How to go about finding a good tutor?

koreth

榜眼
I've been learning Mandarin on my own for a few months (Pimsleur courses, Rosetta Stone, New Practical Chinese Reader with the audiotapes, and of course PlecoDict) and I'm at a point where I really need to start talking to people on a regular basis. I've tried talking to Chinese friends. They can give me some feedback on my grammar -- though I get nervous when they disagree about whether I was correct or not! -- but it's difficult to hold a very satisfying conversation with someone who will likely reply to whatever I say with a sentence of 10 words I've never heard before. Plus my friends are not linguists and are sometimes unable to answer my questions about the language very well.

So I'm thinking a tutor or a small group class would be appropriate. One thing I've learned from lessons I've taken on other subjects over the years is that the difference in effectiveness between a mediocre teacher and a top-notch one is huge; my learning is not just a little faster with my good teachers, it's many times faster. I'm definitely willing to pay more for a more effective learning experience.

Unfortunately, I don't have clue one about how to look for a good language tutor. I assume some of you guys have had private or semiprivate language instruction in the past. How and where did you find the people you were most satisfied with? What did you do beforehand to find out which people were good? And what the heck, may as well ask: Any recommendations in the Silicon Valley area?

(At some point I fully intend to go to China and do the immersion-course thing, but sadly that's not a practical option for me in the short term.)
 

Mao Zhou

秀才
One approach you could take is to contact one of the relocation firms in your area. If you work for a large company your HR people might have a relationship with one already.

You could email them and ask them to recommend a good tutor in your area and also cost etc.

The best way is to come to Beijing and try to speak to a cab driver... If they can understand you then your Mandarin is pretty good!!! For me they just usually say, "Shenme?"
 
So what is "good"? From my experience most have no clue about teaching, and often no clue about Chinese either.

It's best to just make your own method, and then ask ANYBODY to train it with you.

An don't talk to early, her a quote from Steve Kaufmann:

I still do not speak Russian with anyone and have no real desire to do so. I guess I would summarize my philosophy as follows; until I can read and listen to a novel, news programs and recorded conversations in Russian and enjoy doing so, I have no desire to speak with anyone. I might be extreme but I feel there is so much I can do on my own to improve in the language, I am not sure that stumbling around in a conversation at this stage in my learning would really help me. I think the same is true for English learning.


Steve speaks 9 languages and Russian is no.10. He never uses a teacher and always learns by himself, only from audio and text.

You may want to add this link to your resource list:

http://www.ctcfl.ox.ac.uk/Chinese/lessons.htm
 

Mao Zhou

秀才
Gee, I guess you've had bad experiences with Chinese teachers.

All of the teachers that I have worked with have at least a Masters degree in teaching Mandarin to foreigners. (Most from BLCU). My first teacher had a PhD in Chinese from Peking University and then went on to get a PhD in English from Washington State University. I am confident that these people knew what they were doing from feedback other students had given, and by the fact that when I landed in Beijing I was able to get around easily without trouble. The locals understood about 90% of what I said and with a little creativity I was able to get them to understand me when they didn't get my first attempt.

"It's best to just make your own method, and then ask ANYBODY to train it with you. "

I can't tell from this statement if you are serious or just pulling my leg.

As far as Steve Kaufman, I am not familiar with him but all I can say is that if that method works for him great. I could not in good conscience recommend something that I haven't seen work for the majority of people.
Using a private tutor has worked for a lot of people over the years. As with anything caveat emptor. Take my advice and $4.00 and in Seattle you can get a nice latte. ;-)
 
Mao Zhou
I prefer to learn on my own. It's more relaxed and easier to time manage.

My experience with teachers is mixed. The quality varies a lot. Students vary too, so large groups in general don't work. 30% of the class time is then wasted with meaningless chit chat, or even more meaningless grammar stuff, which in the end nobody understood.

You seem to have a different experience - and be glad about it! Usually it's the other way. There is money to be made from mandarin lessons and too many people jump on that wagon.....
 
I don't think you should ask 'anyone' for help learning a language. The 'wisdom' of taxi-cab drivers, bar tenders, etc shouldn't be naively clung to...Maybe you can ask them questions about simple vocabulary, but it's better to ask someone more knowledgable like a professor for complicated explanations, like grammar.

Yes, learning language though lectures can be ineficent at times, compared to studying on your own. Especially if the professor likes to drill you incessantly (which you could do at home), is too lazy/incompetent to answer your questions, and is reluctant to teach supplementary vocabulary or cultural notes from outside the textbook. And it's nearly senseless to practice writing hanzi in a classroom. Although recognition with with flash cards may, at times be helpful.

However, its difficult to study on your own without being enrolled in a class. Just the pressure of an upcoming test forces you to learn at a faster rate, for instance, than if you had only studied when fancy hit you and you made had time. You also need a professor to answer questions, which may be the only reason you continue going to class at the higher levels. (To test out new vocab and grammar structures.)
 

goulniky

榜眼
FWIW, I just enrolled on the 8-weeks program from ChinesePod from which I've otherwise been using the podcasts for the past 8 months.

It's a 10-15 min. 5-days/week phone-based program that you tailor together with a tutor, based on your needs, their podcasts, transcripts and other material available across a range of levels.

Reasonable but not cheap, seems quite flexible to me, certainly matches my needs. Will see how it goes but I'll certainly share my experience
 
However, its difficult to study on your own without being enrolled in a class.

You can argue about that endlessly. For me a class would be the most inefficient way. Chatting with classmates, rigid times, material you can neither chose, nor you are interested in.

I really prefer on my own. And then maybe have sometimes a native speaker that I instruct.

But that's of course if you are self motivated. But without that motivation I doubt you learn much.

Maybe have a look at the wisdom of Kato Lomb or Steve Kaufmann, they are great motivators to me.
 

goulniky

榜眼
The model I mentioned before works really well for me, combines best of both worlds. I've only been doing it for a week but I travel a lot for business, been in 3 different locations already, all I have to do is give them a new phone number each time. Granted, it's not face-to-face but it's a no overhead proposition (except for the 1+ hour it takes me every day to prepare for a 10 min. phone call)
 
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