Founder and General Manager
Matt Worley, MBA, M. of Accountancy
Our founder started this Chinese Learning Institution because after having experienced other Mandarin schools and the traditional methods of learning Chinese in China and in America he was dissatisfied with both the quality and the methodology.
Matt Worley began to learn spoken Chinese on his own while attending his MBA program. In so doing he needed to find the fastest way to learn the Chinese language. After just a couple of months of study he was able to join a second-year Chinese class, with students that had been learning Chinese for one hour every day for over a year! Attending the Chinese class, he understood why their progress was so slow: most of the materials used to learn Chinese were outdated, and were only focused on those wanting to be Chinese linguistic majors with a heavy Chinese character writing component.
Leaving this Chinese course after a brief time, he continued his self-study of Chinese for another year before attending a Chinese school in Beijing. Here he was able to join classmates who had been studying from three to five years, and was lauded constantly for his relatively high level of communication. The experience at the Mandarin School in Beijing, China mirrored that of the experience in the Chinese class in America: Antiquated methodologies, a focus on writing as opposed to speaking, a compensation system that neither evaluated nor rewarded teachers on effectiveness, and a system that employed none of the technologies he used in his personal study of Chinese.
As classmates came to him for help but also to complain about the Chinese learning methods, he began to say to himself, "I can do better". And so the idea for this Mandarin Chinese school was born. He started this Mandarin Chinese school, unlike other Mandarin Chinese schools, as a true learner of the language, but also believing that principals earned in his MBA and Masters of Accounting, such as process improvement, statistical analyses, and systems of quality control could be applied to the Chinese learning process. Believing that anyone could attain similar results in an even shorter time given the proper Chinese learning environment and methodologies, he set out to create a Mandarin Chinese school in Beijing that would manifest itself as he envisioned as the ideal Chinese learning environment.
Acting as an operations manager previously taught him that "But we've always done it this way line" of thinking is not always correct. Old methods should be retained only if they are fruitful. Today, there is an abundance of technologies that can dramatically speed up the progress of the new Chinese learner: We can do statistical analysis to teach the most useful things first, we can walk around with Palm Pilots with embedded dictionaries, we can record conversations and bring them back for transcription and tutoring, and we can teach students how to function in the modern-day, computer-age China.
In concert with Chinese linguistic advisors, he set out to form a Mandarin School In Beijing, China utilizing the best of the modern technologies he used in his own learning, and in an environment subject to evaluation and improvement where everything we do is subject to the underlying question: "Is this effective?"
Mr. Worley remains very hands-on, choosing to remain living in China, unlike other Chinese Mandarin school owners. In doing so, he personally evaluates and hires only teachers that are of the highest caliber, focused on effectiveness, and adaptable towards teaching native-level English speakers, and oversees the integration of technologies into the Mandarin school based on his own experiences and modern psychological language learning principles.
Chief Chinese Learning Advisor
David Moser, PHD Chinese Studies and Linguistics
Dr. Moser comes to our Mandarin School in Beijing with several years of experience, as a teacher, trainer, and translator. He has been living and working in China for over 10 years. He is the author of many academic papers about linguistics and learning Chinese. He has written extensively about the challenges posed to Westerners that study and learn Chinese. In China, he has acted as Trainer in Cross-cultural Communication and Business Communication for a Fortune 100 company. Of course he is intimately familiar with the challenges when a Westerner wants to learn Chinese as he essentially learned Chinese on his own. After learning Chinese on his own he went on to learn a Masters in Chinese Studies and then a Doctorate in Chinese Studies and Linguistics from the University of Michigan. He therefore can relate well to those that wish to learn and study Chinese in China who come from a Western background. He has taught Chinese both in America and served as Visiting professor, Beijing Foreign Studies University (a University in Beijing, China).
David has starred in his own Chinese TV series and is the current host/translator at CCTV 10, a TV station in Beijing. He is a life-long learner of Chinese and a part-time jazz pianist.
Chinese Learning Instructor
"Kathy" Zhao Masters Candidate Educational Pedagogy
Kat comes to our Mandarin School In Beijing, China with several years of experience, both as a teacher and translator. She graduated from the prestigious Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing (BLCU). She has also taught English classes. This gives her a great perspective in helping students learn to speak Chinese. As head instructor she looks forward to interacting with you on your Chinese learning journey.
Kat says:
"Welcome to our Mandarin Chinese School. I love being here and I love helping students learn Chinese in Beijing. This Mandarin School is definitely different from others in its approach and I am excited to be a part of it. I hope you will consider joining us, and I will see you here in Beijing!"
Study in China Office Assistant and Customer Service Coordinator
Sharolyn Ochavillo
Originally from the Philippines, Sharolyn comes to our Chinese school in Chinawith several years learning the Chinese languageinschools here in Beijing herself. Being a foreign student herself,she has great understanding of the complications foreigners undergo in learning Mandarin Chinese, and therefore, is ready to help you out in any way possible. She attended elementary and middle school in Canada and speaks English at the native level. She joins us having just graduated from Tsinghua University, the number one university in China. She studied Chinese through programs and schools in China and speaks Chinese at the advanced level.
Sharolyn says: "I hope to welcome you soon; no matter if you are a study abroad student, someone improving yourbusiness Chinese, or simply someone interested in learning to speak Mandarin. Ibelieve that ourintensive Chinese language learning programs designed for beginners, are very unique and well thought of when it comes to practicality in finding themost efficient way to learnthe spoken language. I enjoy chatting with my fellow alien friends, and eating lotsa chocolate.:-)"
