Your questions answered: Interactive Mandarin for Beginners
And a few things worth knowing before enrolment closes Saturday
Hello!
Over the last few days I’ve had a lot of questions about Interactive Mandarin for Beginners.
So here are answers to the most common questions which have come up, in case you’ve been thinking about joining.
1. “I’m travelling — do I have to show up for live sessions at a specific time?”
No.
The interactive element is fully asynchronous, there are no fixed live sessions you have to attend.
So you do the work in your own time, submit your audio and writing exercises when it suits you, and get direct feedback from me and my native speaker team.
I’ll also be doing regular video broadcasts inside the community site giving feedback on common challenges which come up every week.
These are recorded, so you won’t miss anything wherever you are in the world.
2. “I used to be at a higher level but I’m very rusty. Is this right for me?”
Yes!
Many of students from the last cohort were in exactly this situation. Previously at a higher level (HSK5/6) years ago, but out of practice and lacking structure and motivation to get back into it.
They found the course gave them exactly what they needed: structured content, a community, and direct support to get moving again. And because they had the foundations already, they picked things up quickly.
“I came into the program lacking confidence in my ability to speak it and read. With Andrew and the other participants, not only did my Putonghua improve, but I also gained real inner confidence. I finally let go of the false idea that my Mandarin was disjointed. For that, thank you to Andrew and all the participants. If you’re considering joining, go for it, you’ll see progress quickly.”
— Andy Kwok, French Institute of Geopolitics
3. “What’s the VIP option?”
The VIP option is a personalised service built around the same content, structure, and community with fully tailored 1:1 support, which includes:
A personalised study plan based on your level and goals
3 x 1:1 coaching calls with me to agree your plan and make sure you stick to it
12 weekly 1:1 language coaching sessions with one of my native speaker language coaches
Daily audio message support for Q&A and corrections from a native speaker
The VIP is there to give you maximum personalised support to accelerate towards a specific learning goal within 12 weeks.
It’s an investment of $1,997.
The standard program of Interactive Mandarin for Beginners is self-paced: You’ll get 12 weeks of fully interactive news-based content, join a community of learners like you, get access to the Mandarin Foundations modules, and get direct feedback on your speaking and writing from me and my native speaker team throughout.
This is an investment of $497.
4. “How is this different from apps and textbooks?”
Apps teach you Chinese with streaks and gamified exercises in isolation. You can do Duolingo every day and still not be able to read a single real Chinese sentence.
“I’ve been doing Duolingo for 700 days in a row, so I know some basic vocabulary and can speak some basic sentences. But it’s really not very helpful and i still struggle with characters.” — Ravi
Textbooks give you dialogues no one actually uses, with no feedback or support. They can be overwhelming, boring, and repetitive.
With Interactive Mandarin for Beginners you’re learning all four skills together — reading, writing, listening, speaking. It’s built around real news, with native audio for everything, direct feedback on your speaking and writing, and a community to keep you accountable.
It’s interactive, supportive, and gives you a full system so you know exactly where to start and what to do next.
5. “I already have a weekly tutor / do classes. How can this help me?”
Most tutors and group classes don’t give you the structure outside class. And they don’t provide a community to keep you progressing in between sessions.
“I've done conversational classes and tutors for a year, but I'm not retaining a lot of it. I'll learn a word one week and forget it the next.” — Yosinta
Some students on this course also work with a tutor.
They use Interactive Mandarin for Beginners to give their learning structure and direction — so when they do sit down with their teacher, they’re getting much more out of it.
So it’s not either/or. For many students, this makes their tutor time more effective.
6. “How much time do I need each week?”
The course is fully self-paced, so you decide.
My recommendation is to aim for 10 minutes a day. Ideally 20 minutes. Or 2-3 focused sessions a week if daily isn’t realistic for you.
One of our new students, Yosinta, put it well — she’s not planning to do it every day, but 2-3 times a week consistently. That’s enough to make real progress.
The program is also designed to be modular, so you can use the parts that fit your schedule, learning style, and learning needs. Some people will work through every section of every lesson. Others will just focus on characters, or reading, or speaking.
It’s flexible so you can use it to focus on your needs.
And the main thing is showing up consistently, ideally daily for as little as 10 minutes.
7. “Is there a guarantee?”
Yes.
If at any point during the 12 weeks you feel the course isn’t right for you, just let me know and I’ll refund you in full.
No questions asked and no risk to you.
Join the Community Today!
Interactive Mandarin for Beginners will finally help you make that breakthrough giving you the confidence to read, understand and speak Chinese.
In just 12 weeks you’ll build a solid foundation with a method that keeps working long after the course ends.
So if you’re ready to finally stop dabbling and start making real progress…
Claim your spot now for a one-off investment of just $497.
Enrolment closes midnight Saturday 2 May.
The course kicks off Sunday 3 May.
Cheers, Andrew
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P.S. Any other questions not covered here?
Just hit reply and ask. I reply to every email.