Daniel Sherwood Clarke 沈德安
Private Mandarin Chinese Tutor
About Daniel Sherwood-Clarke - Private Mandarin Tutor
Personal Profile and China Experience
I'm Daniel Sherwood-Clarke, a private Mandarin Chinese tutor with 13+ years of experience. I lived in China for five years and hold a First Class degree in Chinese and History with Distinction in Spoken Chinese from the University of Leeds. I now teach online and in London.
I am experienced Mandarin tutor. I spent five years living in China and hold a First Class degree in Chinese and History. I have more than 14 years of tutoring experience.
I provide tailored one-to-one tuition for school students, adults and professionals. Lessons cover examinations, GCSE, IGCSE, A-Level, HSK/HSKK university preparation, Business Mandarin and general communication. My lessons are stimulating, focussed and engaging. Many students stay on to continue learning with me long after passing their exams.
I work with students at the UK's top public schools and professional adults. My students generally achieve A* and A grades, or equivalent.
Career 2013-2026
2013-2014
Zhangye Railway Middle School, China
My link with China began when I moved there at 18. Initially, I spent one year teaching English in a middle school in Gansu province. Gansu is an incredibly poor part of China and, indeed, the level of English among students and staff meant that communication in Chinese was essential. I therefore started studying Chinese owing my success to strong study habits, good books, and being totally immersed.
This was a year entirely without western influence. I was introduced to another system of values and another way of viewing the world, which I carry with me every day. At the age of 18, such an inexperience profoundly changed my life.
2014-2015
University of Leeds, Year 1
Interest sparked, I then studied Chinese & History at the University of Leeds. The course involved a sandwich year at Beijing Capital Normal University. The year that I spent in Gansu had provided me with an enormous head start over my classmates. In a repeat of my gap year, I spent 12 months in China without a return trip to the UK. I was fully immersed, formed friendships, discussed politics, joined debating groups, and travelled extensively.
2015-2016
Beijing Capital Normal University
I attended BCNU as part of my degree with the University of Leeds. I underwent an intensive Chinese programme. I began my own weekly Chinese discussion group, 'People of the World Speak', for which I prepared discussion topics and materials. This gained interest from a CCTV journalist who made a brief segment on our group.
2016-2017
Beijing
My BCNU course finished, though I decided to stay in Beijing for another year to further improve my Mandarin. During this year I continued my discussion group, travelled extensively, and immersed myself in local Beijing group. I translated newspaper articles for my own studies and developed an exchange initiative with my old school.
2017-2019
University of Leeds, Year 2 and 3
In 2019, I graduated from Leeds with a First Class degree and Distinction in Spoken Chinese. My final Chinese oral presentation was focussed on the Korean War. My final Chinese written essay was about the impact of Brexit on China-UK relations. My final English written essay was about Chinese propaganda art.Those years gave me fluency in Mandarin. After graduating, I moved back to China having secured work as educational editor for a large publishing company.
2019-2021
Xi'an, China
London, UK
I contracted for Phenix Publishing UK, an educational publisher. I wrote and presented hundreds of language learning e-books based on simple English stories. Later, under my own self-employment, I contracted out work to my own set of writers based in Edinburgh.
2021-2026
I now work as a full-time private Mandarin Chinese tutor.