Mandarin Classes

Learn Mandarin Your Way

Learn Mandarin in Waterloo Region, Guelph, London, Toronto, Woolwich Township, or anywhere else in the world with our in-person and online group classes and private lessons.

Our Mandarin Chinese school in Kitchener, Ontario holds 10-week courses . Beginner, intermediate and advanced online classes are offered throughout the year. Currently, we have students enrolled across Canada, USA and Europe. Our classes for children and adults will help you take your first, second and third step in Mandarin. At First Step Mandarin, our goal is to help our students fall in love with Chinese!

Group Classes

ONLINE Group Adults
Newbie Class Level 1

$250

per term

Who: adults (ages 13+) with no experience learning Chinese. We welcome anyone who is interested in Mandarin!

Time: Mon, 6:30pm - 8:00pm

Start Date: Sept 9th, 2024

End Date: Nov 11th, 2024

Location: Online

IN-PERSON Group Adults
Newbie Class Level 1

$250

per term

Who: adults (ages 13+) with no experience learning Chinese. We welcome anyone who is interested in Mandarin!​

Time: Wed, 6:30pm - 8:00pm

Start Date: Sept 11th, 2024

End Date: Nov 13th, 2024

Location: 17 Barrel Yards Blvd, Waterloo

ONLINE Beginner Class Group Adults Level 2

$250

per term

Who: adults (ages 13+) who have studied Chinese for approximately 3 months or have quivalent experience.

Time: Mon, 7:50pm - 9:20pm

Start Date: Sept 9th, 2024

End Date: Nov 11th, 2024

Location: Online

IN-PERSON Group Beginner Class for Adults
Level 2

$250

per term

Who: adults (ages 13+) who have studied Chinese for approximately 3 months or have equivalent experience

Time: Mon, 7:50pm - 9:20pm

Start Date: Sept 9th, 2024

End Date: Nov 11th, 2024

IN-PERSON Group Intermediate I Class for Adults Level 3

$250

per term

Who: adults (ages 13+) who have studied Chinese for approximately 8 to 12 months or have equivalent experience

Time: Wed, 8:10pm - 9:40pm

Start Date: Sept 11th, 2024

End Date: Nov 13th, 2024

Location: 17 Barrel Yards Blvd, Waterloo

ONLINE Group Intermediate I Class for Adults Level 3

$250

per term

Who: adults (ages 13+) who have studied Chinese for approximately 8 to 12 months or have equivalent experience

Time: Thurs, 7:00pm - 8:30pm

Start Date: Sept 12th, 2024

End Date: Nov 14th, 2024

Location: Online

In-Person Group Intermediate II Class for Adults Level 4

$250

per term

Who: adults (ages 13+) who have studied Chinese for approximately 1 to 1.5 years or have equivalent experience

Time: Wed, 7:50pm - 9:20pm

Start Date: Sept 11th, 2024

End Date: Nov 13th, 2024

Online Classes also available

ONLINE Group Intermediate II Class for Adults Level 5

$250

per term

Who: adults (ages 13+) who have studied Chinese for approximately 1.5 to 3 years or have equivalent experience

Time: Wed, 8:10pm - 9:40pm

Start Date: Sept 18th, 2024

End Date: Nov 20th, 2024

Location: Online

Online Group Advanced Class for Adults Level 6

$250

per term

Who: adults (ages 13+) who are comfortable having daily conversations in Chinese. Classes are taught in Chinese

Time: Tues, 8:15pm - 9:45pm

Start Date: Sept 10th, 2024

End Date: Nov 14th, 2024

Location: Online

IN-PERSON Group Newbie
Children's Classes Level 1

$250

per term

Who: Ages 6 to 12 with no previous experience learning Mandarin

Time: Sat, 10:00am - 11:30am

Start Date: Sept 14th, 2024

End Date: Nov 15th, 2024

Location: 35 Albert St, Waterloo

ONLINE Group Beginner
Children's Classes Level 1

$250

per term

Who: Ages 6 to 12 with no previous experience learning Mandarin

Time: Fri, 6:30pm - 8:00pm

Start Date: Sept 13th, 2024

End Date: Nov 14th, 2024

Location: Online

IN-PERSON Group Beginner
Children's Classes Level 2

$250

per term

Who: Ages 6 to 12 who have taken one Mandarin course before and know pinyin and 50+ words

Time: Mon, 6:00pm - 7:00pm

Start Date: Sept 9th, 2024

End Date: Nov 20th, 2024

Location: Online

IN-PERSON Group Beginner
Children's Classes Level 3

$250

per term

Who: Ages 6 to 12 who are comfortable with the fundamentals of Mandarin and basic phrases.

Time: Tues, 6:30pm - 8:00pm

Start Date: Sept 10th, 2024

End Date: Nov 14th, 2024

Location: 85 Queen Street N, Kitchener

If our class times don’t work for you or you’d like to see another class added to our schedule. Please contact us!

We also welcome you to message us for more details on our upcoming and ongoing semesters.

Course Details

Class Duration

Engaging 90-minute classes, with lots of opportunities for one-on-one help with teachers. 

Handpicked Textbook

Take home a textbook specifically suited to your learning needs.  

Take-Home Exercises

Exercises will be given after each class, so you can continue practicing Chinese throughout the week.

Activities and Conversation Practice

Classes are designed to keep you engaged and improve your oral Chinese. 

CLAIM A SPOT

Register for our Mandarin classes in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Guelph.

Pre-Register for Next Semester

Want to join next semester? Pre-register for FREE with pre-registration:

  • Save a spot in our upcoming semester.
  • Guarantee our lowest registration price.
  • Help us accommodate your availability.

Schedule Private Lessons

Convenient

At home or a nearby coffee shop, on a weekday or a weekend, you can learn a new language in Waterloo Region at a time and place convenient for you.

Conversational

Private lessons give you plenty of speaking practice and quick feedback on pronunciation, grammar, and word choice.

Customized

Want to learn a second language for traveling, business, family interactions, or your next test? Not a problem! We tailor our lessons to help you meet your personal goals.

Cost-Effective

One-on-one tutoring is $40 to $45 hour. If you would like private lessons for more than one person, please provide details below, and we will get back to you with more information as soon as we can.

Start Private lESSONs

Pick a time and place convenient for you!

Our Team

Yuetong (Olivia) Ou

Mandarin Instructor

Olivia was born and raised in Guangzhou, China, making her bilingual in Mandarin and Cantonese. Since she grew up with these two languages, students not only learn about Mandarin but also about the differences in customs between the southern and northern parts of China. Olivia believes that active learning is one of the most productive means of learning languages, so, in her class, students at any level can practice their skills through different activities.

Blake Zhang

Mandarin Instructor

Blake is a passionate Mandarin teacher from Beijing, China with two years of teaching experience. Beyond just language skills, he takes delight in sharing the beauty of the Chinese language with both children and adults, weaving in the rich tapestry of Chinese history and tradition. What sets his teaching apart is his appreciation for Chinese calligraphy, adding a unique and artistic dimension to the exploration of the language.

Ann Gong

Mandarin Instructor

Ann is from Changchun, China, but has lived in Canada for the past twelve years. During this time, she has fallen in love with learning new cultures and languages. She believes that getting to know different people in the world broadens your perspective, so she dedicates herself to teaching Chinese language and culture to everyone. She is passionate about Chinese food and music, as well as China’s rich history. Be sure to join her class, in which you’ll acquire lots of knowledge and have tons of fun conversations!

Bowen Ma

Mandarin Instructor

Bowen comes from Anshan, China. He came to Waterloo Region for his master’s degree in 2017. In China, Bowen taught English in his spare time and enjoyed helping others learn languages. Bowen has worked as a broadcaster with the university’s radio station, making him especially effective at teaching students proper pronunciation. Bowen’s love of a diverse range of music and sports makes him a great and fun conversationalist. His experiences and lightheartedness are sure to fill his classes with joy and help his students learn Mandarin!

What our Students Say

"My daughter has no background whatsoever in Mandarin but is thriving in this program. The combination of current learning techniques and age appropriate engagement has made learning a new language super rewarding. I highly recommend this program to anyone remotely interested. You will not regret it!"
"First Step Mandarin is amazing. My daughter looks forward to her weekly lesson. The instructor is organized, prepared and prompt. His friendly and warm demeanour, along with his engaging lessons has created an exciting learning environment for our daughter. Thank you for all of your hard work."
"I took the Mandarin online beginner's course, and it was wonderful! Yang Laoshi is a great teacher; she's very personable and makes each class fun and engaging! The content and the way it's presented made learning Mandarin feel very doable, even to a beginner like me. It has provided me with a great foundation for learning Mandarin in the future and has helped me communicate better with Mandarin-speaking people in my life. Absolutely would recommend First Step Academy to anyone who wants to learn Mandarin!!!"
"My Mandarin classes with Lucy Zhan were extremely helpful & a wonderful introduction to the language! I would highly recommend this class to someone who may need extra one on one help or may not be able to attend the regular classes. She went out of her way to accommodate me by coming to Hespeler and made the difficult introduction to a new language extremely interesting. Thanks again"

Want More information?

Visit our First Step Mandarin website at www.firststepmandarin.com or email us at [email protected]

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