South Bay Chinese School

Yes, the Mandarin Conversation 國語會話 (MC) class is designed for beginners of all ages. The idea is to learn Chinese through natural discussion. The class provides opportunities for you to interact and internalize the new skill with a language “partner.” Please take advantage of the open enrollment policy and join in anytime.

Our very popular Mommy & Me class 國語小小班 accepts students from age two to Five. When classes resume onsite, this class meets every Saturday from 11am to 11:55am. Please feel free to bring your little one at that time and try it out. Always check for current class time and pricing. Core Chinese classes can accept your child turns 5, and progress from Level Kindergarten to 8.

Please reference our events box on the home page of the website www.southbaychineseschool.org. Scroll down to the “Upcoming Events” box and the click the link of any event, or click on “View All Events” for a detailed list. Please also feel free to send us an info request on the contact page click here. 

We run two 16-weeks semesters a year. Fall semester goes from Sept to Mid-Jan. Spring semester runs from Mid-Jan to early June. Each class is progressive, and one textbook will be covered per 2 semesters. See Q.4 for school calendar.

You have a very common concern with most other parents. Over the past 49 years, our school has co-existed with thousands of very busy South Bay families. Our teachers are very experienced and flexible; they work with your family to help your kid(s) succeed, in the amount of time he/she can attend to Chinese learning.

Yes, we have open enrollment, and our teachers are very experienced and flexible in fitting new students into the classes.

Our experience is that developing a language skill requires frequent interaction. Families do find it necessary, and very helpful, to stay with our school more than 1 semester. With the tuition set at a very affordable rate (~ $7/hr), the once a year tuition collection was voted in as a necessary measure to streamline the time & effort required given the limited numbers of resources on hand to process new registration and payments.

Students in the conversation class learn Chinese through listening and natural discussion (also see question 1). It is a standalone class which can be a transition class to allow students more time to understand the new language by focusing on listening and speaking 聽和講first. Some Cantonese speaking students or students with English speaking parents would take this class as a preparation to migrate to a higher level core Chinese class later, such as L2 or even L3 classes. In contrast, students in the core Chinese classes must also learn reading and writing 讀和寫. They advance throughout the curriculum with the same classmates from kindergarten to AP (K – 9) levels. 

LK is for you if you are interested in learning traditional Chinese characters to write, and using the zhuyin注音 technique (bo po mo fo) to pronounce the words. HLK is for you if you are interested in using simplified Chinese characters to write, and using the pinyin 拼音 style to pronounce the words. Although some may consider one method “easier” or “more popular” than the other, most students are an “open book” and they will adjust well in either method. We recommend that your family evaluates both classes to find a better match for YOU. 

Our school is the only school in the South Bay to offer Cantonese classes 廣東話 班, which are taught by seasoned teachers. Besides having ample of chances to speak and learn in Cantonese, the unique and very effective curriculum helps students build an unusually strong vocabulary base, reading and writing in traditional characters. So, as they transition to the Mandarin track, they can then focus primarily in listening and pronunciation. We recommend that your family evaluates both classes to find a better match for YOU.