“Trying to find Chinese tutors is very difficult, so this was a convenient option for us. The teachers my son has had for over four years have been friendly and encouraging. The online games and practices were very helpful and easy to access between lessons. The negative was that after four years of weekly lessons and practice 4 days a week, my son tested at the same level as he did when he began. So, although he didn't go backwards, we think we need some live practice or something different.”
“I think Panda tree is great, but the game on the kid's hub needs to be more interactive and need more variety. For instance, make the kids say the word out loud in order to score or replicate of the game they just did in the class with the teacher. My son picked Panda Tree because of the Kid's hub, but he loosing interest fast....”
“Really amazing tutors who work to engage even the youngest kids! There are a few formatting issues that I wish were different- the tutors can type in words you're learning but it's hard to scroll down to see while staying engaged with the lesson. Also, this program would GREATLY benefit from an app to make learning between lessons much easier, especially for kids to do on their own. As it is now, it's a website that's cute but not particularly easy to navigate. An app would make it a lot easier to review, listen to songs/see lyrics, etc. Truthfully we go to youtube to find songs/videos with subtitles to review/reinforce what we learn during lessons because it's easier to navigate.
That said, the instruction/interaction is AWESOME!”
“Flexible to use. Hope to improve :* Some tutors are good, some are not very impressive. * If there is an app instead of Non-Apple browser ,will be even better.”
“PandaTree is a convenient and affordable platform that has connected us to a very qualified teacher. We receive constant feedback and track progress weekly.”
“My daughter needed a way to keep up with her Mandarin speaking and listening skills after the pandemic shut down her Chinese Immersion school. This was a great and easy replacement, though only offering 25 or 50 min lessons, and though online learning is difficult for young children to sit down and participate in, these sessions really help my daughter keep up her language skills. Her younger brother is now learning from these lessons as well. It really helps to have a credit option where you can choose a date and time that works for you and your family. Having the ability to choose tutors after reviewing their bio is helpful too. We started off with the complimentary lesson first to break it in, and it worked out so great, we are returning customers! The only things that could use improvement are technology. The games sometimes have a glitch in that it doesn’t say the Chinese word for some of the vocabulary that the user needs to match it to. Some of the matching word games also aren’t age-appropriate for my children who don’t know how to read fully yet (ages 2-5). Also, the games and the lessons’ “stuff to do” assignments are limited in that the teachers cannot assign coloring and puzzle piece games they can play during lessons, but rather, the assignments are only matching games. This gets old quickly for my kids. But all in all, we love PandaTree!”
“Our experience with PandaTree has been fun for our 10 yo son. It was hard to find a venue for learning and conversation because our son is quite advanced (6 year history in a bilingual education setting). Most other programs are very introductory for young kids or they are more advanced but boring. Our son loves his tutor, Erik, he is funny and engaging, patience and encouraging. We hardly realize learning is happening,... but it is!”
“My son has had 3 classes so far and has really liked them all! We’ve used 2 different tutors, and both were very encouraging. There are decent materials for practicing outside of the class. We are still in the very beginner level learning stage but the classes are engaging and he looks forward to class each week!”
“We have been taking classes with Panda Tree for two years. We found a teacher that my kids love. They seem to be improving the curriculum which is great. I have a million suggestions for them on additional ways to improve the curriculum because it still needs a lot of improvement. (I am an ESL teacher) But of all of the online Spanish schools we have tried, Panda Tree is our favorite.”
“I'm really happy with the overall experience with using PandaTree as a platform for my 8-year old to learn Mandarin. Heng is the teacher we have and he is very good. The teachers seem very experienced teaching children online and using tools to make the sessions interactive. After the session there is also a summary of the lesson so you know what the child has learned. The only minor point I have is that sometimes the platform doesn't work properly and we need to reconnect. The overall learning experience with PandaTree is great!”
“We love panda tree. We use it for our 5 year old to start learning Spanish. I do wish the tutors were more kid friendly for virtual learning, such as using props or funny hats. One tutor we found does this, and my son loves her. When she is not available, he doesn't want to do class as other tutors are boring to him. Related to this, when his favorite teacher is gone, there is no warning, note when she will be back, or at to contact her about her return. Is she gone forever? A week? It's a problem because she is the tutor my son wants. In general, the program is nice. My son does want to learn more useful things though (preschool class is colors and animals).”
“The convenience of learning at home can't be beat! Our son has a creative, energetic and positive teacher. I think his listening skills have improved a LOT since the past year of lessons, but I still don't hear him speak much.”
“We are very happy with Panda Tree! Our daughter has been learning Chinese On this platform since she was 3 years old. She has formed a great relationship with her teacher, Yang! Thank you, Yang for the great weekly classes! All the teachers we have tried have been great and our daughter enjoys her weekly sessions a lot. She retains a lot of vocabulary. We hope our daughter will continue enjoying Panda Tree and gain herself this third language”
“My daughter really enjoys her lessons. She started at 3 and is now 5 and we've done them off and on over the years. For us its for fun and to give her exposure to other language sounds (Mandarin). When she's older she can choose to take it more seriously or back away! We may also add Spanish or switch to Spanish at some point.”
