Why you must ask for your Mandarin teacher’s PSC Test certificate...

It is very easy to find a "Mandarin teacher" on the internet. For example, a Chinese student studying in the UK who "teaches" Mandarin part-time and without any language teaching experience.

But it is very difficult to find a truly professional Mandarin teacher who speaks Mandarin to the highest level of proficiency and without any accent or dialect.

In China, Mandarin teachers are strictly ranked according to how they perform in the Putonghua Shuiping Ceshi ("PSC") Test which is an official test of spoken fluency in Mandarin developed by the Chinese Ministry of Education. For more information please see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putonghua_Proficiency_Test

Mandarin teachers in China are ranked according to the six categories of proficiency. Please see the desktop version of this site for a detailed explanation of each.

Level 1A denotes the highest level of proficiency in Mandarin (top 3%). Level 1B denotes the second highest (the next 5%).

All of the Academy's Mandarin teachers hold PSC certificates showing that they speak Mandarin to Level 1B and above (i.e. the top 8%). Although the requirement for Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages is Level 2A (error less than 13%), the Academy insists on only having teachers who have achieved Level 1 because we strongly believe that your time is precious and you certainly do not want to waste time learning “incorrect Chinese”!

As a result, the Academy's students typically emerge speaking Mandarin correctly and without an accent or dialect as can so often be the case with students who use "Mandarin teachers" with a lower level of proficiency according to the PSC Test.

So, when selecting your "Mandarin teacher", make sure you ask to see his or her PSC Certificate, together with a certified teaching qualification such as the IPA (International Profession Certification Association), ICA (International Chinese Language Teachers Association) or an equivalent degree such as TCSOL (Teaching Chinese as a Second Language).