Part Time 1-on-1 Classes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you teach during lunch time?

Yes, of course we can. There are no surcharges for taking classes at any particular time of day – mornings, evenings, weekends, lunchtimes. Your tutor can also travel to your office during your lunch break. Please note though that the minimum duration of a class is 1.5 hours. If you want to book classes shorter than that, please have a look at the LTL Super Flexible Chinese program.

Where is LTL Mandarin School located in Shanghai?

Located right in the Former French Concession, LTL is about 250 metres from Yongkang Lu and a two minute walk from Shaanxi South Road Subway Station (Lines 1, 2 and 12). Shaanxi South Street subway station is two subway stops away from both People’s Square and Jingan Temple. The area is full of bars, restaurants and shops.

Our full address in English is: Shanghai, Xuhui District, Xiangyang South Rd. Modern Mansion, Tower A, Unit 910   Phone: +86 (0)21 33680866. If you take a taxi, tell the driver to go to Xiangyang Nan Lu and Fuxing Zhong Lu (襄阳南路 / 复兴中路). The school is located right at the intersection of the two roads.

In Chinese the address is:上海市徐汇区襄阳南路218号现代大厦A座910室.

Can I change teachers?

As we spend a lot of time preparing a course, choosing the right Chinese teacher and creating a personal study plan for each student is key. It is very rare in our experience that a student wants to change teachers after starting the program. Should you however feel you need to change to another Mandarin teacher, this is of course possible at any point and we will do this free of charge.

Do I need a regular study schedule?

Firstly, sticking to a regular schedule is not only good for maintaining the self-discipline needed to learn a language quickly, but also ensures that students can get into a “study rhythm” – which in our experience is essential if you want to make real progress in the language.

Moreover, LTL teachers are professionals who do not just teach for fun, but made a choice to teach Mandarin as a career. This is great in terms of getting a teacher that’s reliable, motivated and experienced. However, like any professional, our teachers need and deserve a reliable work schedule and an income that actually allows them to live, rent and eat in Shanghai. So to make sure that a teacher can reserve his or her time for you when you want to study, a regular study schedule is needed.

Saying that, we do offer very flexible terms for this schedule. You can request to change this schedule – subject to availability within at least two weeks, but often much faster – and students can move or cancel up to 30% of their scheduled classes without having to pay for any of them, as long as they notify us at least six hours in advance during working times (9am to 6pm).

How many classes per week do you recommend?

In general Mandarin Chinese is more of a “sprint” than a “marathon” language, because it is very easy to forget words unless you hear/use/review them again quite soon after you learned them. That means it is usually much more effective to study more intensively for a shorter period than sporadically for a longer period. It is of course up to the student to decide on this and our Chinese school can offer any schedule a student wants.

However, according to our experience, for any kind of real progress a student usually needs at least two sessions per week at two hours each session. Anyone who wants to make really quick progress towards fluency should consider at least eight hours of class per week. If there is a risk that you’ll be out of Shanghai sometimes on business trips or holidays, then it might be necessary to schedule even more classes to at least maintain that average.

What often works well in our experience is planning intensive study periods for a limited length of time. Many of our students spend a few months studying intensively to reach the Mandarin level they need, and afterwards start to focus again on other areas of their life – stopping or strongly reducing classroom hours. Doing an intensive Complete Immersion program in a smaller Chinese city for a week can also be a very effective way to get your Chinese ahead.

How long does a class have to be?

As it takes a bit of time to get into the “Chinese learning mode” we recommend that classes during the week last at least two hours, and at least three to four hours at the weekend. However it is also possible to book classes for as short as 1.5 hours. If you want to book a lesson that is even shorter than that, please have a look at the LTL Super Flexible Chinese program.

How can I pay?

It is possible to pay LTL in cash at our Shanghai school, via local or international bank transfers, WeChat Pay or Alipay.

How long will my Chinese classes in Shanghai be valid for?

If you purchase up to 100 individual Chinese classes your classes are valid for a full two years from the date the invoice was issued. If you purchase more than 100 hours of individual classes in one go they will be valid forever and never expire.