I had been wanting to learn Mandarin for quite some time, and was picking it up very slowly from apps and online resources. The CL16 class was fantastic. It's intense and moves at a really fast pace, but after putting in the time doing the homework, I was surprised at how much useful Chinese I was able to speak after only four weeks. Sarah is a thorough and patient teacher, and the small class of motivated students provided an atmosphere conducive to focusing and learning. The classes are held two nights a week at a conveniently located space in Chinatown. I'm taking the next course in the series and am looking forward to continuing learning. read more

I've been taking Mandarin classes through CLA since August 2021. I'm now in the intermediate level and can't believe how much I've learned in such a short amount of time. I've had Barbara Wen as my teacher the entire time and she is a phenomenal teacher! She's patient, encouraging, stays on task, has a great sense of humor, and is always checking in to see if we have any questions. Learning online has been convenient with my busy work and school schedule. The online class has a dynamic and conversational atmosphere, and because the class size is small each student gets a lot of individual attention. If you're looking to learn how to speak and read Mandarin, CLA is the place to go! read more

Pros: learned a lot of useful grammar and cultural context; good levels of interaction; very patient and personable instructor (Càn); my friends noticed improvement in my speech after the 4 weeks were up Cons: none i can think of Bottom line: worth every cent. read more

I've tried learning Mandarin in the past but always given up because it was just too hard. However my experience with CLA 16 has been wonderful and motivating. Our class was held in the Chinatown and our instructor Crystal was very passionate and professional. She has taught us not only the Chinese language but also the culture, which has been interesting and informative. The course is fast paced but effective and fun! Would highly recommend to anyone who's trying to learn Mandarin. read more

I have been trying to learn Chinese on the internet But progress was very slow until I joined CLA.. Great place to get you learning juices flowing. Would highly recommend anybody who has a passion to learn Chinese .. read more

I completed the CLA 16 Crash Course about a month ago, right before a trip to China. I had taken a similar crash course about four years ago, but actually learned and retained much more information at CLA. The small class size was very helpful (8 in my class). The teacher (Sarah) kept the class fun and engaging while getting us through quite a bit of material. She was always happy to answer questions. If you've retained all the information in this class you can handle basic communication in Mandarin. I'm told the next level is more conversational. I'm signing up for that, so I can continue to build my vocabulary and converse more fluently. They offer even higher levels that are more academic Mandarin. I've already recommended this class to a few people. It's a great introduction to Mandarin, as well as to Chinese culture in general. You'll learn a lot in a short period of time - perfect for last minute preparation for travel. read more

Last year, I went over to China for the first time and I felt helpless without the translator. At one point the battery to my hotel door died and it took me 20 minutes to communicate that to the front desk. When I got back, I decided to learn some of the basics of Mandarin, so I wouldn't run into that problem in the future. I found CLA online and decided to give the initial CLA 16 Crash Course a try. The DTLA location is convenient to the freeway (5 or 10) and the Chinatown Gold Line Station is a couple of blocks away. There is a parking garage next door for a flat fee of $5 and there is also plenty of street parking. The class is two hours, two days a week for 4 weeks. There is quite a bit of material to take in, but the instructor (Sarah in this case) is very helpful and patient. By the end, I learned basic Mandarin greetings, grammar, numbers, and some characters. I enjoyed the classroom learning and small class size (8 in my class), because I'm not dedicated enough to use a self guided learning program. I would recommend this class to anyone looking to learn the basics of Mandarin. I'll be enrolling in the next level class to improve on the foundation I learned in the crash course. read more

If you have a desire to learn Mandarin, CLA is definitely the way to go. I've always wanted to understand Mandarin in the past for my frequent travels to Singapore and the rest of Asia but never got around to signing up for a proper class. Took a stab with Rosetta Stone and another self guided learning program which ended up making me a great deal confused and lost my interest. CLA, on the other hand, made it so much easier to grasp the material. Lulu was my teacher at the Downtown LA location for the CLA 16 crash course and she is a rockstar - made it really fun for our class of 4. It is a struggle to learn a language like Mandarin but as you can tell with all the other Yelp reviewers, CLA is the right choice. I will be enrolling in the Elementary course too! read more

I had an exceptional experience here. Sarah and Lulu are fantastic teachers and I've learned so much. I attended the beginner program, Sunday for four hours, and I had a wonderful time. The class size was small, about 3 other students, and since so intimate there was a lot of individual help. I thought the course was very structured and aligned to help us progress as fast as possible. Highly impressed and cannot wait to attend more! read more

I'm really impressed by my experience with CLA's 16 Hour crash course. The course is perfect for those starting at ground zero, and for me the small classroom setting was much more conducive to my learning than any form of independent study. The course is unique in that it introduces you to everything from the basic alphabet, pinyin system, useful vocabulary, as well as interesting links to the current-day Chinese economic culture and lessons in how to type and text in Chinese. It is definitely a lot of information but our instructor Can always made the language feel very approachable and fun! The two hour classes always moved quickly (in a pleasant way) and the course is very well-balanced and structured in how it introduces you to new materials. I am eager to continue onto the next level! read more

I recently completed the CLA 16 Program with instructor Sarah Liu. I found Ms. Liu took all the intimidation and uneasiness out of learning Mandarin and made it surprisingly simple and fun. I'm surprised at how much I've retained and am very excited to begin the Elementary Course tonight. read more

I am so happy I found the Chinese Language Academy! My daughters moved to America when they were 8 and 9-years-old and although we have worked hard to keep their Mandarin, they were losing it because we are an English speaking house and they go to an English speaking school. Finding the Chinese Language Academy is the perfect solution for our girls. After only a few questions on the phone, they were able to tailor a class for the girls who are now 13 and 14-years-old. They've provided an extremely talented tutor who has the girls speaking and even writing their Chinese characters again. Brilliant! Also I appreciate how professional they are in their scheduling, communication, and methods. I've recommended this language school to anyone who has lamented that their adopted children have lost their native language. With the Chinese Language Academy this vital world language is affordable and convenient! read more

I've taken 2 courses with CLA, and the experience thus far has been spectacular. Both instructors I've had the opportunity to learn from (Isabella & Sarah) have been incredibly helpful and patient every step along the way. I started off early this year with the CLA 16 course in West LA. While I had been contemplating learning Mandarin for some time, this was my first real dive into seriously learning the language. Starting to learn Mandarin in a group setting can definitely be a little intimidating, but Isabella was great at making everyone feel comfortable, and then quickly accelerating into the course material. After the first class I was hooked and the remainder of the course flew by. Shortly after the CLA 16 course wrapped up I enrolled for the Elementary course in the Downtown LA location. The location was easy to find and conveniently located next to the Metro St metro station. This time around the instructor was Sarah. She provided the same rapid and focused learning experience that Isabella did the first time around. Sarah has an excellent knowledge of everything linguistics and could answer even the toughest questions posed by the class. Overall, my experience with CLA has been his awesome. I can't wait to be back there in two weeks to continue the Elementary class! read more

I completed the CLA 16 Program with instructor Sarah Liu last week. I have been on three tours of China and the last one forced me to start learning some of the language. On my last return to Los Angeles I considered enrolling in a university Mandarin course but opted for the CLA 16 Program. I found the small class size and the patient instruction of Liu Loshī a great fit for my learning style. The classes are held at night in Chinatown, the parking is pretty easy and the classroom works well for group speaking activities. I am feeling more confident about my pronunciation, enjoying the ability to recognize some characters and getting some handle on pinyin. I am looking forward to being in the Elementary level which begins on Wednesday. read more

I took the intro crash course last year and learned a lot. I liked that they had a cultural component to their lessons as well. I worked with Chinese speaking medical patients so the intro helped me get my feet wet w mandarin. I liked it so much I'm coming back for more:) I will add like anything, the language builds w practice, of which I could always do more read more

Hey L.A. you've got to try a class at CLA... It was the best experience i've ever had. Our instructor Sarah was AWESOME... She really did everything possible to answer all our questions... the best part is that they have you interact with other students to practice your Mandarin.. can't say eniugh... bottom line: IT'S A BUCKET LIST ITEM FOR SURE... THANK YOU CLA AND SARAH... read more

Just finished the first level of Mandarin and currently enrolling for the next course. As someone who travels to China frequently for work this course has helped me learn the basics and has provided me with the confidence to try to speak more in a practical setting. The course was fun and Sarah was a great teacher. I'm very happy I enrolled, I only wish I enrolled sooner. read more

I have taken the introductory course and will be moving on to the next level. Great teachers, fun curriculum, and nice small classes so you get lots of attention. I highly recommend it!! I'll have to miss some classes at the next level since my job in China starts before class is complete, but Lulu tells me that I can make those classes up on my return. Thanks to Lulu and Isabella have been wonderful! read more

I started this class about 5 weeks ago with Ms. Can along with a few other students. I think the class is at a good pace for beginner. By the end of the class i was able to start basic conversations and read some basic characters. I highly would recommend the class for thow who would like to start taking chinese. read more

I took the CLA16 class in Downtown Los Angeles taught by Ms. Liu, and found the course and the instruction to be efficient and effective. Ms. Liu and the CLA team structure the course in a manner that allows a novice to quickly learn the basics for communicating and provides a solid platform to continue to learn Chinese at more advanced levels. Additionally, CLA did a great job working with me to make up the material when I missed the first two classes. I would definitely recommend to anyone looking to start learning Chinese! read more

I've had nothing but good experiences with Chinese Language Academy - it's been incredibly easy to arrange one to one classes via Sarah there, and Sarah set me up with the excellent teacher Lulu. Lulu has customised the course structure around my needs, and over the months we've worked together, we've come up with some learning tools and techniques that work to my strengths when it comes to long term vocab retention and grammatical structure. Highly recommended! read more

I had tried Rosetta Stone in the past but found it frustrating, so I finally went ahead and signed up for a class with CLA and recently completed the crash course. Sarah is an outstanding and extremely talented teacher. The class size is small and the program is structured in a way that helps with the learning process. Absolutely recommend to anyone looking to learn the language. Looking forward to the next level of classes! read more

This was a great class, very fun. The instructor, Lulu was an excellent teacher. There were only 6 students so we all got to know each other. We started with a bit of the history behind the characters, which made them far more understandable. I recommend this class highly. read more

The CLA16 class was excellent. I was pleasantly surprised that it was also very fun. The explanations the teacher provided made the experience so much more rich than the book. My class was 9 people and the facilities were good. I am excited to learn more! read more

I am having a great time with Chinese Language Academy! The class size is small, 4 or 5, which makes it a more personalized learning experience. My teacher is Sarah -- she's awesome -- and I've met Ysabella as well at an event they organized. It's been great meeting other students too, feels like a community. I'm really looking forward to continuing next week! read more

Completed the CLA course here. Its a great place to learn mandarin. The teachers are very helpful and understanding, they do their best to teach and help us. This place taught me to understand the language rather than just memorizing it making it easier for me to learn it effectively. read more