Sean Hogan

The class was fast and totally immersive with no English used in class which was hard for me, however it forced me to work harder and to focus more. Materials were good, though the classroom was better suited to kids and not adults of my stature.

on 05 Sep 2011

Russ Metge

I took 2 x 4 week Mandarin classes at Spring College. The classes are structured around books, which you must purchase separately. The books are for teaching children, so some of the content is completely irrelevant. The class size varies and therefore the rhythm and structure of the class suffers i.e. you might have 3 different levels in one class, so a 3 hour lesson becomes 1 hour for you. Otherwise convenient to an MRT stop and reasonable value for money. My teacher was excellent given the material and fluctuating class size.

on 31 Jan 2011

Jacob Meijer

Spring College offers good value for money. The classes are small, while the teacher is patient and respectful. The book is meant for school pupils, but it's fine for absolute starters in mandarin. Students need to spend a minimum of 1 - 2 hours per day on homework to remain at pace with the lessons. However, if you are serious about writing and memorizing characters from previous lessons, then you probably need 3 - 4 hours of self study per day. The course attracts people with very different backgrounds and goals. Also, students come and go as they please and skip classes regularly causing a somewhat chaotic environment. If you need a fixed, dedicated class to progress in your studies, then you might want to look further. If you are self-motivated and you study independently, Spring College is a fine choice.

on 17 Oct 2010

Dzul Sungit

I had a great 4 weeks learning Mandarin at Spring College. The class was extremely small, (4 students!) so a lot of attention was given to each student. The lessons were tailored slightly to fit students' needs - for me spoken Mandarin was more important than written Mandarin, so we concentrated more on that. The teacher was keen and helped me prepare useful sentences which I could use on my trip to China. Too bad I had to leave, otherwise I would have taken the next level as well.

on 15 Oct 2010