The Mandarin
Hobby
Course
Picking up a hobby: one of the most uniquely vital ingredients of wellbeing for teachers.
This is where we remember that we love to learn, too - not just teach.
Scroll below to read the details, or join the waitlist to receive the latest information, some free Mandarin language learning goodies and to get the booking link once it becomes available.
Dates of live cohort:
7 weeks: April 18th - May 30th 2025
x6 live lessons, 1 per week, + 1-1 feedback session
@ 500AED total fees
Introducing:
The Mandarin Hobby Course
with Sumbella 老师
A big issue is that many teachers barely have the time, energy or capacity to do things outside of work - let alone nurture a hobby.
But hobbies provide us with many things that help our wellbeing: collaboration, connection, and community.
For this reason, we are opening up a wellbeing focused hobby course at Well Teachers.
Taking some lessons in Mandarin in a small, supportive group isn’t just about learning a new skill.
It’s about creating opportunities to meet like-minded people who might even become friends.
After all, they say if you overcome hard things with a buddy you often become friends. And many think that learning Mandarin is exceptionally difficult.
For teachers in particular, taking a hobby course in something like Mandarin also puts you back in the learner seat - which can help enrich your teaching practice, too.
Mandarin can be an especially artistic and creative pursuit because of the characters, which we will be learning together right from the start.
In this course, you’ll learn to master writing and reading a curated selection Chinese characters perfect for beginners.
But the emphasis is on the word ‘hobby’ here - this course is fundamentally about relaxing, having fun, and nurturing a new skill for the sake of your own sheer joy of having a new learning experience.
T H E M A N D A R I N H O B B Y C O U R S E
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Speak it
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Read it
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Write it
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Learn it
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Understand it
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Use it
• Speak it • Read it • Write it • Learn it • Understand it • Use it
More details about the live cohort
Click to expand each one
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The curriculum is designed for complete beginners. You do not need to have learned any Chinese before joining this course.
Live cohort based
x6 live lessons on Zoom - 1.5hrs each
Private WhatsApp group for students
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The weekly lesson will include:
The first 30 minutes is creative & artistic: we play Chinese music and practice drawing and writing the characters for the lesson
A tingxie (an informal written character test - like a dictation - to build competency and muscle memory with writing the characters for that lesson)
A range of guided group games, speaking & role play practice with the group, facilitated by the teacher
Lots of literacy building and reading practice in Chinese - you'll be reading all slides in characters
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While there is no homework as such for this cohort, many find that they naturally enjoy practicing the characters outside of the lesson.
We will have a private WhatsApp group where you can post your character practice, share any questions, and get motivation and feedback from the group & teacher
We will have a private forum at Well Teachers just for our Mandarin lessons and cohort for you to review & check outside of lessons
We’ll follow a curriculum shared with you via PDF so that you can review and read outside of lessons
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There will be 6 live lessons that are 1.5hours each in duration
You can choose to spend some time / a few minutes per day here and there to send a message to the group, interact etc. and practice your Chinese characters for that week
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500AED for the pack of 6 lessons + a 1-1 feedback session post-course with Sumbella.
Payment is made in full and at a minimum of 1 week prior to the course starting.
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A maximum of 6 spots are available on this cohort.
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Places on this cohort are offered to members of The Well, who get first access.
Available places are then circulated to those on the newsletter list, and then opened up publicly on LinkedIn and Instagram.
To register interest and receive information and goodies about the course before places become available to book, scroll down to join the waitlist.
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#1: Friday 18th April @ 5pm UAE time
#2: Friday 25th April @ 5pm UAE time
#3: Friday 2nd May @ 5pm UAE time
#4: Friday 9th May @ 5pm UAE time
#5: Friday 16th May @ 5pm UAE time
#6: Friday 23rd May @ 5pm UAE time
#7: 30 minute 1-1 session scheduled individually on Friday
Note that these are tentative dates for the lessons and may change based on needs of the group after bookings are made to ensure times and dates are agreeable for all as we are all internationally based.
Notes from former students
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“If you were to tell me that I would be taught Chinese by a non-native speaker, I would be concerned, skeptical, and hesitant. However, Miss Sumbella easily broke this stereotype within just 1 session! She easily convinced me that yes, non native speakers are just as capable! So thank you for that! I would go and say to an extent that this is the most important thing I learned from her a couple of days ago. Wish I had a teacher like her back in high school!"
Saeed Al Mheiri - Scholarship Student @ ADIA, Abu Dhabi
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It was an interactive and engaging session, at the same time challenging too as we were learning a new language. The idea of sharing best practice is amazing where more than 100 teachers (Laoshi) can share the different strategies of teaching. For every lesson "The Flow of lesson" is very important and it's completely based on the Learning objective and the Success criteria. It's great for students to see the end goal and the journey of how to get there. Guided meditation was very relaxing, peaceful and productive.Last but not the least the raffle which makes us more energetic and happy to see the winners.
- Teacher in the UAE joining a workshop featuring a part learning Mandarin.
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I really love Sumbella's energy and positive motivation through the lessons! I don't think there is a better teacher or a better manner of learning Chinese. I really love the structure or the flow in which her course is designed. It is like building a tower one brick at a time. Also love how [she] insists on learning how to write the characters.
- Esha Kothari of @nomadicindians
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"Even though my training with Sumbella was only a day, it was the most fun I had compared to the past couple of years of doing Chinese!"
Emirati Scholarship Student on a Pre-China Orientation day workshop sponsored by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA)
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"If the lessons ain't with Sumbella, I don't want them!"
- A parent wanting Mandarin tuition upon hearing I had no availability. 🙃
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Her teaching method is fun, that’s what motivates me to continue.
Hamda Abbas - Student of Mandarin Chinese - Private Classes, Emirati Business Owner @humanandbeings
BY THE END OF THE COURSE YOU’LL BE ABLE TO READ, WRITE, SAY AND UNDERSTAND THESE CHARACTERS