About

We created the Mandarin Reading Club to teach students how to read Mandarin Chinese. Our goal is to enable students living in regions where Mandarin Chinese is not the primary language, to be able to read close to the level of a native speaker from China or Taiwan. While we realize that this is a lofty goal, we’re committed to making the Mandarin Reading Club an invaluable resource for dedicated students who want to reach that goal.

See our FAQ for more information on the importance of reading and why we focused the Mandarin Reading Club to address this need.

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Read Aloud with the Mandarin Reading Club

The Mandarin Reading Club publishes leveled, read-aloud videos that are suitable for beginners all the way to advanced learners. Students gain a sense of accomplishment early on as they complete videos appropriate for their ability. As they watch and listen to the videos, they are encouraged to read along with the narrator, connecting words to sounds while improving listening comprehension.

Every video page includes an interactive learning section where students can practice reading the Chinese transcript on their own, view the English translation, listen to audio sounds of each word, view the vocabulary list and even practice vocabulary recall using the included flashcard program.

We also provide full support for learning both Simplified and Traditional character sets as well as access to both Pinyin and Bopomofo phonetic systems. The vocabulary we use is primarily based on the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) from China and The Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language (TOCFL) from Taiwan. These are standard Mandarin proficiency tests for foreign students and non-native Mandarin speakers planning to study or work in China or Taiwan.

Our Company Background and Values

We understand that the education of our children is of the utmost importance to parents. Therefore, we want to be transparent about who we are and our approach to teaching Mandarin Chinese.

The Mandarin Reading Club is an educational service created by Gold Medal Education LLC. Our company is registered, licensed and located in Burlingame, California, USA.

Our video content and instruction materials are suitable for students from grade school through high school and are free from any political or sensitive topics. By providing support of both Simplified and Traditional character sets along with Pinyin and Bopomofo, we strive to offer the most inclusive Mandarin Chinese learning experience regardless of the student’s background or where they may encounter written Chinese in the future.

We are self funded and do not receive any influence or support from any government, domestic or foreign. If you have any concerns about our content and/or teaching materials, please contact us and let us know. We will be happy to address your concerns.

Our Founders 

Stephanie Zhao
Co-Founder

Stephanie is a co-founder of the Mandarin Reading Club and is responsible for content development, marketing, tutoring and camps. She grew up in China and holds a BA in English from Shanghai Normal University. Now residing in the USA, she is driven to help her kids learn Mandarin so that they can communicate with their relatives and friends in Asia. The idea of a “Mandarin Reading Club” actually started from her leading weekend get-togethers with her daughter and her friends at the local library where the kids would all participate in reading through a different Chinese book every week. While the kids had fun learning Chinese with their friends, it was difficult for them to keep up with a consistent schedule due to weekend activities and classes. Now with the online Mandarin Reading Club, everyone can learn Mandarin Chinese anywhere and at their own pace.

James Hsu
Co-Founder

James is a co-founder of the Mandarin Reading Club and is responsible for product design and technology. As a child growing up in the USA, James spoke a bit of Mandarin with his parents but never formally took any Chinese language classes. Decades later, James realized the importance of being able to communicate in Chinese when his company was working with contractors from China. As an adult, he took Chinese classes at a local college and learned on his own while travelling in China. Through this experience, he became passionate about the language and came up with ideas on how to best learn Chinese for those living outside of Mandarin Chinese speaking regions. Now as a parent, he is committed to making sure his kids learn to read Mandarin Chinese. James holds a BS in Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and an MBA from the University of Southern California.