How to Find a Qualified American Mahjong Teacher in London

American Mahjong is still niche in London compared to other styles. Back in 2025, we once sent one of our teachers to a client’s home without realising they specifically wanted to learn American Mahjong — it wasn’t a good experience for either side, since our teacher wasn’t prepared to teach that style. Not long after, our team decided we needed to properly learn American Mahjong ourselves, so we’d never let a client down that way again.

So we began — and honestly, at first we assumed it couldn’t be that different or difficult, since we’re seasoned Mahjong players. Well, it took us a good few days just to get our heads around it. We could play by the end, but we were left with the same question: if it took us this long to get through the door, how could we expect a client to learn the game in one sitting? It’s nearly impossible. So we used our own learning experience to write our Newbie tutorial — designed to make things easy and help new learners ease in.

Even then, we didn’t feel we were actually good at the game, it’s quite different from the Chinese Mahjong we grew up playing. So we set ourselves a “100-hour rule”: sit down and play together for 100 hours total, enough to build real experience with different hands, really learn the card, and get intuitive at the table. That ate up a lot of our Fridays — though time flies when you’re playing Mahjong, especially with bubble tea and laughter thrown in. From there, we refined our Newbie workshop and wrote our second and third workshop tutorials, covering game plan and strategy. Mission accomplished.

So now we can proudly say we’re the American Mahjong teachers in London you’ve been looking for.

You might still be asking — are you actually qualified? Well, we haven’t sat any formal exams (are there exams for this?). But yes — we don’t just “know” American Mahjong, our background as teachers means we know how to help you actually learn it. That’s the real gap we see: a teacher who says “Mahjong is Mahjong” or asks you to “do this, don’t do this” might still leave you with frustrations. It’s the same with language teaching — not everyone who can speak a language can teach it. Teaching takes training: building a learner-centred approach, and shaping the experience around how people actually learn.

If you’re currently searching Facebook, Meetup, or Reddit threads trying to find somewhere to learn or play American Mahjong in London, hopefully this post and our own listings will lead you to us. We’re a dedicated Mahjong school running American Mahjong Newbie workshops on Saturday afternoons, roughly every other Saturday, 3:30–5:30pm. In that same slot, we also run Just Play tables — if you already know how to play American Mahjong, you can book a ticket to play for two hours at our table for £10 per ticket. There’s no club membership fee, everything is ticketed per session, so it’s low commitment, but priced low enough that it’s easy to make a regular fixture.

Before you book anything, you probably have a few questions — let me help.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the Mahjong teacher come to my home?

Yes — private lessons are offered either at our Aldgate Tower centre (E1) or at your own choice of location within London Zone 2, including your home or office.

Will the teacher bring American Mahjong tiles and the NMJL card?

Yes, we will bring a curated tile set for whichever style you book, so the American Mahjong tiles are covered (they are gorgeous). We have four imported NMJL cards to bring to your session, but we will also offer you our A4 printed version, along with the tutorials that will be offered to each player.

How much is each private session?

In-person lessons — whether at our centre or at your home or office — are £300 for a 2-hour session, which covers up to 8 players, so it’s worth gathering a group to share the cost. Extra time is available in 30-minute increments. Prefer to learn online? A private online lesson is £150 for 2 hours — half the in-person price, as long as you are in the same Zoom, again you can have up to 8 players.

If I have a group of 6 people, do you charge per person or just the session?

Just the session — it’s a flat £300 covering up to 8 players, so a group of 6 pays the same total, not per head.

How many sessions would I need to really play confidently?

One Newbie session is enough to leave you playing the game. But to really get comfortable especially with the NMJL card and thinking strategically, we recommend at least two more sessions after that, so three in total.

How much is your Saturday group workshop at your venue?

£36 for a two-hour session when you book directly through our website. It comes out at about £39.71 via Eventbrite, which folds in Eventbrite’s own booking fee, or £40 via Classbento, where a 20% platform fee applies. Once you’ve completed three workshops, you’ll graduate to discounted Just Play pricing as a returning player.

Is it taught the same thing as the private lessons?

The core curriculum is the same – same instructors, same style-specific teaching but private lessons are built around your group’s pace and occasion, and can be a one-off session or a two-session series, while our Saturday workshop is open to anyone and will be moving at our set pace.