April offers private and group Mandarin lessons to non-Chinese speakers in Hong Kong. Under her instruction, students enjoy well targeted and best designed Mandarin classes and they improve quickly through interactive drills. The entire self-contained curriculum transforms the students from total beginners into fluent Mandarin speakers with substantial cultural knowledge.
What is MSL Master's Approach?
MSL Master stands for Mandarin as a Second Language Master. There are three key words: “Mandarin”, “second”, and “master”.
The first word is “Mandarin”. That is what our lessons are about, Mandarin Chinese or Putonghua, which most people speak in China, Taiwan, Singapore and many other regions in the world, usually with their distinctive accents.
The second word is “second”, which means our lessons are for people who learn Mandarin as a second language, who are young adults or adults. We don’t teach toddlers or very young children, whose first language is not yet in place. In the place of the word “second”, there are two alternatives: Mandarin as a “Foreign” Language, and Mandarin as an “International” Language. The word “foreign” indicates a divide between the self and the other, implying constant conflicts and never-ending struggles. Hence we scrapped this word. As for “international”, comparing with English, Mandarin has not gained this status yet. We certainly hope it will be.
The third word is “master”. It is our mission statement. Firstly, we help our students to master, to grasp, and to conquer. It is a process of mastering Mandarin as a language. It implies to overcome difficulties, and to make effort to achieve. Secondly, we want our students to become a master, a teacher and an expert of Mandarin as a culture. It is the ultimate achievement of learning, the end result of an arduous and demanding journey. It is to finally get to the sublimed status, to know.
How We Boost Students' Confidence
Learning
Increase students' knowledge retention, and obtain outstanding Chinese language skills
Assessment
Promote qualitative, portfolio-based assessment, and encourage fresh ideas
Team Player
Provide opportunities for team work through built-in exercises and class activities
Champion
Focus on communication and develop independent and critical thinking skills
April Zhang and Her Students
Mandarin Courses at MSL Master
Intensive Mandarin Program
An integrated beginner’s Mandarin program for non-Chinese speakers. This program helps students get started quickly on listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Mandarin Express Intro Level A
A beginner’s Mandarin course for non-Chinese speakers. Starting from pinyin, this course helps students build up conversational abilities quickly.
Mandarin Express Intro Level B
A higher beginner’s Mandarin course. Students learn essential words and important structures and improve their conversational abilities.
Mandarin Express Basic Level A
This Mandarin course improves students’ conversational abilities around ten popular topics, and helps them develop overall Chinese comprehension.
Mandarin Express Basic Level B
This course helps students speak Mandarin with confidence, and improves their language skills with many class activities and sufficient listening exercises.
Mandarin Express Pre-Intermediate Level A
This high level course improves students' Mandarin proficiency in both spoken and written communications, a huge step towards Chinese proficiency.
Mandarin Express Pre-Intermediate Level B
This is a higher level Mandarin course, addressing more controversial issues. Students’s contribution and ideas are at the heart of class activities.
Mandarin Express Intermediate Level A
An advanced Mandarin course. Students practice reading long Chinese texts, giving mini lectures, and watching authentic Chinese video clips.
Mandarin Express Intermediate Level B
A super advanced Mandarin course. Students study famous Chinese texts ranging from 2100 BCE to 1950s CE, and gain insights into Chinese language and culture.
Chinese Reading and Writing 1
A beginner’s Chinese writing course for non-Chinese speakers. This course teaches how to read and write Chinese texts with 70 characters.
Chinese Reading and Writing 2
The second Chinese writing course. It teaches non-Chinese speaking students how to read and write Chinese texts with 120 characters.
Chinese Reading and Writing 3
The third Chinese writing course. Students practice reading and writing longer and more expressive Chinese texts with 170 characters.
Private Lessons
Group Classes
Coming Group Classes
Chinese Reading and Writing 1
This is a beginner’s Chinese writing course for non-Chinese speakers, who have the knowledge of pinyin. From strokes to Characters, this course takes students into the door of Chinese reading and writing. They will understand what the Chinese writing system is, know how to pick out words in sentences, and be able to use 70 Chinese characters to write simple Chinese texts.
Go to the course structure for more information.
Class details:
- Ten classes at 90 minutes per class
- Mondays and Thursdays, 2:00PM - 3:30PM
- HKD3,750 per person, including course materials
- Starting on Aug 26, 2019
- Register before Aug 16, 2019
