Questions & Answers

About BMS

How is Beijing Mandarin School different from others?
Beijing Mandarin School specializes in teaching foreigners Mandarin for over 6 years. You, as a learner, can choose how you are going to learn with us. There are 3 modes of learning: Classroom Study; Online Study.

Classroom Study
All our teachers are carefully selected and trained through our intensive teachers training programs before they meet our clients for the first lesson. The teaching methods, which are based on over years commercial practice. The customized course books are designed and published exclusively for our own students.

CD-ROM Study
Our clients can use our interactive CD-ROM to study the same contents of 100 hours normal Classroom Study. If you are self-motivator and if you are not scared of using computers, you can easily master basic Mandarin through our CD-ROM.

Online Study
If you can access internet and want to learn more updated learning contents, you can take our unique online Mandarin courses. Thousands of people from over 45 countries in the world are learning Mandarin through our online courses.
If you live in Hong Kong or China, you can speed up your learning outcomes by using the combination of Classroom study with CD-ROM and Online study.

How are your teachers different from other teachers of Mandarin?
All of our teachers here are recruited by ourselves. We require their major related mandarin strictly accents. trained not only in how to teach Mandarin, but also in how to help students learn effectively. They have developed skills needed to understand the process of language learning, planning and organizing activities, assessing students'''' needs, managing the classroom, etc. All these skills are the core of our success.

Who should take these Online Mandarin courses?
We recommend you take our online Mandarin course if you

1. have limited budget on Mandarin study;
2. are too busy to come to our regular classes;
3. are currently enrolled in a school or university program and want to enhance your Mandarin study:
4. have an access to internet and don''''t hate computers.

How can I take your online course if I am a total beginner?
You can start Level I of Beginners Course. In Level I you will have 2 types of courses: Situational Learning and Structural Learning. Structural Learning is for you to understand the basic structures of Mandarin Chinese. We recommend you start from here. You may also spend some time on the Mandarin Pronunciation Table. Click on each sound and familiarize yourself with Mandarin syllables and tones. Click on each character to find out the meaning, pronunciation, and how it character is written.

What if I cannot complete your course in 90 days?
Once you have registered and paid online, you will have 90 days access to one level of our online courses. We suggest you spend one hour per day online. According to our survey over 95% of our students can complete the course within 90 days. If you have spent 90 hours and you still cannot master the contents of your paid course, we will let you repeat that level for free for another 90 days. If you want to repeat the course, you have to remember to logout each time after you complete your online study. Our system will record your study time only when you logout. If our record shows that you have not spent 90 hours on the online course, you will not be entitled to repeat the course for free. Your commitment is the key to your online study success.

What is the use of your online courses if I am currently studying Mandarin in my university?
If you are taking Mandarin in a school or university, you may use our online courses for enhancement. Many of the international schools students use our online courses if they need to catch up or additional after class practice.

About Mandarin learning

When learning Mandarin, can I focus on speaking and listening only?
Yes, you can, if your goal is to learn basic conversation only. But if you intend to acquire higher level Mandarin communication skills, learning the whole language is much more beneficial. Learning Chinese characters helps you master spoken Mandarin in the long term and increases your retention rate.

How about tones?
There are four tones (changes of pitch in pronunciation) in Mandarin. Many Western people find it is hard to master the tones. But overstress on tones can be detrimental to develop your fluency. We suggest you start with communication rather than over drill on tones.

Will you guarantee my success in mastering Mandarin?
Your success is our success. Each individual learn differently. Statistics indicate that over 85% of foreign Mandarin learners fail to achieve basic proficiency. New Concept Mandarin''''s teaching approach is developed to make your learning easy, effective and enjoyable. 99% of students enjoy learning Mandarin with us, and over 95% of students have achieved basic Mandarin proficiency and 85% students will renew to a more advanced level course.

Be a member of BMS online
How do I become a member of BMS?
Simply register on our web site by filling out the registration form. After receiving a confirmation letter from us, you automatically become our member.

What are the benefits of signing up as a member of BMS?
As an BMS member, you can have access to a fruitful lot of mandarin learning tools such as Mandarin Pinyin table, Mandarin learning tips etc. And all these are free!!!

Do I have to pay for signing up as BMS member?
No, it is FREE to become our member.

I got an email from you after signing up. What should I do with it?
After signing up as our member, our system will automatically send you a confirmation letter with an activation link. You can just open this email and click on the activation link. You account is then activated. You do not have to reply this email.

I can''''t login with my login name and password, help!!!
Are you a new member? Did you receive a confirmation email with an activation link? Have you clicked on the activation link? After signing up as our member, our system will send you a confirmation letter with an activation link. Simply open this email and click on the activation link, and your account will be activated.
If you are a member already, have you changed you password? Let us send you the password again
Still can''''t login? Contact our administrator

You can also read our quick start guide for the login guideline.
  Yes, I''''ve subscribed some online courses
  No, I have not subscribed any online courses

Online learning

Why should I take your Online Mandarin courses?
If you are not able to meet our instructors face-to-face to learn Mandarin, and you think you are a self-motivator to study on your own, you may, take our online courses. Many of our school students also choose to take the Online Courses as a supplement to their face-to-face study with our instructors.

What are the requirements for my computer system in order to access your online courses?
The minimum system requirements of taking the online course are

1. Hardware:
   • P MMX,
   • 64MB RAM,
   • min. 100MB HDD free spaces
   • with Sound Card, Speaker/Headphone
   • True color display with 800 x 600 resolution
   • System font = normal or small

2. Software:
   • Win 98 SE or above
   • flash player version 7 or MX
   • IE version 5.5 or about

3. Others:
   • Cookies enabled
   • Java script enabled

How can I pay for the online courses?
You can purchase online from our web site. To buy online, fill out the registration form to first become our member. It is free to become our member! Then you can simply pay online with your credit card. You can also pay with check or cash at our offices. You will receive your login name and password after payment has been received.

How come I can login with my own computer, but not others? I am sure my login name and password is correct!
You need to check whether that computer is using some sort of personal firewall. Usually Antivirus program such as Norton, Mcafee, PC-cillin will bundle with personal firewall. Please list www.newconceptmandarin.com into the access granted list.

I can login, I can view all the graphics, but not the courses, why?
You need flash player 7 or above to view the online courses properly. You can install it from here.

I can view the sample lessons on your web site, but not the online courses after I log in, why?
You need flash player 7 or above to view the online courses properly. You can download it from here.

CD-ROM self-learning package

What is Mandarin Tutor?
Mandarin Tutor is the name of our CD-ROM self-learning package. If you are not able to meet our instructors to take our Mandarin course, you may, as an alternative, use our CD-ROM self-learning package, or what we call "Mandarin Tutor".

What are the requirements for my computer system in order to use the CD-ROM self-learning package?
The minimum requirements of installing Mandarin tutor are

• An IBM-compatible multimedia PC with 33MHZ i486DX or Higher
• VGA with 256 colors
• A CD ROM drive
• A speakers and a microphone for recording
• 16 MB RAM
• 25 MB hard disk space
• An MPC-compatible sound card
• Windows 95, 98, NT or above.

How can I buy Mandarin Tutor?
You can purchase online from our web site. To buy online, fill out the registration form to first become our member. It is free to become our member! Then you can simply pay online with your credit card. You can also pay with check or cash at our offices. You will receive your login name and password after payment has been received.

Can I use the registration information online for Mandarin Tutor?
No. Mandarin Tutor is not yet a network enabled application.

Payment issue

Is it safe for me to pay online through BMS?
All payment initiated from Newconceptmandarin.com will be handled by our payment service provider, www.paydollar.com. Pay dollar will take care of all the security issues necessary for online payment.

My credit card is not in RMB, can I still pay online?
Yes, you can. BMS accepts international credit cards too! All transactions initiated within www.beijingmandarinschool.com will be settled using RenMinBi (HKD). We offer reference exchange rates in USD, Korean WON, Japan Yen, Euro, and Australian dollars in the product list. Exchange rates used in the currency converter are used for reference only. For the exact rate, please refer to the Bank exchange rate on the date of the transaction.