Arturo is a patient and calm teacher. He helps you understand the language easily and converses…read morewith you so you can practice speaking what you've been taught. It is nice having classes with other students and allows for more opportunity to speak the language. He also provides notes for each lesson plus grammar practice. If you want to learn Spanish and have fun while doing it - this is the place for you!

I am travelling to Spain this summer, where I will take an Spanish course, and in preparation, I…read morethought I would enroll in a class here. I'm taking classes right now, and while the first week was great, I'm really not so into it now. I'm in the advanced beginner level, as I took Spanish in high school (about ten years ago). I am not fluent at all, but have some vocabulary, and can conjugate in present tense. Pros: 1. Right now, it's just me and the instructor. So, I'm stoked about personal instruction for just $14 per hour. (Cost depends on length of course. Check the website for more info. http://institutomesoamerica.com/) However, I don't believe this is the norm. 2. Instructor seems to be patient with me, as I try to figure out how to conjugate the past tense. UPDATE: He's not so patient anymore... see below... 3. Must think of third "pro" Cons: 1. Teaching method is not creative. I have dittos, from which I conjugate verbs. Sometimes they are in sentences, sometimes, just the verb. Today we did this for over 2 hours of the 3 hour class. So freaking boring. 2. Sometimes I feel like the instructor is SUPER bored. Which makes my selfconciousness kick into high gear. 3. I do not feel that there is enough interaction between me and the instructor. 4. Instructor claims to use a NATURAL teaching method, and a NEW approach to teaching Spanish. Ummm. What?? Reading off a ditto is natural and new??? 5. Instructor IS bored! He taps his fingers, stretches and is not patient. Corrects me before I have the chance to correct myself. 6. Misspellings on the dittos. Gets annoyed when I don't understand the words, which happen to be in ANOTHER LANGUAGE AND ARE MISSPELLED. 7. Doesn't follow along on the dittos. Corrects me even when I'm right, as he's not looking at the ditto. 8. Somehow thinks that I will remember EVERY word we've used previously. Thanks, but I'm not magic. But I will definitely try suggesting some other activities to the instructor, and asking about specific things that I would like to learn, such as practicing being at a hotel/train station/restaurant. Hopefully, the instruction will improve. UPDATE: I added a star, because I felt satisfied with the resolution I recieved. I was unhappy with this particular school and recieved a refund. Very honest and wanted to resolve the problem, and I appreciate that.

Great after school Chinese program. My son loves it here. They even offer after school pick up.read more

good and the reason why it's 4 stars it's because some of the teachers are strict especially the…read moreWednesday 104 teacher 1 to 3pm she yells at us to be quiet

My 8yr old has been in Mandarin Immersion since she was 2yrs old. She's been taking once a week…read moreZOOM lessons with Mei since February 2024 and it has been super helpful! My husband and I don't speak or read Mandarin and it's nice to have a little bit of help outside of school. My daughter loves Mei and scheduling has been super easy! She just started 3rd grade and told me that she feels her Mandarin has improved and that she's feeling super confident. I highly recommend. Mei and KaiXin Language School!

KiaXin Language School has been a really interesting and fun way to learn the basics of Chinese. I…read morehave participated in the first two levels of Mandarin taught by KiaXin's Jennifer Bai. Jennifer is extremely kind and patient. I strongly recommend her and think she is a very effective teacher.

When I say that finding Fernanda is the best thing to have happened to me this year, I mean it!! At…read morethe time that we started lessons, I was dating a Uruguayan, so I wanted to learn the language to be able to communicate with his family. We are no longer dating, but I now work with Fernanda twice a week -- which is just a testament to the love I have for her and her classes. She has such incredible knowledge of language, and also such a kind and engaging spirit. I plan to continue classes for many years to come. Love you, Fernanda!!

I've been taking Zoom classes with Fernanda for a couple weeks now. It's been going great - she…read morealways comes prepared for our lessons, and I have already improved so much. We have a great blend of conversations and grammar, which has been great for my beginner level.

Jasmine is a wonderful tutor and we highly recommend her! In fact, I've already referred her to two…read moreother families. She's smart, responsible, and easy to work with. She's engaging and makes the sessions fun for our daughter. Jasmine is local, but given the current environment she teaches our daughter online. Unlike other online programs where there may be a language barrier between the teacher and student, the ease with which Jasmine switches from English to Chinese and vice versa makes the lessons so much more effective. Moreover, the students feel heard and understood so there isn't a lot of time wasted on misunderstandings. During the lessons, Jasmine always stays focused and gently keeps my daughter on task. She has learned more with Jasmine in the last 6 months than she did in the last couple of years at Chinese school. If you want your child to learn Chinese, I strongly recommend you reach out to Jasmine!

I grew up speaking Cantonese and Toisaan. As it is with most languages, if you don't use it, you…read morelose it. I am well into my adulthood and was yearning to practice and continue using Cantonese again. It's cute to understand but I wanted to be more active with it. It is incredibly useful in my profession. I have basic sentence structure down and some vocabulary. I found it difficult to practice with family because they tend to be impatient, and realistically, judgmental. I found Jasmine and was so glad I did! We had twice weekly Zoom sessions and she was very well worth it. She was patient with me and walked me through a workbook. While most languages can be learned through an app or book, the tonality of Cantonese is VERY important. Are you saying horse or mother, the number four or dead. Tones matter so having a teacher to give you feedback right on the spot is so valuable. I went back to school and still work my full time job so I don't get to have as many lessons as I want. I HIGHLY recommend Jasmine for her patience, knowledge and teaching style. Need to learn Cantonese? Get a hold of her!

My daughter has been working with Teacher Kyle for 8 years, and I can't recommend her enough! She…read moreis kind, patient, and incredibly supportive, which makes learning Mandarin feel encouraging instead of intimidating. She is incredibly resourceful --whether it's tailoring lessons to my goals (conversational, ordering food, asking for directions), finding creative ways to explain tricky grammar, or sharing practical tips for real-world conversation, she always make sure students walk away with a deeper understanding, lots of practice time with each other, and had fun while doing it by focusing on topics that interests them or gamifying the lessons. She even wrote her own book series based on her experiences of what works best with young children and teens. Kyle balances professionalism with genuine warmth, so every session feels both productive and enjoyable. Despite my daughter's crazy schedule with sports, music, school activities, teacher Kyle always finds a way to be flexible and accommodate our needs. My daughter is now in high school and of course chose mandarin as her language of study because of the fun and support she received from teacher Kyle. If you're looking for a mandarin teacher who is not only skilled but also truly invested in your success, look for teacher Kyle!

My daughters, ages 9 and 12, have been taking Mandarin Chinese classes with Kyle Laoshi (Teacher…read moreKyle) for 3 years now. She's been a wonderful teacher and makes learning Chinese a fun and enjoyable experience. She's friendly, engaging, and always has such positive energy. I'm so glad we found her! Kyle Laoshi uses a variety of games and activities to keep the class interesting, and she's so good at motivating my kids with fun digital prizes that they talk about with each other like they're real. ;] They like working from the printouts she provides, and they love how she shares funny personal stories related to the content they're learning. The class is a quick 30 minutes which works great for our busy schedule. Kyle makes efficient use of time in each session. The pace is just right and my kids are focused and engaged the whole time. Kyle is able to get them to chat conversationally in Chinese and participate often in each class. Our classes are usually a mix of native and non-native speakers, as well as kids of different ages. Kyle takes a lot of time before each new semester to make sure each student is placed in the best class for them. I highly recommend Kyle Laoshi as a Chinese teacher. She's a great fit for kids of all ages and skill levels, and she's always willing to work with you to find the best class for your child's needs. I'd recommend doing more than one class per week if your schedule allows, as we've found that both a conversational and a read/write class can provide a well-rounded learning experience. If you're looking for a dedicated, talented, and fun-loving teacher, Kyle is the one!

We used Aspire for several tutoring sessions, a practice exam, and exam review for our son who…read moreneeds to take the ISEE as part of the private high school admissions process. The one-on-one attention he received was invaluable and the cost was reasonable; but more than that, the flexibility to help our son even on a Sunday, having someone come in just to assist him, showed a commitment to his success that went beyond the other study services. In addition to tutoring for these and other exams, ASPIRE, as a non-profit, has a mission to enhance the opportunities for kids of low-income families. For us, it meant that we were supporting a good organization even while paying for high quality tutoring services. There was no trade off between the individual attention and the high quality our son received on the one hand and, on the other, their non-profit status. In fact, they complemented each other. It showed that this was more about Will's success and not a business transaction. Indeed, we were so grateful to the team there, we made a further donation to assist them in one of their programs: a volunteer-based literacy program for low income preschoolers in the East Bay. We highly recommend them.

I used Aspire back in 2014 when my daughter was preparing for the SAT. They did a great job…read moretutoring her and helping her maximize her score without an undue amount of stress. The staff were excellent, professional, and very knowledgeable. I liked it so much that later when I wanted to switch careers, I became a tutor at Aspire, and worked with students through them. It has been a privilege working with the very good, very talented staff there.