Student Voices

"She is so sweet and helpful. She comes to class with amazing energy and helps me with all my questions. I never feel embarrassed or feel like I can’t ask her something because she is so loving and caring. One of my favourite teachers of all time!! I want her to have a good life because she is such an amazing teacher"

"Prof. Chen is an amazing professor!! She made me feel so welcome and appreciated in the classroom. She is a very effective instructor and made complex language lessons very digestible and accessible. I feel like I learned so much Chinese in just a few months because of her. I have studied 5 different languages in several different countries and can recognise adept language instructors— Professor Chen is more than adept"

"I don’t know how but teacher made the lessons funny, interesting and engaging! I always felt happy on the lessons. Moreover, I liked how genuinely teacher tried to help every student and how you can see that she likes teaching this course. She is one of my best teachers so far. I think the classes would be not as interesting if I didn’t have Chen Jia as my teacher"

"I really liked Jia Chen laoshi’s teaching ! She helped me a lot. I liked the character classes which sparked my interest in characters and understanding their meaning and their building block element . She taught us the history and the meaning of each character. Also she made the class very interactive . I felt throughout the class even if it was a little big I always left having felt like I spoke and practiced a lot of mandarin. Thank you teacher! I will take up mandarin when I am back in london too :)"

Full version of students' comments in Semester 2, 2023-24 at HKU.

"Wonderful teacher, was very helpful, encouraging and inspiring, gave lots of valuable teaching material and insights! Provided lots and lots of feedback for all our coursework, and gave many examples relating to Chinese culture and society. This was an excellent course for deepening my understanding of the language, and while somewhat tough it definitely helped and was a great experience :)"

"Ms Jia Chen! Thank you for bringing enthusiasm to every class. This is the first formal Chinese class I have had after many years of self study, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. For me it was ideal, the class pushed me to read and write in a more formal style than I had ever before,exposed me to some elements of Classical Chinese and poetry that I wouldn’t have come across myself, and the large amount of writing based homework was super beneficial I think. I felt like I was being pushed but without the pressure ever getting too much; Jia Chen was very accommodating for when we all got busy or sick and would often communicate with us to make sure that the amount of work was manageable"

"Eveything, the passion for teaching can be really felt by students and is very encouraging to study hard. 谢谢Chen老师！"

"Laoshi is the nicest teacher on earth. She made me feel that she really care about their student and she got the spirit of the teacher"

"She was very engaging and personable, helping to convey the language in a way that was easy to comprehend. She was always willing to help to make sure we got the most out of the course"

"She is very encouraging and sweet.I love how she made every class engaging and interesting. I appreciate how she is putting all her effort on teaching Mandarin to us and cares for us"

Full version of students' comments in Semester 1, 2023-24 at HKU.

"Chen lao shi is one of the best teachers i’ve had studying in HKU for 3 years so far. I applaud her"

"Ms Chen is a very engaging teacher and is very passionate about her teaching. "

"Chen Lao shi de teaching style was very effective and made learning mandarin easier and fun."

Full version of students' comments in Semester 2, 2022-23 at HKU.

"She was able to teach us Chinese with great enthusiasm, a very wholesome teacher."

"She has a very clear pronunciation & gives constructive feedback for even small assignments."

"The teaching was amazing and I was encouraged every lesson to try my best."

Full version of students' comments in Semester 1, 2022-23 at HKU.

"tried to help every students in class"

" She was the best teacher I have had at HKU. Always positive and helping students that have difficulties!"

"very interactive and with the many practices, i managed to

Full version of students' comments in Semester 2, 2021-22 at HKU.

"The usage of everyday things of our student lives to teach us Chinese"

"Very interactive class, made Mandarin fun to learn, very motivating"

"Speaking in class can make anyone nervous and speaking a foreign language even more so, especially when it as different as Chinese is. However teacher always made us feel comfortable, it was okay to laugh at our own mistakes and teacher would always laugh along with us. She would take the time to assess us individually and give feedback pointing out mistakes, always in a cheerful and constructive tone. And when we made progress she would give plenty of praise as well and be very encouraging. Even though the class started late teacher would always be in a good mood and lift peoples spirits, playing music in the break or even one time letting us try mooncake. If I was staying here for one more semester I would definitely take Chinese at level 2"