin and I was very satisfied at the end of my time there. I would definitely return to the school again in the future if I get the chance.

Any questions add a reply in here and I'll back to you

[Zerg]

It's the best. Really good teachers, and Harbin itself is the perfect place to learn (very standard accent, and even-more-chatty-than-usual local people).

 

It's all very professional, and they take care of you when you need it. Plus, excellent food provided at the school

[roddy]

Suspicious number of 0-post members regularly turning up to upvote these reviews, by the way. Oh look, three of you joined up within 2 days of each other. 

[James W.]

Hi Roddy:  

 

I think I'm perhaps one of these members that is interested in these reviews, and I can guarantee that my responses aren't specious.  I just don't get around to visiting this site that often.  

 

I do spend my summers in Harbin, and really like it as a city; it's personally my favorite city in China.  I also study at the Harbin Mandarin School, and have been very pleased with their programs.   I am at a point now where I am conversing in Chinese, and I am extremely happy that I chose Harbin.  The accent is very standard, and you both learn the right pronunciation (the same one used on television and movies) and develop an ear for standard Mandarin.  I lived in Hong Kong for 12 years, and know for a fact that you don't want to learn Mandarin there.  South Chinese have very strong accents and a lot of strictly local words.  It's not a small problem, it is the difference between being conversant, and being frustrated.  

 

I suspect that other posters may be somewhat defensive about Harbin because it is so underrated.  I certainly think it is a place that should be on any Mandarin student's radar.

[abcdefg]

Suspicious number of 0-post members regularly turning up to upvote these reviews, by the way. Oh look, three of you joined up within 2 days of each other.

 

Nothing against Harbin or that school. Fine city and fine school. But it does get old seeing these one-time glowing posts back to back. I'm sure the teachers urge their satisfied students to submit them. Not doubting the truth of these testimonials, but they cease to be meaningful after a while.

 

Some of the teachers there have token memberships in the forum, but don't post their own content. They just come along to vote up the contributions of the happy "volunteer-posting" new graduates. Other students and alumni are also urged to join in and vote up new favorable posts. Every single post winds up with a gold "popular" star.

 

They are gaming the system. Using the forum as free advertising. Probably not against the letter of the law, but it rubs me the wrong way.

[James W.]

I'm inclined to be a bit forgiving.   These forums are really designed for Westerners to exchange information.  Chinese culture is naturally more reticent.  For Chinese speakers where English is not their first language, there is some insecurity about getting both the words and the sentiment wrong.  

 

I've attended the Harbin Mandarin School for several years now, living in Harbin in the summer.   In my experience, I think their pedagogy is substantially better and more flexible than other schools I have tried (I'd been to two in Beijing and one in Hong Kong).   I've told the school that they should be more active in forums, but I think there is some reticence.   That's probably why they ask students to be active on their behalf.     Schools run by Westerners tend to be much more active on English language social media, but may not have programs that are comparably good.  It's just a matter of comfort.

[Punkish]

Hi Everyone,

 

Sorry this reviews been a long time coming. I actually studied at the Harbin Mandarin School last year in October 2015. Sorry Ma Laoshi for not posting sooner, but I haven't had any time for myself in the last 5 months! A little introduction about myself:

 

- I am in my early 30's.

- A born and bred Londoner.

- My family background is of Gujarati Indian origin and they came to the UK in the 70's after living in East Africa.

- I studied at University College London (UCL) up to getting a PhD.

- I currently work as an automotive engineer (for a company i really should consider leaving ).

- About 10 years ago I studied Mandarin for 6 months at the National Taiwan Normal Uni in Taipei 

- My best friend is also Taiwanese (hence he influenced me to study at the Mandarin intensive training centre Shida where I did the group classes).

- At that time my requirements were different...I really did not worry about conserving my savings and enjoyed meeting anybody...foreigners or locals. In the end I made some lifelong friends (all foreigners not local Taiwanese) in that period. 

 

So on to the Harbin Mandarin School - firstly, before attending the school I thoroughly read through the forums to make up my mind. I researched many locations in China and always saw that Harbin was well regarded by posters. I think mostly there is not much more I can add to what previous reviewers have said. The Harbin Mandarin School was really quite good for my purposes and my background at the time.  

 

My key criteria for a school were:

 

- One to one teaching that is provided by reliable and well reviewed teachers so I can progress/review myself as fast as possible 

- Affordable and decent accommodation can be provided

- Mandarin spoken locally (spoken cleanly - I noticed my Shanghai office colleagues mumble a bit and were not as clear as Harbiners).

- Not too many foreigners locally

- Good value for money (bare in mind I live/work in one of the most expensive cities in the world so its relative!)

- I already had a lot of fun and boozing when I was in Taipei 10 years ago so my social requirements this time were less

- Friendly locals (with no or very limited racism)

- Supportive staff to help me with any problems

- Somewhere sunny (as I love sun)

 

So...Harbin and the Harbin Mandarin School met all my requirements except the last one - the climate/weather! As I was only staying for 3 weeks in October I compromised on this (the weather in this period was probably better than a London winter anyway!). I think I must mention what makes this school so special was Ma Laoshi and the rest of the team. Ma Laoshi was extremely responsive even before I had left the UK. For example, I was at the China Visa office in the UK just before their closing time and was given a new requirement by their staff. I whatsapp'ed the school mobile number and Ma Laoshi responded with the info required in minutes!

 

Also, I must say the school was extremely good in its flexibility. They are really happy to work their lesson times and content around you with no complaints if you want it this way.

 

So in summary, I would say I do not disagree with any previous reviews of this school. I gave you some information of my background to help you relate and see if you could have a similar perspective/experience. When I was younger I had a lot of fun in Taipei (I also got to a very good level with their structured course and my perseverance through hangovers). Now that I am older the Harbin Mandarin School was a very good flexible fit for me (serious practice in a short period - although by the end I realised sacrificing social aspects with foreigners would not be a long term solution for me!). For my future studies...well it looks like my company will send me to Shanghai for work and again my requirements will be different and more focused on the social side as I will be there for the long term. So, soon I will be in the market for a new school in Shanghai with group classes so I can meet people outside of work as well as study. Simultaneously the Harbin Mandarin School does Skype classes so once I am considering this as a good secondary option too!   

 

I hope this review helps! Post or PM me if you have any more detailed questions. I can probably help you compare the different cities/schools (Taipei, Shanghai, Harbin)!

[zander1]

Hey, I studied once again at the Harbin Mandarin school for two months this Autumn (you can see my earlier review above). Most things were pretty similar so I’ll try not to repeat myself too much, and you can look above for most things!

 

 

Accommodation: Same as before. Although just before I left, the school was in the process of moving to a new location a bit closer to Zhongyang Dajie so this information will be out dated now. I checked out the new location one day and it looks pretty cool, the school itself is located within a nice park-like complex with flowers, animals and greenhouses (it would be a nice place to run around) and I think accommodation will also be there. It’s within walking distance of Zhongyang Dajie and Wal-Mart. Has anyone been to the new school?

 

 

Classes: As before these were great, and my improvement was very noticeable. I studied with 马老师 and 石老师, who are both excellent teachers.

 

 

Staff: I will once again stress how friendly and helpful马老师 and Ayi are, the things they helped me with include (but not limited to): taking me to the train station to buy tickets, changing my lights in my apartment when I mentioned they weren’t bright enough, upon hearing that I was feeling lonely taking me to English corner at various universities across town to make local friends. I really can’t thank them enough.

 

 

This is not to say that my trip was completely perfect, I initially planned on staying in Harbin for 3 and a half months, but ending up leaving after two months. The main reason for this was loneliness; when I was last in Harbin there was a good group of 4-5 of us who were quite social and went out to eat regularly and organized a trip to Inner Mongolia among other things. For the majority of the time I was there, there was only one (!) other student and she was not particularly social and had zero interest in hanging out after class or going out for lunch or anything. Obviously this is her own prerogative, but essentially being alone for a long period of time can be quite trying in a reasonably boring city. Often I would go to class and see no one else for the rest of the day. As I mentioned above,马老师 noticed this and took me to various English corners around Harbin (in his own time I may add) to make friends, which was partly successful and I did find some local students to hang out with. In the end however I decided two months was long enough. Obviously this is nothing to do with the school per se, but it is important to keep in mind that this really is a tiny school, and this can come with its own challenges if you are, like me, quite young and looking for some social interaction.

 

 

Also, the saddest thing is that Ayi is no longer cooking school lunches due to health reasons at her age. I told her how much I missed her cooking and she made me a few meals (for free) for old time’s sake every now and again which was super sweet of her. I do think this problem does link to the solitude I mentioned above, without a communal lunch at the school for the students it can often seem like you are at a private Mandarin tuition camp!

 

 

Overall however, I was once again very satisfied with my experience, though if I were to go again I think I would go in Summer when there are more students.

[LinZhenPu]

Hi, I was studying there too. We probably saw each other.

I've been in the new school. It's in a very schwanky upmarket apartment/business office complex.

I've got to agree on you on the point of how good they are to their students.

The new school has more classrooms than before so not only are they moving but they are also expanding.

[zander1]

Has anyone been at the school recently? Would be curious to know how the new location and accomodation is working out!

 

[LinZhenPu]

I can tell you that their new school is very nice and they've had no trouble setting up apartments for new students.

[westland]

I wanted to make a quick post to provide some updated information about The Harbin Mandarin School (and previously the 1 to 1 Mandarin Workshop) which has recently moved to a new Chinese domain with URL http://www.theharbinmandarinschool.com.cn/  (their previous domain ended in .com not .com.cn).   I've been helping Ma Chao at the Harbin Mandarin School, where I've been studying for the past 5 years, with issues related to their website.  I have been extremely pleased with their instruction and flexibility, and want to convey this migration of domain to others who may be planning to study in the Northeast.     Imron has helped me to consolidate threads for 1-to1 Mandarin Workshop and for the Harbin Mandarin School into the current thread. Any questions about the school can be directed to machao07@yahoo.com or chao.ericma@gmail.com or telephone 136-5455-4126.   You can also contact them through their new website is http://www.theharbinmandarinschool.com.cn where you may find detailed program and accomodation information.   

[Mannng]

In acknowledgement of Roddy's observation above about "one time users posting glowing reviews", I thought I'd make the comment that I joined this forum specifically  because I was searching for info on studying in Harbin, and Google led me to this forum thread. (And this is my first ever post).

I have not studied at this school (or any school in China), but the Harbin School is on my shortlist of candidates for a month of study in May 2019.

As for me, I am Australian and I am self-taught, and am currently learning the HSK3 vocabulary. My reading is quite good, and my oral is horrifically bad. 

[hanekawa100]

Hi everyone！I’m currently a student at The Harbin Mandarin School, so this review will be will be updated once I finish my program. I have been studying in Harbin for two months and have seen drastic improvements in my Mandarin! While I had formal classes as an undergraduate (with 20-30 other students), I realized after coming to China that I could barely hold a conversation. The words, phrases, and dialogues I learned from textbooks were largely not practical nor did they really help me in navigating daily life. I would say I have learned more in two months at the Harbin Mandarin School than I did studying for a year back home. I believe this is because the Harbin Mandarin School focuses on speaking/conversation and making sure that your Mandarin mirrors native speakers rather than being just “good enough” as a foreigner.

 

With that being said, onto the details!

 

I was picked up at the train station by Ma Laoshi and given a tour of the are where I‘m staying. I felt very welcomed and when I run into various small troubles, Ayi and Ma Laoshi never hesitate to help me. For instance, a previous student left some winter gear here and when it turned out the quality of mine wasn’t great, they let me borrow theirs. When I felt homesick after not being able to talk to my family often (due to time differences/work schedules), they had no problem letting me change my classes to the afternoon so that I could have some time in the morning to speak with family/friends. When my laptop died during the Chinese New Year, Ma Laoshi called computer stores on my behalf to see if any were open and even went with me to buy a replacement. When I have questions about the surrounding area, they’re always happy to help me find what I’m looking for or offer suggestions! Ma Laoshi and I even sometimes go to museums, the library, or other interesting areas. They really care for their students and want to help them enjoy their time in Harbin! Having a supportive school environment was very important to me, as I don’t have experience living abroad on my own.

 

My classes are five days a week for four hours. As I figure out my learning style , Ma Laoshi and I have been altering my study plan slightly. While at first, I started with just having a conversation for four hours and writing down new words to study, our conversations are now being focused onto specific topics, as I want to keep increasing my vocabulary pool and be able to talk about topics more in-depth. I also now write practice sentences and paragraphs to study and we review them during class. I’ve found conversation works best for me, as the things I want to talk about often aren’t in a lot of the early/practical textbooks, (such as talking about my research). I recommend taking time to think about your learning style, as the teachers here will come up with a plan that suits your needs and style if you talk with them. I know some other students brought textbooks with them and designed a plan of study around the materials. The school is very flexible and will guide you in finding a study plan that works for your goals.

 

Being the only student in a classroom can be tiring, but I’m not sure I would have improved to this extent in a large classroom setting. The other day I looked at my notes from day one and I couldn’t believe that they were my notes, as most of the words I now use in daily conversation without a second thought. As for Harbin and my accommodation, I’m having a great time! I think Harbin has a lot to offer throughout the entire year and my apartment/the complex I’m in is nicer than most I’ve lived in.  There are gardens, birds, a swimming area, and small streams throughout the complex. I heard there will even be swans and an area with peacocks once the weather warms up a bit more! I feel very safe (there are 24 hour security guards at all four of the gated entryways) and the school is centrally located to many fun things! I often chat with locals (especially if I frequent somewhere a few times) and sometimes my neighbors, who have all been very helpful and welcoming. I worried about not being able to find vegetarian food, but there’s quite a few amazing vegetarian restaurants here and close by. I’ll miss the food here when I have to leave.

 

I’m surprised not many students seem to come during the winter. The Ice and Snow Festival and the activities taking place all over the city were a lot of fun! This is coming from someone who had never seen snow prior to this trip and is a wimp when it comes to cold weather. I feel like Harbin really comes alive in a completely different way during the winter months and embraces the weather. Now that spring is arriving, I’m actually sad to see winter leave and the ice festival come to a close.

 

With that being said, most of my friends I’ve made that are foreigners are not students at the school. Ma Laoshi introduced me to a previous student and that student has introduced me to many other foreigners living in Harbin. It seems the school gets most of their students during the summer months, however, there have been other students coming and going over the past two months that I spent some time with. If I don’t go out of my way to find other foreigners, I often almost never see any during my day to day life and most Harbin people I have met do not speak any English. For immersion and language learning, this has been amazing, but it can definitely be a hard adjustment at first. If you’re hoping to have a large social circle of fellow students, I would recommend coming during the summer months. I can say, however, that Harbin does has a foreign community that’s easy to find if you’re feeling homesick/want to make friends to explore with.

 

Overall, after two months I would highly recommend The Harbin Mandarin School！If you have any reservations about a winter study here, I would say just go for it! I was worried, but I have no regrets about my decision and hope to visit Harbin in the winter again someday. Also, thanks also to previous reviewers, as it was the reviews on this forum that led me to study here.

[Shshk56]

Hi everyone!

My background: I have experience studying Mandarin Chinese at an European university, as a short summer course and as a year long course at Chinese universities and here in Harbin (in this chronological order). Initially, I took a three week long course at the Harbin Mandarin School in the summer of 2017. When I arrived in Harbin, my Chinese was perhaps on the HSK 4 /5 level - but very rusty, since I have not been using it for a while.

How did I decide in the Mandarin Chinese School?  Previously, I had the chance to attend one-on-one classes for another language I am learning, so encouraged by this experience, I was looking for the same in Mandarin. I wanted to work on my pronunciation and spoken language, as that’s what I felt most insecure about. Also, I wanted to focus on advanced vocabulary that’s useful in my professional field, as opposed to somewhat boring textbook stories. I knew I couldn't take reading them again.

Location-wise, I wanted to come to the North and avoid the biggest and more expensive cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai. Not that Harbin is a small city, especially by European standards! I have always heard that Harbin is a good place to learn Chinese due to the standard accent, so it was a pretty easy choice. 

 

When booking the class online, I was very happy with Ma Laoshi’s quick and professional responses in English. I felt like I am getting all the information I need and the school application, payment and visa application went very smoothly. There has been no surprises or “hidden costs”, which I appreciate a lot. The staff is very friendly and supportive.

Although I spent a lot of time abroad, I still get a little anxious when planning a trip to another continent, so I must say I wish every school had this kind of professional “customer service.” 

 

Coming to Harbin, I was picked up at the airport and brought to the apartment in a modern housing complex in the city center, practically at the river bank. I still remember how excited I was with the window view of skyscrapers and the river. The studio was comfortable, spacious and well-equipped (even with a rice cooker!!). Location-wise, the school is in a walking distance from the Central Street, and just a 10 minutes cab ride from the main train station. It is also well-connected when it comes to the public transportation and the bus fare is only 1-2 RMB. Nevertheless, there’s a couple of shopping malls in a walking distance, and if you head west, it’s very close to the old Daowai area. Other then that there’s plenty of shops and restaurants (including an amazing vegetarian one) around the school complex. Overall, it is a great location if you want to explore Harbin, both the historical and modern parts. The other foreigners you see in this area is probably other students at the school, so it's definitely an immersion into a Chinese-speaking environment. 

 

Regarding the course: after a short evaluation we decided to follow HSK 5 as a general guideline and focus on my conversation skills. I had classes with two different teachers, both of whom were knowledgeable and, obviously, qualified to teach foreigners. To me, the biggest advantage of individual classes is that the teacher can focus 100% on your personal weak points and adjust the program. For example, we put a lot of work into my pronunciation and tones. Within three weeks of an intensive class and constant conversations with my teachers my skills improved and I became more confident when speaking, so I felt that I achieved my goal.

 

--

 

However, my story doesn’t end here. It happened so that I came back to Harbin in 2018, although for different purposes. I still wanted to improve my Chinese so I started an individual class again. At the time my main goal was to improve both my conversation skills and advanced reading: basically everything which would make my stay in China easier. Again, Ma Laoshi was very flexible and we could always work on whatever I felt was needed. You are free to design your own curriculum and bring materials that you are interested in. Also, Since Ma Laoshi and Ayi are Harbin natives, I think that these classes helped me to learn more about Harbin and the Chinese Northeast culture.

One thing to note: Ma Laoshi knows a lot about the city and is always willing to organize trips around Harbin, but with a smaller pool of students you might want to find friends outside of the school. But: I’ve found out that a) Harbin residents speak with a pretty clear accent so you can easily talk to people (and people like to talk so it's nice) b) there’s a small international community as well. If you want to know more about the nightlife, feel free to pm me. 

 

I absolutely think that attending the Harbin Mandarin School has been a good investment, both when it comes to my time and money. I have not tried the Skype classes yet but I probably will at some point. To sum up, the school is perfect if you value professionalism, an individual approach to the student, and are serious about your goals. Let’s just say that I have been recommending this school to my friends because I am confident it is a good choice.

 

PS: I’ve seen that previous posts mentioned the famous Harbin winter. It might seem scary, but I’d say it’s an interesting experience to have. Nothing like having some hot pot or warm DongBei dishes after you’ve been out for hours!