Which Chinese language course should you take?

The answer to the question of which Chinese language course you should choose is that it depends.

But what does it depend on, and how do you make the right decision about which course to take?

The goal of this article is to help you analyse the options, including not taking a course at all, and choose what’s right for you.

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Below, I will discuss the following:

1. Which Chinese language course should you take? It depends!
2. Γνῶθι σεαυτόν, know yourself, 认识你自己
3. Should you take a course or study on your own?
4. Why do you want to take a Chinese course?
5. University courses, online classes and private tutoring
6. Should you go to China or study at home?
7. Are expensive Chinese courses worth the price?
8. How do you know if the Chinese teacher is good or not?
9. Things to ponder before you decide which Chinese course to take
10. Which Chinese language course should you take? It depends!

Which Chinese language course should you take? It depends!

I have “only” studied Mandarin at around eight different schools or universities. Even if you go to the same institutions I did, your experience might be very different from mine.

That depends on which teacher you happen to get, your level, your classmates and what has changed since I studied there.

Thus, it’s neither fair nor possible to give good, specific recommendations for which course to take. Schools change, teachers come and go, and your situation is not the same as mine.

Instead, I’m going to help you take control of your own learning and make informed, smart decisions about your studies

I can’t tell you what specific course to enrol in, but I can help you make the right decision yourself.

Γνῶθι σεαυτόν, know yourself, 认识你自己

As the inscription at the temple at Delphi reminds us, it’s worth reflecting on yourself and your situation before seeking advice, whether from a person or from an article like this one.

Before you look at any course, it is helpful to be clear about a few things:

• Why are you learning Chinese? Do you mainly care about speaking with family, passing an exam, working in a Chinese-speaking environment or maybe something else? Different goals favour different types of courses.
• How much time do you have? There is a big difference between full-time study for a year and a couple of hours per week alongside work or school. Also, note that the difficulty of the course will greatly affect how much time you need to stay afloat in it.
• How much money can you invest? This affects whether you can consider full-time study abroad, more intensive options or one-to-one tutoring. Money won’t always buy quality, but it will usually reduce the number of students per teacher.
• What’s your current level? A complete beginner, a lower intermediate learner and an advanced learner have different needs and will benefit from different courses.
• Where can you reasonably go to study? Are you free to relocate abroad, or are you limited to where you live now? Are there even Chinese courses where you live, or are you restricted to online options?

As should be obvious by now, your answers to these questions heavily impact which course is best for you. These are some examples of what the answer to the question of which course you should take depends on.

Should you take a course or study on your own?

Before considering which course to take, it’s worth considering whether you should take a course at all.

Again, the answer is that it depends, but that answer is getting a bit old, so let’s dive straight into what it depends on.

It depends on your personality and your situation. If you are an experienced, outgoing language learner and already know some Chinese, you can do very well without enrolling in a formal course at all.

However, for most learners, going to class is important. It provides a framework and gives structure to your learning. You should of course be as active as possible and learn outside class as well, but that doesn’t mean that going to class itself is not a good idea.

While learning in class is seldom perfect, having to find all that material and knowledge on your own is both hard and time-consuming. This is similar to the argument why using textbooks is a good idea, even though they aren’t perfect either.

Why do you want to take a Chinese course?

Whatever path you choose, you need to take responsibility for your own learning. No course will teach you everything you need, and believing that it will can be very bad. If you study on your own, it is more obvious that you are the one in charge, but that doesn’t make it easier.

Ask yourself:

• How much external structure and pressure do I need to keep going?
• How comfortable am I with finding and evaluating learning materials myself?
• How much live interaction with a teacher or other students do I want or need?
• How much effort do I want to spend on planning and organising my studies?

Your answers will tell you how much of your study should happen in a course and how much you can safely leave to self-study.

Ultimately, if you think you need to take a course, perhaps because you need the support, structure or discipline, then you probably should take a course.

If you don’t think you need a course, then you probably don’t.

University courses, online classes and private tutoring

Taking a course can mean many different things:

• A full-time university or language school programme.
• A part-time evening course locally.
• A small-group course online.
• One-to-one tutoring, either in person or online.

You don’t have to choose between a traditional course and complete self-study. Many learners benefit from a mixed approach, where they:

• Use textbooks, apps and other resources on their own for most of their input and review.
• Take a small-group or one-to-one course for regular speaking practice, feedback and guidance.

Should you go to China or study at home?

Should you take a Chinese course in your home country or go abroad to immerse yourself in a Mandarin-speaking environment? From a language learning perspective, this decision is easy. If you have the time and money, and it’s practically possible to do so, you should definitely go abroad.

Taking a course in a Mandarin-speaking country can give you:

• More exposure to Chinese outside class, which is essential for listening and reading.
• More opportunities to speak and use what you have learnt with real people.
• Extra motivation, since you are surrounded by the language and culture.
• Cultural immersion in a way that simply isn’t possible at a distance.

However, simply living among native speakers of Mandarin doesn’t mean you will learn a lot. It’s entirely possible to spend a year abroad mostly in an English-speaking bubble. Your habits and how you use your time matter more than your postcode.

If you can only go abroad for a limited time, it might be a good idea to learn the basics before you go since that will mean you can make more of the time you have in China or wherever it is you go.

If you already know basic pronunciation, some characters and how the writing system works, you can use your time abroad for things that are hard to do at home, such as speaking with lots of people and dealing with Chinese in real-world situations.

Naturally, you don’t have to go abroad to learn Mandarin; it’s perfectly possible to do so from the comfort of your home. It requires more effort and more discipline, but it can definitely be done.

Wherever you study, the key is to have as much meaningful contact with Chinese as possible, both inside and outside class.

Are expensive Chinese courses worth the price?

I’m not going to refer to specific numbers here since that will vary from place to place, even within a single country. How much money you should spend on your course depends on how much money you have (obviously), but also on what you are after.

Rather than thinking “expensive versus cheap”, it is better to ask what you are actually paying for. Here are three things you really want and probably have to pay for:

• Fewer students in each group. This is incredibly important if you feel that you need lessons to improve your communication abilities. Expensive schools offer small groups (4 to 6 students in each) as well as one-to-one tutoring. Cheaper institutions can have twenty or more students in each group, and then you will have little chance to improve speaking and writing in class. The more independent you are, the less you need to spend because you will be able to compensate for what you miss in class with things you do on your own.
• Competent and experienced teachers. You are more likely to have good teachers at an expensive institution. However, this is by no means guaranteed; there are good teachers at cheap institutions and bad teachers at good institutions, too. Some even work in both types at the same time. How well a particular teacher suits your needs is only indirectly related to his or her being hired by a school. Still, if you have a bad teacher, going to class is of little use. More about this below.
• More motivated classmates. Don’t underestimate the importance of your classmates. Expensive programmes are more often attended by people who are very serious about learning Chinese, which is great not just for them, but for you as well. There is a huge difference between studying with people who view themselves as being on holiday and people who are truly serious about learning. As with the teachers above, this is about probabilities; paying a lot of money doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a serious student and vice versa.

What I said about taking a course or not applies to the discussion of price as well. For example, if you’re disciplined but still want some structure, you could go to a cheaper school and use the money you save by doing that to hire private tutors.

This might give you better results than spending the same amount of money in an expensive school. This is especially true if you can get decent courses for significantly less than the expensive courses on offer, such as a third or a quarter of the price.

How do you know if the Chinese teacher is good or not?

This can be tricky, but there are a few things you can check, either by visiting yourself before you sign up or by asking people already studying there.

The most important thing is what class time is spent on. At a good institution, it will be spent on things the students can’t do on their own and which require the presence of a teacher.

Here are a few things you shouldn’t be doing too much of in class:

• Learning basic definitions of words in the textbook.
• Reading the text aloud (unless for pronunciation practice).
• Excessive listening or reading practice (unless specifically tailored to you, so listening practice adjusted to your level with a teacher can be extremely valuable).

These are things you could equally well do on your own, and you don’t need to pay someone to do them with you.

Instead, class time should be spent on things you can’t do on your own, such as:

• Engaging with level-adjusted Mandarin in a communicative context.
• Practising using the vocabulary and grammar you have learnt.
• Getting feedback on your pronunciation, word choice, grammar and so on.
• Asking questions that the textbook or a dictionary can’t answer.
• Practising listening and speaking in interactive ways.
• Writing and getting feedback on your Chinese, not just being told to write more.

The only exception to this rule is if you’re in a truly serious programme where class time covers almost your entire total study time. In that case, you will end up doing more things in class that I would normally recommend that you do on your own.

I’ve written more about how to identify a great Chinese teacher here: 7 characteristics of a great Chinese tutor or private teacher.

Things to ponder before you decide which Chinese course to take

When you think you have found a course that might work, it can help to go through a short checklist. You don’t need perfect answers to all questions, but you should at least have thought about them.

• What are my goals for learning Chinese? Why do I want to take a course?
• Does this course focus on what I want to learn? How do I know that (e.g. from curriculum, trial lessons or people who study there)?
• Is the course on the right level for me, both when it comes to proficiency and time and effort required (these are related)?
• What am I purchasing here that I can’t get access to elsewhere? Is there a better option for getting this, such as private tutoring?
• Who else is taking this course? Are they like me, at least when it comes to level of ambition?
• How much am I committing to here? If I start, but realise this is not for me, is there a graceful way out? What’s the worst-case scenario?

Which Chinese language course should you take? It depends!

As promised in the introduction, the answer to the question is that it depends. There is no single best course for everyone.

In essence:

• If you have time, energy and money to spend, go for a course with small groups and teachers who expect a lot from you. Add private tutoring as needed.
• If you lack time, skip formal courses and go with private tutoring instead.
• If you lack money, choose a cheaper course and compensate with self-study.
• If you lack the energy, choose whatever helps you stay on track.

Whatever you choose, remember that taking a course doesn’t automatically mean that you will learn Chinese. Your habits outside class, how much you listen and read, how often you speak and write and how well you look after your motivation will matter more in the long run than the name of the school on your certificate or what grade you got.

Editor’s note: This article, originally published in 2016, was rewritten and republished in March 2026.