Learning Chinese Online with Teacher or School

Are you learning Chinese online? These days, there is no need to explain the benefits of studying through Skype. However, ‘online vs. offline’ is not the only one to choose from. Those who have already decided to learn Mandarin online may face the choice between independent online tutors and online schools. 

Let’s have a look at some of the features of both options. This might be considered as either advantages or disadvantages by different people in various situations.

Teachers

Price: There are different prices for learning Chinese online, which range up to several hundred US dollars. Independent tutors and teachers are on the lower edge of the scale. As compared to Chinese online schools, they offer reasonable prices for learning Chinese.

Choice: On various websites, there are many options for you to choose an online teacher. Along with an unlimited number of opportunities for selecting a teacher, there is an endless number of the trial lesson usually for free to choose a teacher or program which is suitable for you. 

Flexibility: A teacher or tutor are usually more flexible about textbooks and teaching method as compare to Chinese online schools. You will not need to pass tests and adjust yourself to a particular level, which some online Chinese school required to enroll you. 

Time: like other people, teachers are ordinary people who need rest and proper sleep, so the number of available time is limited. That is why it is important to keep in mind the time zone your teacher lives in at the time you select a teacher. 

Scheduling of lessons: There are several websites for learning Chinese online where you can find a tutor online and also schedule classes using an online calendar and other tools such as here cchatty, BuddySchool and VerbalPlanet.

cchatty is probably one of the famous resources of this kind. The database of tutors is vast, and mostly, the prices are reasonable. One of the great advantages of Cchatty is that it is a social network where Chinese learner conveniently shares their opinions and experiences. 

BuddySchool: it allows you to browse tutor's profiles and schedule lessons without paying any commission. Some of you may find that the functionally and design is not as good as the VerbalPlanets, but the important thing is that everyone can suggest their services as a teacher on this website. This school does not pre-moderate teacher’s applications, and that means you must check teacher's profiles, but you can find ‘hidden gems’ among this diversity of language professionals.

VerbalPlanet: it is one of the well-organized websites for learning Chinese online with proper functionality. The people who run this website ask all new candidates who want to register as tutors to provide diplomas, certificates, and a brief letter about their previous work. This means that the tutors on this website are appropriately educated and experienced. The disadvantage of this website is that their services are expensive and you have to pay a commission for booking classes. 

Suggestions for scheduling classes through websites:

• First, check teacher’s websites because sometimes they have discounts and packages on their own websites, and in some cases, this will help you avoid a commission.

• Before booking classes, contact a teacher through a private message on the booking website or send the tutor a direct email. It will help you to check whether the tutor is available or not. Sometimes they forget to update their schedule and free time slots. In the first email, explain your goals and your Chinese language level.

• Do not hesitate to arrange trial lessons and feel free not to schedule lessons with a teacher who does not suit your needs. Try until you find the best tutor. 

Qualities of an excellent Chinese tutor 

For many folks, particularly English native speakers, learning Chinese is quite difficult than learning Russian, French, German, or even Punjabi. This is because the Chinese form a part of the second major language family, in terms of native speaker, the Sino-Tibetan language family. Different language families have derived from different ancestral languages, which affect their linguistics structures. For non-native Chinese speakers needs to pay a lot of time, dedication, and practice to get command on Chinese. However, the most important feature is to have an outstanding tutor. Here are some suggestions for selecting the right Chinese tutor in the sea of offered lessons. 

To Find a Professional Teacher

In this case, a good tutor is a professional Mandarin teacher. A teacher who not only knows the language but also gained command in explaining grammatical rules and different syntaxes. This is very significant. It will be hard for you to transfer a rule from English to Chinese so that the tutor will help you carefully. Keep in mind that, there is a difference in the teaching methodology when teaching the Chinese language to Chinese native people, and when teaching Chinese to foreign students as a foreign language. Your goal is to find a tutor that teaches the Chinese as a foreign language. This should not be a problem because there are many of them. Keep in mind that whenever you contact a teacher you should ask them about their experience and education. 

Tutor with Good English Skills

The English language skills of tutors matter a lot especially when they start explaining the rules of the Chinese language. However, you cannot expect someone to speak perfect English especially when English is their second language. Also, your Mandarin language skills are not going to be a hundred percent perfect either, but it is important that you can understand them. You can observe and check this aspect of a tutor when you schedule your introductory class. Do not be hesitate to look for another teacher if you cannot understand what they try to teach you, whether it’s due to their English language or because of the accent. If you like the teacher or because of their teaching method, you can keep their contact and get in touch for speaking lessons or advanced grammar lessons in the future when you feel assured to communicate mostly in Chinese. 

No Accent

Unless you have exactly decided on some other variety, you should learn standard Mandarin. Mandarin is the most widely Chinese spoken language, and that is why it is the most useful for traveling and business. Emphasis on the point that you want to learn standard Mandarin when you are selecting a Chinese tutor. Almost all of the tutors and teachers understood this without saying this, but better to be safe than sorry. Your teacher or tutor should speak at a normal speed so that you can understand what he/she says. Mostly native language teachers speak fast which becomes difficult for beginner level learners to understand. In such a case, they pointed out them because they can fix that. 

A tutor that is willing to teach you about the Culture

There is not only a difference in languages but the cultures also differ. European and American cultures vary from the Chinese one. Your Chinese language teacher should give and spare sometime explaining to you the Chinese culture and daily life in China. This will benefit you especially when you start spending time with Chinese people you can unknowingly offend them by something consider polite in your culture. Such as, it is obscene and considers rude to ask for a split bill- because the person who extended the invite pays. These small cultural traits can be easily taught through classes and assignments. Keep in mind that learning about culture can help you in learning the language itself by showing you which things to use on which occasion. If you are interested to know about the Chinese culture, ask your teacher for book references, films, drama series, and songs that can be found translated in English.    

Tutor with Patience and Time

Learning Chinese is hard; you will need to be persistent. You will also need a teacher with patience and persistence. 

Your miss pronunciation of Chinese words can be annoying to a native speaker, so you need to find a tutor who will help you to practice it again and again instead of saying it was fine and moving to something else. Another thing to consider is how often the tutors will be available. This also relies on your financial situation and free time, you should find a person who can dedicate a couple of hours a week. It will be a waste of your time and money if you take Chinese lessons once a week, or once every few weeks. So make sure that when you decide to begin, you and your teacher have time.  

Online schools

Price: it is expensive, but you can reduce costs by buying a package of multiple classes. In online Chinese schools, six months and one-year packages are available. Unlike single teachers who may not guarantee they will be able to teach you for such a long period. 

Choice: schools guarantee that if your tutor is absent or resigned, then they will provide you with a substitution. However, you usually cannot choose a tutor by yourself. If you do not like your tutor or his/her teaching method, the school will look for a new one, but of course, you are not supposed to do this too often.

Flexibility: Only a few schools are flexible about their teacher’s methods as independent tutors. They mostly recommend some particular textbooks, and there is a good reason for that. In this teachers are experienced, and if you require a temporary substitution, a new tutor will be confident with how to teach you. You will not waste time explaining what you have already learned. It is easier to track the progress of your studies and to scale your level for a new tutor. 

Time: Online Chinese schools solve the problem of time zone difference by hiring teachers who live in different parts of the world and can teach you at any convenient time. 

Scheduling of lessons: Be aware that most online Chinese schools sell packages that need following their guidelines on how to schedule lessons. There may be a system of ‘fines’ if you break the rules, such as your study term may be suspended if you were absent from the last several classes. So read carefully before booking because sometimes these rules are not clear.