Wall Street Chinese

I recently took a calligraphy class through a ZOZI coupon at the school. I spent the two hours I was there practicing brush strokes. I understand this was an introduction to Calligraphy, which means you focus on baby steps before you can actually begin writing, but found a lot was missing such as a context for the art, instruction on strokes, information about how to buy supplies, etc.
My instructor was a very young (I’m guess 20 at most), and friendly woman who spoke limited English so there was not much conversation or introduction to the art. Just, here’s paper, here’s a brush. Let’s go.
To be fair I contacted the Wall Street Chinese’s director, Ms. Helen Liu about my experience, and received a curt reply. This makes me believe what other reviewers have written that they are much more interested in filling their classes than in the quality of their classes.
Can you learn something here? Perhaps, but you will work very hard to do so.
BEWARE: After posting this review the owner contacted me via Unilocal to admonish me and tell me to revise my posting. She actually told me NOT to write such things. WOW. I’m frankly appalled and this just confirms that this is not a place you want to go because you can now add harassment to the list of things they do wrong.

I must say that Wall Street Chinese is superficially a good concept, it sounds professional, and the director’s credentials seem impressive. However, I thought that although Ms. Liu might have a business background it does not translate to effective teaching of basic Chinese, let alone business Chinese. It seems as if the point of the business is to make money, with LITTLE regard to quality.
First, students who are unable to afford her private lesson fees are grouped together, oftentimes inappropriate to their level, so that a group lesson can start. I had already studied Chinese for five years, and was grouped with a complete beginner, with assurances that we were at the same level. What should have happened was for Ms. Liu to wait for other prospective students appropriate to be grouped with instead of rushing to make the quick buck.
This might be forgiven if the lessons were good… they are the opposite of good, and are in fact VERY bad. There is no lesson plan because she wings the lessons. I bought a package of her private lessons to see if there would be an improvement, but there was none. Her lessons are very unstructured in that one lesson does not build on previous ones. It’s as if each lesson is independent, with hardly any grammar or vocabulary review. Assigning work to be reviewed at the next lesson solidifies the student’s grasp of the concept. it is not the teacher «babysitting» the student, as she says. Review is the key, it’s also no use telling the student to read a Wall Street article and then summarizing it, with no regard to using the phrases and grammar presented in the lesson.
Furthermore, language is something that should be done by doing. During the lessons the student is hardly given a chance to speak and practice in that Ms. Liu talks most of the time. A lot of Ms. Liu’s time seems to be spent advertising for and promoting her business. The website looks good because of that. It’s advertising which belies the actual quality of what is offered. What is «Business Chinese» but speaking about business in Chinese? The point is to get good training in Chinese, period. One cannot find that here. The «Business Chinese» offered here which is supposed to fulfill a niche and differentiate Ms. Liu’s purported skills is illusory. That would be fine if the training was even half-​decent, which it is not. Please look elsewhere!

Helen is a really thoughtful teacher. When we go over vocabulary, I learn about the word’s origins and other useful phrases. We discuss the grammar after going over the text. Afterwards we would have a conversation on a topic that’s related/​tangential to the text. She is very knowledgeable about the culture and language. She wants to know your goal/​motive for learning Chinese and tries to steer the lesson towards it.

I was on a quest to find groups who have a taste for tea and tea culture. Wall Street Chinese came up in my search on
and I checked out the group’s Web site for more information.
I decided to go to my first event – Meditation. The experience was amazing and very relaxing. I was instantly connected with the people around me. This was my first experience with group meditation and it left me feeling fully energized!
When Chinese calligraphy classes were offered, not having been exposed to a lot of art in my life, the idea of calligraphy appealed to me. Wall Street Chinese invited two artists (separate events): one teaching the traditional drawing methods, and the other presented contemporary flavors to the art.
By the way, I did enjoy several events with Tea – my main objective. On the day before the Dragon Boat Festival, I attended a Chinese Tea Ceremony event. If you have never seen or heard of the Chinese Tea Ceremony, then this is a must! Seriously, you need to see this.
Located conveniently near my office in the Financial District, Wall Street Chinese offers offers a variety of events and programs: Mandarin (beginner & business level), Chinese cultural cinema, documentaries, philosophies of Confucianism/​Tao/​Buddhism/​Feng Shui, and so many more.
Special thanks goes to Helen, the organizer of Wall Street Chinese. She made all of this possible. Xie xie! :-)