Juan immediately connected with my son. She reviewed his schoolwork to assess his level and came up with a plan for the things he needed to work on. He is excited to continue studying with her and we are both confident his sessions with Juan will strengthen his Chinese skills.

–Mary M.

Juan Guo is a great tutor for my two sons. We recently moved to New York after living in Shanghai for over 6 years. Our kids are fluent in Mandarin and we did not want them to lose this. From the moment we met Juan she insisted that we only speak Mandarin. She is kind but disciplined and I feel her strategy of informal conversation mixed with formal reading and writing of Hanzi are just what we need. I recommend her highly.

–Leslie B.

I am writing this review in support of Ms. Guo Zhi Juan as a Mandarin in-person tutor for children.  Ms. Juan exhibits exceptional qualities to maximize the student-teacher interaction by offering sustained engagement, a versatile and creative lesson plan, and ongoing lesson evaluation to meet her students’  evolving needs and abilities.  Our son has benefited tremendously over the past year from Ms. Juan’s instruction, quickly advancing from only expressing a few words to holding conversations with adults in a Mandarin-only classroom setting.  We believe that our son’s Mandarin comprehension and verbal skills are a result of Ms. Juan’s teaching.  Any family is fortunate to have her as a Mandarin teacher.     

We welcomed Ms. Juan to our home as an in-home Mandarin teacher for our son since he was 3.5 years old.  Our son had never received any formal instruction in Mandarin, and we feared a 90-minute lesson would be unsustainable.  Ms. Juan stepped up to the challenge and reassured us from day one.  She took the time to get to know our son’s preferences and modified the lesson plan to improve engagement with a restless toddler.  For example, she incorporated puppets, physical motion and activity with the use of tossing balls or jumping/hopping, songs and rhythm, stickers, and other tools and techniques to maintain our son’s interest while simultaneously accomplishing the days’ lesson goals.  She was also very judicious in tracking our son’s progress and followed up weekly with detailed lesson plan in both English and Mandarin.  Each week our son’s mandarin speech and comprehension skills visibly improved, and he also gained confidence and comfort in his ability to speak Chinese.

Ms. Juan created a safe and comforting learning environment which allowed our son to absorb, practice, and enjoy the Mandarin language.  He now communicates readily in Chinese with his Chinese school teachers and grandparents.  We have benefited greatly from Ms. Juan’s dedicated approach to teaching and passion for education.  We recommend Ms. Juan wholeheartedly to any family with an interest in learning Mandarin.

–Cynthia

Juan is an excellent Mandarin tutor who provided me with an enjoyable experience highly conducive to learning. She quickly gauged my proficiency level and adapted our sessions to help me meet my learning goals and get what I wanted out of the tutoring. I highly recommend Juan as a tutor. She is also very friendly, responsive, and easy to communicate with, which is a great plus.

–Renee L.

I’ve had several language tutors in recent years and Juan stands alone in the level of preparation and thought she puts into her lessons.  She really wants to her students to succeed and brings that energy to every session.  She’s an experienced teacher, and is very good at pacing lessons and adapting to the student.  She always pushes you to do your best but also understands when to slow down if something is taking more time. As an adult student fitting in lessons with a busy work and life, I would definitely recommend her to anyone similarly interested in getting the most out of language tutoring.

–Alan

Juan is a fantastic teacher – she is incredibly professional but also has a friendly and kind demeanor. I have worked with several different Mandarin tutors and made the most progress working with Juan. I can not recommend her enough!

–Astrid A.

Juan is an excellent teacher. She is patient, kind, and very helpful at teaching practical and useful Chinese–which at times, the textbooks don’t do. Often, she will look at certain vocabulary words and give you alternatives which will make you sound more like a native speaker. In addition, she is able to teach more formal Chinese if that is your preference (we have done some HSK work on top of our conversation practice). Thus far, I have had a wonderful experience as she has a great sense of humor and makes conversations–even with my limited ability to speak Chinese–entertaining and enjoyable. She also is good at assigning homework and providing useful corrections to help you grow and perfect your skills. Absolutely worth it!

–Sean P.

I have taken a few language lessons over the years. Juan is an excellent teacher. The methodology used (Chinese made easy) is efficient -if you do your homework- and the lessons are intense. Ju An bombards you with questions/ exercises to help improve your speaking as fast as possible. I highly recommend her. Reading this back it could sound scary. Juan adapts to your level of course. But you will be tired at the end 😉

–Quentin P.

Wonderful! She took the time to explain concepts and was very patient. Highly recommend!

–Katie H.

Juan is an excellent Chinese tutor who excels at making the language come alive for her students. One of my favorite things about class was her way of connecting the words we learned with elements of Chinese culture and history—it’s amazing to learn the complex backstory behind a single written character. She’s very knowledgeable, and proud of her language and culture, and that makes studying Chinese with her that much more rewarding. She tailors each lesson to suit your particular strengths and weaknesses, and she’ll also remember details you shared with her during prior classes, so much of the lesson feels like you’re chatting with a friend. She is compassionate and encouraging, but also strict enough to ensure that you’re really working hard and learning for the entire lesson. Class always zips by quickly, and you’ll leave each lesson looking forward to the next one.

—Erica Martin, American,ericakatemartin@gmail.com

Juan is a great teacher. She is both demanding and flexible. To learn Chinese and the subtle distinctions between tones, you have to repeat the words again and again.  Juan sets the pace. She also knows when to give you a rest. She will then tell you the story of a character, or take time for small talk, provided it’s in Mandarin. She is very good a creating conversations based on what is here and now… At the end of a class with her, I was always eager to schedule the next one. I have made tremendous progress thanks to her dynamic teaching.  —Joëlle Méric,

—France, joelle.meric@wanadoo.fr

I began to learn Chinese with Juan about five months ago. I recommend her because she personalizes the class depending on each individual student. Sometimes I am overloaded with work and want to have the lesson while walking in the park near my office. She is always okay with it and uses the subjects we see on the walk to learn. She makes learning Chinese fun. I think that’s why I learn so fast.

—Antoine Guéret, France, itsx.antoine@hotmail.fr

She is really patient. Also Chinese sometimes can be very hard. If I need quick understanding and explanation, her command of the English language makes this possible. Her schedule is also very flexible which is very important for me.

      —Darja Sekerus, darja_ns@hotmail.com

She is always willing to answer my questions, even if they are very silly questions. “Why can I say this? Why can’t I say this?” She always pushes you to speak more, to speak as much as you can in Chinese, even if your pace is slow. She is also very patient which I think is very important for a language teacher.

  —James Lamond, England, lamondjb@gmail.com

I have been learning Chinese with Juan for six months now and I get better and better after each lesson. I recommend her because she is very good. She is very good at explaining Chinese culture and way of thinking through the language itself.

—David Pihl, Sweden, Dgk.pihl@gmail.com

First she is very patient. And she has a scheme. She follows the structure of the textbook but she always adapts it to particular situations. She is very good in this way, makes you use the language by talking about your real everyday life. And being patient is very important especially for beginners, because in the beginning of learning the language you talk like a baby.

—Antonino Marciano, Italy, antonino.marciano@gmail.com

Juan is a very good Chinese teacher, friendly, communicative and dedicated. She has a good sense for the problems that Westerners are facing when learning Chinese. Thanks for her teaching(almost 10 months), my Chinese has definitely improved. One reason whey I chose her as my teacher is that she speaks very clear and well sounding standard Chinese of northern China—which is actually the standard language of all China.

—Dirk Steinmann, Germany, dirksteinmannberlin@yahoo.de