Mandarin Classes at Sponge Reviews

We've been taking our three year old daughter to Mandarin since she was about one year old. It really has been a great experience. The classes are very fun -- lots of singing and playing games in 100% Chinese. In the beginning, it's hard to see how the exposure makes a difference, especially before your child is even speaking English! But it's amazing to me now how well she seems to pick it up. She can count, sing songs, respond to directions, describe colors, and say simple phrases.

If you do consider the Sponge School and are interested in Mandarin, I highly recommend finding a class with a specific teacher: Wenxin Huang Gillis. We have experienced most of the teachers there, and while they're all very good at what they do, we think Wenxin is the best at keeping the class moving, handling uncooperative toddlers, and engaging the kids. She is super enthusiastic and very helpful to parents in their own path of learning! She's fantastic!

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Our 2 year old has been going to Mandarin class at Sponge school for about a year. Wenxin is a great teacher and really gets young children to engage. The kids are completely immersed in Mandarin while in the class (no English!), and it's really a welcoming and fun learning environment. I highly recommend Sponge School, and specifically Wenxin. Great write-up in the PI: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/271215_lcenter23.html

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