Any recommendations for Mandarin courses or Mandarin teachers in Tianjin?

[marvinfreericks]

Hey guys,

 

I am Marvin from Germany and I am going to study Mandarin for a year at Nankai University in Tianjin from next month. However, as I found out that the course at Nankai University is only about 20 hours every week, I was thinking of doing another Mandarin course or of getting a private teacher to ensure that I can make good progress within one year.

 

Now my question is: Can anybody of you recommend any Chinese language schools or private teachers in Tianjin that are not too expensive?

 

I would really appreciate your help!

 

Thank you so much and best regards from Germany,

Marvin

[somethingfunny]

I'm afraid I can't help you with locating a teacher in Tianjin, but I would like to encourage you to consider your idea more carefully.

 

Presumably we are talking about 20 hours of contact time per week.  So from Monday to Friday, you will be in class an average of four hours per day.  So, if starting from 9am, and accounting for a one hour lunch break, and one additional free period somewhere in the day, you will finish at 3pm.  Let's assume you then have from 4pm until you start getting ready for bed at 10pm, a total of six hours.  One of those will be used for dinner, and another for checking chinese-forums.com, leaving four hours.  So, four hours of classes, and four hours free for self-study in the evening.  If we assume that for each class you should review that day's material, complete any homework, and prepare for the next class, I think a 'one hour class time':'one hour self-study time' ratio is reasonable.

 

This presumes that you will not spend any time during the week making or spending time with friends, which is unlikely, as they're the people you're going to be doing all the fun China stuff with at the weekend.  Although, don't forget, you'll need some time on Saturday and Sunday to do the four hours of work you didn't do on Friday evening.

 

The thing about language study is that its not like Maths, where you do the questions the teacher sets, get them right or wrong, and then you're done.  The amount of time you spend reviewing and practicing outside of class is up to you.  Twenty hours of class-time material a week should be enough to keep most people busy in their free time if they're serious about the course.

 

 

[DavyJonesLocker]

It may be 20 hours a week (like I did) but they will throw 20 words a day at you. After a month you will be swamped.

 

I'd wait and see how you go. In any case you might find many of the teachers are doing private lessons on the side for a cash in hand hush hush job. 

 

Furthermore I really encourage you not to make the same mistakes as I did, that is

not getting out of the text books earlier enough and start learning real everyday Chinese. This can simply be spending a  decent amount of time on wechat , out with Chinese, reading moments, looking at Street signs  etc. I learned a heck of a lot this way. You will pick a vast amount of colloquial or even standard oral Chinese that won't appear in HSK6.

 

Nearly even single text book I had done in Chinese is of very limited use outside the class room. 

[marvinfreericks]

Thank you very much for you reply @somethingfunny.

 

Yeah, I think it definitely makes sense what you said. I guess 20 hours just sounded not that long to me, because I am currently working 40 hours a week haha. Maybe the best idea would be to just wait and see how the quality of the course will be and to see how busy it will keep me. And if it is not so good, then I can still think about going for additional classes...

 

My idea was just that a few hours week with a private teacher or in a different learning environment would maybe encourage me to do more self-studying, because in general it is kind of hard for me to just sit down and study on my own... so I was just thinking that this could give me some extra motivation. :D

[marvinfreericks]

Thanks for your help @DavyJonesLocker!

 

Haha alright, I guess I don't really know yet how those Mandarin courses at Chinese universities work exactly. So I still have to find it out haha.

 

Yeah, that sounds like the best idea to me. I will just wait for a bit and if it is necessary or useful, I would go for some extra private lessons. :)

[somethingfunny]

Yeah, I think seeing how it goes for the first month or so is a good idea, and then making a decision.  Also, by that time, if you do decide to get an additional tutor, you'll be in a much better position to make good use of them.  So, rather than going into a one-on-one session and saying "I want additional tuition", you'll be able to go in and say "listen to me say third tone - second tone combinations for the next half an hour until I've got it right".

[Lu]

50 minutes ago, marvinfreericks said:

My idea was just that a few hours week with a private teacher or in a different learning environment would maybe encourage me to do more self-studying, because in general it is kind of hard for me to just sit down and study on my own...

I have the same problem and for me, taking a class usually takes care of this. You don't need to self-study, you just need to do your homework. You will be held accountable the very next day, which is really helpful for motivation.

 

For the rest, I agree with other posters: 20 hours of class time per week plus homework is plenty to keep you busy.

 

Good luck and enjoy your stay there!

[roddy]

1 hour ago, marvinfreericks said:

I guess 20 hours just sounded not that long to me, because I am currently working 40 hours a week haha

Yes, but learning Chinese is hard.

 

I'd wait and see. Probably more useful to practice what you're learning in class, than try and add in more knowledge. 

[happy_hyaena]

5 hours ago, DavyJonesLocker said:

Furthermore I really encourage you not to make the same mistakes as I did, that is

not getting out of the text books earlier enough and start learning real everyday Chinese. This can simply be spending a  decent amount of time on wechat , out with Chinese, reading moments, looking at Street signs  etc. I learned a heck of a lot this way. You will pick a vast amount of colloquial or even standard oral Chinese that won't appear in HSK6. 

 

Nearly even single text book I had done in Chinese is of very limited use outside the class room. 

 

I agree with this and would like to add that, at the end of my semester in China I was actually getting bored and annoyed with my classes because I would much rather have been spending my time studying on my own, talking to Chinese people (to the extent that I could) and consuming media online. Especially since my class had just a bit too many students.

[Floridaray]

I only studied in china for one month but had classes 6 hours a day 6 days a week. I thought more was better but I really wish I had a day or two less a week to really absorb what was taught and do  a bit of studying myself. If anything beyond your classes maybe do a bit of studying yourself from an audio course and go out and use it. Your in China go out and talk to people  and see the city like davyjoneslocker and happy_hyena said. If you hit a brick wall its a great motivation  to study and try again.  Maybe a tutor for an hour or two a week could help when you know what you want to learn. 

 

You will be in China so really be there and have fun while challenging yourself. When you go back to Germany you can study more but you can't walk out the door and be in China.

 

Cheers 

[abcdefg]

On 8/15/2018 at 6:17 AM, Floridaray said:

You will be in China so really be there and have fun while challenging yourself. When you go back to Germany you can study more but you can't walk out the door and be in China.

 

Well said! That was my approach, it kept me motivated and it bore fruit. Actual cultural and language immersion would be a terrible thing to waste.  Being out and about gives you an immediate chance to use what you learn.