Steve Liu

MAND401 · MAND400 · MAND405 · 15 lifetime ratings

AI rating: 38/100
RMP rating: 3.0/5
Take again: 53.33%
Difficulty: 3.3

The decision

if you want disciplined Mandarin practice under a strict A bar, not an easy language credit.

Best fit · Hardcore LearnerTough graderHigh A thresholdOral exam heavyNative-speaker penalty riskPolarized culture lectures

Strict grading often requires about 93-94 percent for an A and docks advanced native-like usage.
Workload can stay light early then spike with oral finals and .
Students split between loving culture-rich lectures and .

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

HardWork

34/100

Even strong and native speakers report B-range outcomes because the A cutoff is very high and .

Both online and and 93-94 percent A thresholds.

Is the course easy?

Challenging

36/100

Beginner framing exists, but oral translation demand, limited practice design, and rising later workload make real learning hard.

; in-person also becomes harder as the term progresses.

Is attendance flexible?

Mandatory

28/100

and note participation and skip-class risk.

Online and optional exceptions.

Is this professor recommended?

Depends

48/100

; praise for humor and culture clashes with strong .

; recent online native-speaker reviews are more negative.

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Harsh

24/100

, and penalties for using language beyond the lesson define a .

Format shift

Online native-speaker complaints and in-person 93-94 percent A .

Workload

Moderate

42/100

Weekly homework is sometimes light, but , and .

Format shift

Online often has quick character tracing; in-person reports late-term 15-hour weeks for some students.

Teaching experience

Average

48/100

Some call lectures amazing, fair, and funny; others say teaching is dry, unhelpful for real Chinese, or demotivating.

Format shift

; online is more mixed to negative.

Assessment method

FocusOnExams

72/100

and finals, more than steady formative practice.

Format shift

Online oral finals dominate; and high overall percentages.

Luni fit check

Weigh these signals against your actual schedule.

Get help balancing workload, grading, and timing when no option is an obvious fit.

Course format

Compare the in-person and online experience.

Classroom format

In person

9 reviews

Medium confidence · Best fit for Effort For Reward

some praise fair communication and culture-rich , and uneven homework pacing.

Main concern

High percentage needed for A and .

What students said

“In order to get an A, you have to have at least 93% overall.”
MAND401

“Liu is a , and the students need to pass 94% to get A.”
MAND401

“He is the SCC. His class is amazing.”
MAND401

Remote format

Online

6 reviews

Medium confidence · Best fit for Hardcore Learner

Online Mandarin reviews lean negative on grading fairness for , and hard oral finals that feel disconnected from weekly lessons.

Main concern

and stressful timed oral finals.

What students said

“I ended with a B because I could not sound like the textbook, as I am a native speaker.”
MAND401

“For the final oral test, you need to answer 50 question in 6min.”
MAND401

“ , and the hardest kind of translation there is--for a beginner class.”
MAND401

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

Exams lean oral and strict, with high A thresholds and penalties for language outside the taught set.

Oral finalTimed oral questionsHigh A cutoffLimited advanced vocabulary allowedFew graded items

Assessment risk

Strict

32/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

finals limited to class vocabulary, and very high A cutoffs.

Oral examsVocabulary-limited final story94 percent A cutoffNo extra credit

“ and a learned in class.”
MAND400

“ .”
MAND401

“You need a 94% overall to get an A.”
MAND401

Online

Online students describe entirely oral finals, timed rapid-fire questions, and .

Entirely oral final50 questions in 6 minutesNative-speaker deductions

“For the final oral test, you need to answer 50 question in 6min.”
MAND401

“ , and the hardest kind of translation there is--for a beginner class.”
MAND401

“I'm a native mandarin speaker- I lost points for speaking using sentence structures not yet taught by the book.”
MAND401

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice
“Professor Liu is a . Students are only allowed to use the material we learn in class, .”
Voice snapshots generated from 15 reviews, highlighting grading strictness, oral assessment, and polarized recommendation. Credibility rating: Medium.

📉 Strict A Barrier

24/100

“You need a 94% overall to get an A. Many students landed in 93%.”

🗣️

32/100

“For the final oral test, you need to answer 50 question in 6min.”

🎭 Polarized Teaching

48/100

“I found him hilarious! Great teacher. Take this class if you are genuinely interested.”

🚫 Native Speaker Friction

30/100

“I ended with a B because I could not sound like the textbook, as I am a native speaker.”

Theme 1

📈 About Difficulty & Grades

This professor is a . Your grade will never going up but going down.
In order to get an A, you have to have at least 93% overall.
I also think he's discouraged from giving A's

Theme 2

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

Excellent professor! He is very fair, great communicator and will impart a wealth of information.
The lecture is fun. you will learn lots of Chinese culture.
Liu's cool, but his teaching is dry.

Theme 3

⚠️ About Course Design

There was very little grammar practice or sentence formation outside of the weekly lesson.
He didn't give much homework at the first and second month but gave us a lot of .

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

Recent reviews read by the AI

Lifetime ratings

62/100

Evidence confidence

15 reviews with but moderate sample size and strong polarity reduce confidence slightly.

Inside 15 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 55

4 out of 51

3 out of 53

2 out of 51

1 out of 55

Course coverage

MAND40113 reviews

MAND4001 review

MAND4051 review

Reported outcomes

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

15 reported outcomes

A range

A+ 2 · A 4 · A- 1

B range

B+ 3 · B 3 · B- 1

C range

C 1

D range

No reported values

F

No reported values

No letter grade reported

No reported values

Steve Liu

x x x if you want disciplined Mandarin practice under a strict A bar, not an easy language credit.

Four answers before you build your schedule.

HardWork

Challenging

Mandatory

Depends

See how this professor fits your week.

Compare the in-person and online experience.

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

In person

Online

See what students actually said.

📉 Strict A Barrier

🗣️ x x x

🎭 Polarized Teaching

🚫 Native Speaker Friction

📈 About Difficulty & Grades

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

⚠️ About Course Design

See exactly what the AI read.

Quality ratings

Course coverage

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

A range

B range

C range

D range

F

No letter grade reported

if you want disciplined Mandarin practice under a strict A bar, not an easy language credit.

🗣️