Take a Great Leap Forward With Our Annual Mandarin Month

原创 Michael W. theBeijinger

Foreigners of the city: Are you still struggling to understand your friends, your co-workers, your ayi, your business partner, and even your lover?

Are the only social occasions you get invited to are lame English corners or farewell parties for that other monolingual dude that is leaving after six months of elongated partying?

Then it's time for you to shed that ongoing guilt and excuses for not studying by sending your Mandarin into the stratosphere.

Yes, the language that Donald Trump's granddaughter can already speak and the one even Master of the Universe Mark Zuckerberg finds time to practice (are you saying you're busier than him?) is one that you need to get under your belt.

You can't speak Mandarin like Trump's granddaughter? Shame on you

So with that in mind, we bring you our second annual Mandarin Month (thebeijinger.com/2017mandarinmonth), our attempt to motivate you, our dear monolingual wàiguó péngyǒu, into a fervor to get out there and improve your Mandarin language skills.

Over the course of June, we'll be bringing you a flurry of Mandarin-related content: profiling some of the best laowai Mandarin speakers and how they've mastered the language; introducing Beijing's best study centers; outlining lists of phrases to use on your next night of trolling Sanlitun; and cool learning tools that we and others have discovered and rely on to build our 汉语 skills.

We'll cap it all off at the end of the month with our Mandarin Month Mixer, a booze-fueled afternoon on the roofdeck of Sanlitun's recently renovated Q Bar (pre-registration required; scan/extract the QR code below) where you'll be able to meet the staff and teachers of some of Beijing's best Mandarin learning centers. You'll also be able to chat to other foreigners with language levels similar to yours with whom you can form classes, become roommates, or become nánnǚ péngyǒu and zuò passionate ài for all eternity.

Read on to learn more about why the Mandarin Month Mixer is the not-to-miss event of the summer.

1. Meet the teachers face to face: See which center's lǎoshī are best suited for your personality and learning style, by chatting and having a drink with the teachers in attendance. Those educators and reps will also have sample textbooks, courses outlines, and other materials on hand, so that you have a strong impression of their curricular approaches.

2. Comparison shop without the hassle: Easily compare language centers by strolling from booth to booth, rather than wasting your time calling each one individually or trying to compare their features online.

3. Get yourself some study buddies: Network with other students to form study groups suitable to your level.

4. Take advantage of on-site discounts from schools: Teachers and recruiters from some of the city's finest Mandarin language centers will be on hand to tell you about their programs. Attendees will be privy to special discounts on classes if they sign up on site.

5. Let it all hang out: Get tipsy, hang out, and have fun at one of Beijing's most popular party spots.

As if that weren't enough, attendees can get even more out of the event by pre-registering (scan/extract the QR code below). The first 200 pre-registered attendees will get a free beer at the event as well as a bag of swag that includes a complimentary T-shirt and other goodies.

And even if you can't attend our event on June 24, you'll find tons to motivate you on our Mandarin Month page (thebeijinger.com/2017mandarinmonth) where we'll post event updates, study tips and tricks, insider knowledge about Beijing's best language centers, inspiring interviews with foreigners who have mastered Chinese, and more.

Finally, we hope to provide you with everything you need to discover why it's fun to learn one of the most fascinating languages on the planet, no matter your level. Come join us for the ride.

Image: blogspot.com, chinlingo.com

Top Stories This Week:

Beijingers Are Buzzing About: