Eat and Learn Chinese:
The Language Secrets of Chinese Cuisine Revealed

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Eat and Learn Chinese:  the Language Secrets of Chinese Cuisine Revealed

The one evening course that features a delicious dinner combined with a lesson by Yao Zhang, the founder of the Yao Mandarin school and the learnchinesepod.com podcast.

Do you love Chinese food?

Do you love Chinese food?  Well, we do too.  Really, who doesn’t like Chinese food?  Chinese restaurants, from the most humble corner takeout to an elegant banquet hall, are a feature of the landscape, not just in Toronto, but in just about every major city on the planet. Yet, as much as you enjoy Chinese cuisine, wouldn’t you like a chance to bring your appreciation of Chinese dining up to a whole new level? 

That’s why we’re so pleased to be able to bring you this new introductory one evening course entitled Eat and Learn Chinese: the Language Secrets of Chinese Cuisine Revealed, a revolutionary concept being offered for the first time through Yao Mandarin School, a respected Chinese language school in Toronto.  This course will not take place in one of Yao Mandarin School’s classrooms, however.  Rather, it will be held where a food course should be held – in the friendly and relaxed atmosphere of a restaurant – where your instructor, Yao Zhang, the founder of Yao Mandarin School, will lead you through a unique class that combines language instruction and eating.   

You love Chinese food, but…

As much as you may enjoy Chinese food, haven’t there been times when you felt that there was more to know?  Face it, ignorance is not always bliss, and knowledge can enhance appreciation.

Have any of these ever happened to you?

•    You’re at a restaurant, hoping to enjoy an authentic experience, when you notice that other diners are eating with chopsticks while the waiter has brought you a knife and fork?

•    You can’t avoid feeling that the English-language menu in front of you has been edited somehow, and that the really interesting stuff is on the “other” menu, the one written in Chinese characters?

•    You walk by one of those really, really authentic-looking Chinese places, the type of "find" that seems it might have been teleported straight from Beijing, and even though you consider yourself an adventurous diner and an open-minded Torontonian, you end up shying away from walking inside because you weren’t sure you could navigate the system.

•    Perhaps you even pride yourself on your sophisticated knowledge of Chinese food – its subtleties and variety, its inspired use of natural ingredients – yet for all your appreciation of the cooking itself, when you go to a restaurant, you can’t even say “please” or “thank you” or “could you please bring some more tea” in the language of the cuisine.

Wouldn’t it be great if….

Look, many of us dream that we had the time and resources to take courses and become fluent in many languages.  We’re Torontonian, though – we’re busy people with things to do and places to go.  We don’t deal in dreams, we deal in results.  That’s why Yao Zhang, founder of the Yao Mandarin school, has created this unique one-evening course.  Eat and Learn Chinese: the Language Secrets of Chinese Cuisine Revealed is designed to yield practical and carefully targeted results in about 2 hours and 45 minutes, including a delicious meal.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could:

read the basics of a Chinese menu, including identifying the Chinese characters for your favorite dishes? 
ask for chopsticks, tea, water, or the house specialty – understandably, politely and – in Chinese?
learn basic Chinese and the fundamentals of politeness and greetings, those little things that help bring comfort and good feelings between people in any culture?
feel the confidence that comes with being able to walk into a Chinese restaurant anywhere in the world and use your new skills?
learn all of this in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere without spending months of training and investing a fortune?

In fact, wouldn’t it be ideal if you could be introduced to the basic language skills necessary to navigate a Chinese restaurant in just one evening, while spending only $42.99 -- and enjoying a delicious meal?

Introducing Eat and Learn Chinese: the Language Secrets of Chinese Cuisine Revealed

The first step is as simple as clicking here and making your reservation for the Eat and Learn Chinese:  the Language Secrets of Chinese Food Revealed introductory one evening course.  This course is designed to provide a basic grounding in key food vocabulary; survival sentences, including polite phrases; and recognition of the Chinese characters most commonly found on restaurant menus. 

Whether you’re a real culinary explorer who knows about that obscure new congee place in Toronto Chinatown even before it’s spotted by the foodees on chowhound.com, or you’re just a down to earth Torontonian who wants to take those first few steps beyond spare ribs and egg rolls at the local takeout, this course offers something for you. 

The class opens with an interactive lesson led by Yao Zhang, a respected teacher who has taught the Chinese language on three continents.  No dry textbook stuff here.  Yao believes in putting his students at ease and getting them involved.  Within ten minutes of the start of class, you will already be forming your first basic Chinese sentences.  Yao’s method is interactive – pointing, gesturing, pantomiming are all encouraged.  After about an hour of instruction, it will be time to start putting your language where your mouth is – with real food in an authentic  restaurant in Chinatown.  Be warned though!  Whether ordering soup, rice, noodles, dumplings, pork, chicken or beef, you won’t be allowed to eat without putting your new language skills to use – by asking for each dish politely and by name.  Don’t worry, as this task will seem easy by this point in your lesson.

The class continues throughout the meal, where you will use all of your senses to engage and absorb your new language skills. 

Yao Zhang has taught Mandarin (the standard form of spoken Chinese throughout both mainland China and Taiwan) to non-Chinese in Shanghai, Paris, Lyon, New York and Toronto; He is the founder of Yao Mandarin School, a Chinese language school.  Yao Mandarin School offers services ranging from its signature 30 hour Mandarin Quick Learn program for complete beginners, to intermediate and advanced courses, private tutoring and translation. 

Yao believes that people learn best when they’re having fun and are interested in the subject matter.  What meets those criteria better than dinner?  We Torontonian love to eat and love to learn – so why not bring these two passions together.  That’s why Yao has created this new program, Eat and Learn Chinese: the Language Secrets of Chinese Cuisine Revealed, a fun and interactive one-evening course designed for busy people with no background in Chinese language to meet this exciting language in a friendly zero-pressure environment.

During the course of the evening, Yao will introduce you to spoken vocabulary for many food items; teach you how to construct basic sentences using key verbs such as “eat”, “drink”, “want”, and “bring”; the “magic words” of polite spoken Chinese -- "hello", "please", "thank you" -- that make for a more pleasant experience for both the diner and staff; and teach you how to recognize the key Chinese characters for common restaurant dishes and for numbers.

Yao realizes that this is a lot to absorb in one evening, even with the invigorating atmosphere of this interactive course.  That is why the course includes several handouts to take home for your reference.  These include printed notes summarizing the class, a table reproducing the Chinese characters discussed in the class (as well as bonus characters!).  For those of you technologically inclined, we can also email you an MP3 file containing a summary of the audio content of the class, allowing you to review on your ipod or other player at your convenience.  Yao will also provide you with an email address in case you have any follow up questions after the class. 

How much does the one evening Eat and Learn Chinese: the Language Secrets of Chinese Cuisine Revealed course cost?  Frankly, not that much more than you might pay for a decent meal on its own.  Since this is a new program, it is being offered for the special introductory price of $42.99. 

That includes your lesson with one of Toronto's top Chinese language teachers; food; tax; tip AND all of Yao’s specially designed handouts.  In order to make this opportunity even more appealing, we are also offering:

• a 10% discount to any group of two or more 
• a voucher good for a $5 credit for any of your friends who take a later session (or for yourself, if you’d like to enjoy the class again)
• a second, very special, voucher for $100 off the signature Quick Mandarin: 30 hours program, a course that teaches the fundamentals of spoken Mandarin in just 30 hours.  Quick Mandarin: 30 Hours is an ideal choice if you or someone you know is interested in continuing beyond the restaurant and learning to speak this important language.   Ask about our additional discount for groups of two or more!
• 50% off a one hour Mandarin tutoring session with a top Yao Mandarin instructor

Chinese has more native speakers than any other language and the Chinese economy is one of the largest and fastest-growing in the world.  It is spoken by more than twice as many people as French, German, Italian and Japanese combined!  If there is one foreign language to learn for the 21st Century, then that language is Mandarin Chinese.  Putting aside, however, all considerations of world economics, international relations, and cultural globalism, there is a much closer-to-home reason to meet this beautiful and fascinating language.  Simply put, the food is delicious.

Chinese restaurants can be found in almost any city in the world.  How do we know this?  Actually, we can’t speak with 100% certainty, but answer this – have you ever been in a city anywhere that didn’t have at least one Chinese restaurant somewhere?  Well, neither have we, nor has anyone we know.  After taking our one-evening Eat and Learn: the Language Secrets of Chinese Cuisine Revealed class, you’ll be able to walk into a Chinese restaurant from Brooklyn to Berlin and know the basics of communications that will set you apart from so many other customers. 

Today dinner, tomorrow the world

Hey, we know that most of the students attending Eat and Learn Chinese: the Language Secrets of Chinese Cuisine Revealed will primarily be interested in enjoying and benefiting from our one evening course, and we couldn’t be happier about that.  We also hope that a few of you may want to move on beyond this introductory class, and that once you’ve tasted a sample of the Chinese language, you’ll want to come back for more.  If you are inclined to continue to explore the world’s most spoken language, then we’d like to help you by extending this very special bonus offer.  Everyone who attends the one night Eat and Learn: the Language Secrets of Chinese Cuisine Revealed class will receive a voucher good for $100 off the price of our Mandarin Quick Learn course, designed to teach functional Mandarin Chinese conversation in just 30 hours of class time.  The Mandarin Quick Learn course is held at Yao Mandarin School’s Toronto downtown location, convenient to transportation from throughout GTA (Great Toronto Area) region.  This very special voucher can save you more than double the cost of the Eat and Learn Chinese: the Language Secrets of Chinese Cuisine Revealed class!

FAQ’s

Q: Can I really learn Chinese language in just one evening?

A: No one can learn Chinese or any other language in an evening!  However, it is possible to introduce a few key skills.  That’s why Eat and Learn: the Language Secrets of Chinese Cuisine Revealed targets a very specific part of the language – vocabulary and key sentences related to dining in a restaurant. 


Q: Is there a separate charge for the food?

A: No, the cost of the food is included in the price.  So are sales tax and all gratuities.  


Q:  Do I need to bring anything to the class?

A:  Just your curiosity and an eagerness to learn.  You are welcome, of course, to take notes, however, there will be handouts summarizing most of the key points -- allowing you to concentrate on participating in the lesson.  We are sorry, but sound recording and picture taking are not permitted. 


Q: What if I have a question after the class or forget something that I learned?

A: Don’t worry; none of us have perfect memories.  Although Yao’s methods are designed to yield quick understanding and excellent retention in short time, he realizes that it may be necessary to refresh your memory from time to time.  That’s why you will receive handouts summarizing the key content of the class.  You may also receive, free of charge, an MP3 file reviewing the key audio content of the class.  If you still have questions, you are free to email Yao even weeks after the class – he genuinely enjoys helping his former students.  


Q: What is the difference between the Mandarin and Cantonese dialects?

A: Both Mandarin and Cantonese refer to types of spoken Chinese, since Chinese characters are the same across China. Mandarin is the standard dialect taught througout China and Taiwan, while Cantonese is used locally in the Guangdong (formerly spelled Canton) area.  Because many early immigrants to the North America and Europe were from the Canton region, Cantonese is common in overseas Chinese communities.


Q: Can I take the class more than once?

A: Surely you would learn something different each time, we would be happy to see you back again!


Q: Can I bring my friends?

A: Of course!  In fact, in order to make it even easier to enjoy Eat and Learn Chinese: the Language Secrets of Chinese Cuisine Revealed with your friends, we offer a 10% discount for any group of two or more. 


Q: I know that the price is great, but are there any discounts available

A: We love a discount as much as anyone.  That’s why we’re offering a 10% reduction for all parties of two or more.  In addition, each attendee will receive a voucher good for $5 off a future Eat and Learn Chinese: the Language Secrets of Chinese Cuisine Revealed class (come again or pass it along to a friend) and one good for a $100 discount on Yao Mandarin School’s Quick Mandarin: 30 hours Chinese language class for complete beginners.


Q: I’ve heard that Chinese pronunciation uses tones.  That sounds pretty intimidating.

A: A Torontonian shouldn't intimidate so easily!  There are four tones in Chinese, and three of them can be found in your daily speech!  The tones should not be an obstacle if you want to learn to speak Chinese.


Q: I never liked the boring classroom lecture approach to language instruction back when I was in school.  Is Yao’s method different?

A: Yao believes that learning should be fun, and that the student should be a full partner in the learning experience.  


Q: Will the skills I learn in Eat and Learn Chinese: the Language Secrets of Chinese Cuisine Revealed be useful if I travel to China for business or pleasure?

A: Yes they will!  These skills will definitely increase your enjoyment of dining in China or Taiwan.   


Q: What if I’m traveling, but I am not going to China?

A: That’s a great question!  Whether you’re thinking of traveling to France, Brazil, Australia or thousand other places, there will be Chinese restaurants wherever you go.  The skills you learn in Toronto can enhance your experience and build your confidence just anywhere.  In fact, a few Chinese phrases might go over a long way towards opening a new friendship, even in a country where Chinese is not the local language!


Q: Does this course include lessons in Chinese cooking?

A: No.  Eat and Learn Chinese: the Language Secrets of Chinese Cuisine Revealed is a class in the language of Chinese restaurants, not how to prepare Chinese food.  Whether you are already an experienced cook with a mastery of Chinese cuisine or a novice who couldn’t even turn on his own stove, this class can benefit you. 


Q: What if I want to learn more Chinese?

A: We would highly recommend Quick Mandarin's signature 30-hour long learn Chinese program. Please check the Yao Mandarin School Toronto website for more details about learning Chinese.