It has been almost 45 years since the Singapore government launched the Speak Mandarin Campaign in 1979, in the hopes of encouraging Singaporeans to use the language in their daily lives and to appreciate the Chinese culture. However, some may say this campaign has fallen on deaf ears. Mandarin still remains a language that most children struggle with.
Thankfully, Chinese language schools have come a long way in evolving their teaching methods, making Mandarin fun and interactive. We are now spoiled for choice with the plethora of Chinese tuition classes available, here’s a look at our top 3 best reviewed schools.
1.Berries World
Berries World of Learning School was founded in 1993 and is well-known for their fun and engaging classes. Children are grouped according to their capabilities rather than their age, thus allowing them to learn at their own pace.
The teachers strive to provide effective and interactive lessons, with the aim of showing students that learning Chinese is fun and enriching. However, their rave reviews have resulted in a long waitlist for parents hoping to enrol their children at Berries.
Parent’s review of Berries World:
“Berries’ programmes are designed to help students build interest, confidence, and foundation in the language. Mikel’s journey is a testament to the programme’s effectiveness and how it helped him develop a love for Chinese, which eventually translates into stellar results at the PSLE!”
2.Phi Learning Chinese
A relatively new entrant to Mandarin language classes, Phi Learning Chinese was founded in 2015 by teachers with 30 years of experience and a love for education. Despite its young age, Phi Learning Chinese has risen in ranks and proven to be on par with other Chinese tuition classes that have been in the business for more than a decade.
This comes down to their unique take on teaching and learning Mandarin which is through role-playing and debating. Students are not only engaged during lessons, but also gain confidence and knowledge acquired through their entertaining activities.
Teachers at Phi Learning Chinese strongly believe in centering their curriculum around the mental health and academia of their students. This has allowed 90% of their students to show improvement in their Chinese while 80% of their students boast a grade of B3 and above. The teachers are also well-versed in the MOE curriculum with multiple students from various schools and backgrounds, thus contributing to their wealth of knowledge and experience in guiding students to attain good grades and memory retention.
Parent’s review of Phi Learning Chinese:
“I signed my son up after realising that he lacked confidence in speaking Mandarin. In just 3 months, his attitude towards Mandarin improved and even started getting A* for his Chinese spelling. I could see his confidence and self-esteem sky-rocket after getting such good results. He enjoys his classes at Phi Learning Chinese and looks forward to every lesson. I have also gotten really good feedback from his Lao Shi in school! I definitely recommend Phi Learning Chinese to anyone who is looking for a wholesome, fun, and effective Chinese tuition class!”
3.Edugrove Mandarin Enrichment Centre
Edugrove Mandarin Enrichment Centre boasts a one-stop solution to improve your child’s Mandarin and encourage their love for the language. Their unique curriculum and methodology works to pique the interest of children while exposing them to the required MOE curriculum.
Their teachers are committed to sparking curiosity and enjoyment during lessons, thus making way for their students to learn and speak Mandarin with confidence. Edugrove has classes for children of all ages– starting with a parent-child playgroup class and ending with a critical thinking and creative writing class for teens in their O’level year.
Parent’s review of Edugrove Mandarin Enrichment Centre:
“Learning a second language can be quite sterile and prescriptive in a school environment, especially when the focus through the curriculum is reading, writing and vocabulary building. It looked like an impossible task to get the children to speak. With the Mandarin Drama classes, that barrier has certainly been broken as the children happily formulate a script around their theme, create poetry and enjoy the language with actions, movement and speech.”