RTM Membership - RTM Sprints
“The biggest challenge people have in speaking Mandarin is nothing to do with their ‘level’—It’s about confidence.”
RTM Sprints are a 3-month immersive group coaching program designed to help you improve your spoken Chinese through weekly discussions in Mandarin.
It’s a shorter version of our premium membership, RTM Pro—the same proven structure and methodology, but without the year-long commitment.
If you join, within just three months you will…
Access engaging current affairs-based content to get you motivated again
Gain confidence to speak even if you feel rusty, and out of practice
Get up-to-date with what people in China are really talking about right now
Move beyond “textbook language” and learn how to use real authentic language
Be inspired by a private community of learners just like you
How it will happen…
Sprints are designed to help you build routine, and confidence by gently pushing you through:
- Weekly “Mandarin only” Zoom discussions
You’ll join a one-hour private group call every Saturday (or Friday depending on the timezone).
These are guided discussions in Chinese (not a lesson) moderated by native speakers.
Discussions are about the RTM “topic of the week”, based on three discussion questions.
You’ll get feedback and support as you practice new words and phrases in a private, encouraging setting.
Calls are not recorded.
- Structured learning “Flipped Classroom” framework designed for maximum progress
Every Wednesday, you’ll receive a pre-reading email with everything you need for the next session.
It includes newsletter and podcast episodes for different levels, and three discussion topics.
You can choose content at your level—intermediate, advanced, or native—and prepare your responses before the meeting.
You do the learning first, so you get to apply it and ask questions during group calls—in a “flipped classroom” approach.
- Private community of dedicated learners keeping you accountable and motivated
Connect with a community of dedicated Mandarin learners who share your passion, and can relate to your learning challenges.
Each session is an interactive discussion with group members on the call, as well as moderators.
If more than five people join, breakout rooms ensure everyone gets ample speaking time.
- Three months of 1:1 support
When you join you get a 1:1 onboarding call to help you understand how to use the content based on your needs and level.
After one month there’s an optional 1:1 check-in call too so you can get more feedback and guidance on how to fine-tune your learning approach.
Throughout you’ll get ongoing email support, and we can even jump on quick support calls if necessary—especially ahead of your first group session to make sure you are fully prepared!
“Andrew and his team are very committed to provide a structured and high quality discussion, and their enthusiasm has given me a new weekly purpose.”
Who RTM Sprints are for
This program isn’t for everyone.
It’s for you if:
✅ You describe your Mandarin as “intermediate”, “advanced but rusty”, “fluent but with gaps”
✅ You have been learning Chinese for at least five years, and are ready to take it to the next level
✅ You are highly motivated to invest in putting in the work to improve your spoken Chinese, but need some structure and inspiration to help you get there.
It’s not for you if you’re just starting out, are not yet at intermediate level, or don’t have the time to commit to weekly live sessions.
Why RTM Sprints — and why now?
RTM Sprints are a proven way to accelerate your learning, boost your spoken Chinese, and build real confidence in conversation.
Each week you’ll immerse yourself in real Chinese news, with the support, structure, and methodology you need to practise, apply, and retain what you learn.
This isn’t a class, an app, or a self-paced course.
RTM Sprints are intensive, guided discussions in Mandarin designed to push your speaking skills in a practical and dynamic way.
Whether you’re preparing for a trip to China, using Mandarin at work, or simply want more structure and accountability in your study, RTM Sprints help you stay consistent and make real progress.
Why join now?
Fits your schedule: Bite-sized learning over several days, or one focused block. Flexible, but structured.
Complements what you’re already doing: Include the content in your 1:1 lessons, or apps, for real-world context and conversation-ready vocab.
Reinforces learning: Our ‘flipped classroom’ format lets you study at your own pace, then lock it in through discussion.
There’s no better way to stay motivated, consistent, and on track to real-world fluency.
“The weekly calls and their structure provide just enough accountability for me to engage with the newsletter in a way that fits into my lifestyle as a working mom.”
How to join
RTM Pro Sprints start at the beginning of each quarter.
The next Sprint starts on Saturday July 5, 2025.
The deadline to join is Friday 27 June.
The investment required to join is $250 (including all sessions for three months, 1:1 onboarding call, and all RTM content)
A maximum of 5 members are invited to join each Sprint.
Qualified applicants will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis so the sooner you apply, the better your chances of getting in.
All applications will be reviewed and I’ll follow up with you by June 30th.
Thanks for your interest and let me know if you have any questions.
“I look forward each week to reading newsletter, listening to podcasts, and speaking with fellow RTM Pro friends. RTM Pro provides a full immersive experience. Highly recommended.”
What members are saying
Here’s what RTM Conversation Pro members are saying about their experience so far:
“I am impressed by your enthusiasm and dedication for the newsletter and now the Conversation Pro. I feel you are pulling out all the stops, which has given me a renewed momentum and inspiration.”
“I enjoyed the sessions very much. Even if I don't understand some of what others were saying, this only motivates me to try harder to improve. I have no idea when the time had passed. The classes are very engaging, the questions + breakout rooms approach makes it very dynamic. Love it!!!”
“I look forward each week to reading newsletter, listening to podcasts, and speaking with fellow RTM Pro friends. RTM Pro provides a full immersive experience. Highly recommended.”
“The conversation group is inspirational, and it’s made me do a lot more targeted reading. Andrew and his team are very committed to provide a structured and high quality discussion, and their enthusiasm has given me a new weekly purpose.”
“For me, dedicating time for preparation and actively participating in the conversation has consolidated my use and understanding of the weekly themes and new vocabulary.”
“This program is ideal for learners who strive to improve their knowledge of current affairs and ‘living’ language in China and build a consistent reading habit.”
“I was concerned at first that I wouldn't have time to prepare enough to make it worthwhile, but I find myself prioritizing listening to the article and studying the vocabulary”
“I passed HSK-6 many years ago, and with that vocabulary plus the vocabulary I commonly use for work, and was stuck there. Real Time Mandarin's methods including listening, focused, current vocabulary, and speaking have helped me break through. I think Real Time Mandarin has really found the next frontier in learning Chinese.”
“As an intermediate Chinese learner, Chinese Pro motivates me to consistently read engaging articles. When I first signed up, I doubted my ability to converse fluently in a group. However, through the kind and patient moderators, pleasant discussions, and thought-provoking questions, time flies by.”
“You've been learning Chinese for a while, you've achieved a fairly decent proficiency level - now what? You're probably sick of Dawei's adventures and want to go beyond a textbook and talk about real life. These sessions are just what you need! We discuss topics that are hot in China TODAY (not the 1990s), the sessions are engaging and fun, and we learn additional vocab / use cases beyond what we read in the newsletter.”
“Life is way too busy and my Chinese language skills deteriorate as a result. The clear, topical weekly lessons make learning feasible and fun. The Zoom meet ups then provide a space to discuss the weekly topic in a lively, supportive atmosphere.”
“Joining RTM Conversation Pro has increased my consistency and motivation in learning and speaking Mandarin. Initially, I was uncertain about paying for another language learning resource that I might end up not using. However, the weekly calls and their structure provide just enough accountability for me to engage with the newsletter in a way that fits into my lifestyle as a working mom.”
“It's fun to learn with others in a relaxed setting while getting feedback on usage of new terms from native speakers. This program would suit intermediate to advanced learners who would like to practice speaking skills and to stay motivated to continuing learning Mandarin.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How much does the RTM Sprint cost?
The RTM Sprint costs:
$250 for one three month Sprint (including all content, live sessions, and support)
$200 if you are already a member of RTM Plus (self-paced program and content only)
If you can commit to the full year, the annual subscription is $600 for a 12 month Sprint.
Q: I’m worried my Chinese isn’t good enough. Should I join?
Yes you should try it out!
There’s a real mix of people who describe themselves as ‘advanced’ and ‘intermediate’. And there are lots of descriptions involving the word “but...” 🤩.
My advice is to get stuck in and try it out. The purpose is to create opportunities to speak and engage with other participants, and enable a deeper engagement with the newsletter content.
If it really doesn't work for you, you'll get a full refund. So there is no risk for you.
Q: What is the format of the live sessions?
RTM Pro offers immersive weekly discussions led by native speakers, held on Zoom, based on the RTM content.
You’ll join a private community of motivated Mandarin learners like you—a supportive network to keep you engaged, inspired, and accountable.
Pro sessions follow a clear structure and process every week to help you prepare, and make progress.
Three days before each session: you’ll receive an email with everything you need to prepare:
RTM content to study in advance
Three discussion questions designed to expand on the topic and encourage personal input
Log-in details
15 minutes before each session: you’ll get an email reminder, with all the details and content again so you have it to hand.
During the session: two native Chinese moderators guide the conversation, dedicating about 15 minutes to each discussion question—giving you time to express your views, practice, and engage with each other. If there are more than five Pro members on the call, you’ll be split into break-out rooms for discussions on each question, so everyone gets plenty of time to speak.
After the session one of the moderators will share additional vocab and recommended resources discussed on the call in the RTM Pro Substack Chat, so you can learn and consolidate what you’ve discussed.
Q: I am based in Pacific Standard Time, do you cater for this and other timezones?
All RTM Pro sessions are currently held on Saturdays. This is to avoid clashes with busy working schedules.
We have members around the world, so it’s impossible to cover all timezones with one fixed time. To give all members an equal opportunity to join, we rotate sessions across three time slots:
Session 1: Saturday 6pm UK time:
🇺🇸 PST: 10am, MST: 11am, CST: 12pm, EST: 1pm
🇪🇺 7pm CEST
🇨🇳 1am CST (Sunday)
🇦🇺 3am AEST (Sunday)
🇳🇿 5am NZST (Sunday)
Session 2: Saturday 2am UK time:
🇺🇸 PST: 6pm, MST: 7pm, CST: 8pm, EST: 9pm (Friday evening)
🇪🇺 3am CEST
🇨🇳 9am CST
🇦🇺 11am AEST
🇳🇿 1pm NZST
Session 3: Saturday 10am UK time:
🇪🇺 11am CEST
🇨🇳 5pm CST
🇦🇺 7pm AEST
🇳🇿 9pm NZST
🇺🇸 PST: 2am, MST: 3am, CST: 4am, EST: 5am (In Session 3 weeks, there is a separate “US Pro Club” hosted by one members at 9am PST)
So every month you should get at least three sessions which you can join at reasonably sociable times.
Q: What if I can’t join the live sessions?
Because we have participants in every timezone, we rotate times.
This ensures you will be able to join at least three Pro sessions per month (which are at sociable times).
Current members of RTM Pro say they aim to attend at least two sessions each month as life can get busy at times.
Q: I’m worried I won’t have time to prepare - what support do you offer?
We know you’re busy so we offer a clear structure for communications before and after sessions.
This is how it works:
Pre-communications
On the Wednesday before each Saturday session you get a reminder email with the three discussion questions, the Zoom link (again), and links to the content we’ll be discussing.
15 minutes before each Saturday session you’ll get a short reminder email with the Zoom link, questions, and content links.
Post-communications
After each session, you get a follow-on email with the additional words and phrases we discussed in the session (normally between 10 and 20 extra words), and the link, content, details for the next session
We recommend you spend 30 minutes to one hour to prepare for each session. But everyone is busy, so in weeks when you haven’t had time to prepare, we still recommend you join and do your best!
Q: I am concerned about confidentiality. Do you record calls?
No, we do not record calls, or share information of anyone who is included in the Pro membership (You will see we don’t even include names of people who provide testimonials).
It’s a discrete group of committed China watchers and Mandarin enthusiasts who have a wide range of opinions about and experiences in China.
We respect all opinions (as long as they are delivered in a respectful way), and operate under Chatham House Rules so nothing discussed on the calls goes any further.
Q: I already pay for Chinese lessons. Why should I invest in another resource?
RTM Pro sessions are not “lessons”.
They are conversations in Chinese guided by a native speaker, creating a space to speak freely, try out the language you have learned, and ask questions about the words and phrases, the wider topic, as well as connect with other members of the community.
This format is more free-flowing and varied than a typical language lesson.
It’s not for everyone, which is why we offer a one-month trial period.
Our experience tells us this format is a great supplement to varied study program.