GCSE Chinese Specialist with both Edexcel and AQA. Native professional and qualified Mandarin teacher. The lesson is GCSE exam focused.

Shannon, 焉老师, was my GCSE Mandarin Chinese teacher, who has helped me significantly in attaining the top grades via extensive and thorough preparation - in which I ultimately achieved a grade 9 (nine); owing to her teachings and guidance.

Shannon 老师 structures her lessons tailored towards each student's specific learning style and needs after getting to know them. In my instance, she has helped in pushing myself out of my particularly inactive comfort zone one lesson at a time, by having me engage more in conversation during lessons - which I have learnt is crucial towards learning a language well.

Shannon is an incredible tutor. She helps you every step of the way in your own personalised experience to suit your needs. She helped me achieve a Grade 9 in Mandarin, as a foreigner, a task only to be handled by a teacher with great teaching ability, like her. The Work set is enough for you to easily manage and also good to engage your language skills. Fantastic Teacher .

Ms Shannon Yan is a friendly, patient and considerate teacher who is dedicated to ensuring that her students perform to the best of their abilities. Along with actively encouraging a positive attitude to learning Mandarin, she is always willing to help any student, from marking homework and exercises to responding to questions. Her lessons are fun and engaging, and the cheerful atmosphere really makes it an enjoyable experience. Her care in teaching is evidenced by the way she focuses on ensuring that the lesson is paced to match the students' learning speed, and checking that they have adequately revised previous topics before moving forward.
We have known this lady for more than three years and we recommend her wholeheartedly.

To me, she is not my only chinese teacher growing up, but she it the best one. She engages me to learn through the way she teaches, making sure that she has delivered all the content I needed to know, by explaining in both languages, but also shows other smaller topics, so that I could learn further about the foundations of the language and origins of the culture. Also as she was capable to, she helped me with practising my speaking, by holding conversations with me, to giving examples for different daily scenarios, and more everyday spoken language, as writing and speaking in never the same.

I highly recommend learning Mandarin with Shannon as she is an excellent teacher. She was my first Chinese teacher and took me from my first lesson learning Pinyin all the way to Chinese GCSE and A level. Her explanations are clear and concise, and thanks to my lessons with her I was able to sit my GCSE and A-Level exams a year early and achieved the highest A* result. Shannon has a deep understanding of these exams and I am sure she will be able to take you to the highest grades in any Chinese exam, just like she did for me.

Furthermore, she supported my Chinese studies outside of the traditional examinations and helped nurture a deep love for Chinese culture by introducing me to Chinese music, novels, and magazines that were ideally suited to my level. Her insights into modern China ensured that I was able to gain a real cultural understanding of the country that went far beyond just the superficial level.

Shannon is an excellent Mandarin teacher and I am certain that any student from complete beginner to advanced level will benefit immensely by learning with her.

I highly recommend Shannon as a Mandarin tutor. I have known her for a few years of teaching my son. She is caring, committed, positive and organized and communicates well not just with the students but also fellow parents.
She is proud of her native language, passionate about teaching it and finds joy in teaching other people which I have found to be a rare asset in teachers.
She has great communication and planning skills. She is professional, engaging and friendly.
I can confirm she would be a great asset to anyone who employs her.

Learning a language is not just about knowing the words. It's not just about "knowing how to talk" in the language. It's not just about knowing how to understanding what was said. It's about knowing the appropriate words that can be used in a specific context. It's about having the confidence in yourself to speak the language. Finally, when you listen to a sentence you should already form opinions of what was said rather than simply translate it. Sharon has always emphasised these principles in her lessons. Every time when I learn a new word she gives a plethora of examples on how to use them and how to use them in a different way. Sharon has always encouraged me to talk to my peers which would greatly boost my confidence to speak Chinese and actually use it to create opportunities outside of class. Sharon always wanted me to respond to what was said and exchange opinions which as a result made me think in Chinese. This is what makes her different from everyone else. Sharon isn't in it for the money, she has a genuine passion for Chinese and teaching. Further, Sharon is qualified to cover all areas of Chinese from Chinese culture to the interesting origins of Chinese radicals which makes her very competent at what she does. It doesn't matter who you are she will always aim to make you fall in love with the language. As she believes that if you fall in love with the subject the grades will naturally follow. For those who want to pass with excellence, choose Sharon as 94% of her students achieve an A*, making me proud to contribute to the statistic. She has always shown an amazing ability to adapt to my learning style and my aims, making progression fast and every penny worth it.

Sharon's teaching style can be strict but I have also seen her nice side, learning from her was like a journey. A journey you should experience where by the end of it, you will understand yourself more and become a better person.

She is a great tutor because she taught me

Shannon is the best thing that happened to me in my childhood. She is incredibly patient, intelligent, kind and full of empathy. Not only she taught me Chinese, she paved the way for me to grow to be a better person. I recommend her to all people who seek to learn Mandarin Chinese, or want to develop a lifelong friend.

Shannon is the best teacher I've ever had! She makes every lesson well-prepared and fun at the same time, making sure we are fully engaged with the lesson but doesn't give you any pressure.