Need Recommendation for Private tuition please

Hello all,

I've searched through this forum but I still haven't found a good option for my particular needs. I have been doing 3 hours per day, one on one tuition for 6 months and my work is sending me to Beijing to finish my Mandarin study in August. I basically have about 11 months in Beijing to get as fluent as I can, especially in language pertaining to government, economics and business.

My needs are:

1. Established school or university

2. one on one tuition with daily homework

3. Flexibility to custom tailor the tuition towards my specific language needs

4. Preferably in central Beijing area

Cost for the most part, isn't an issue. I think my budget would cover the most expensive schools there. I like the look of Tsinghua (IUP) but I really need one-on-one custom tailored tuition. I also like the look of BFSU (Beiwai), but haven't worked out whether they are available for private tuition. Info on BFSU seems pretty scant to be honest, apart from their good reputation and their focus on foreign relations. I also need to have this arranged from abroad before I leave for China (I don't have the luxury of coming to scout it first).

I would appreciate any suggestions that people may have that fit these criteria. Thank you.

For "government, economics and business," you'll need to bring your reading proficiency to a newspaper level as quickly as you can because it's the most efficient to learn the related vocabulary by reading. Maybe you can one-on-one lesson at a place like Taipei Language Institute for a few months to bring your speaking ability up to par, then head off to a university program to work on your reading and writing. Try to pick a program with as few English speakers as possible. BFSU probably has a too many good English speakers to be a good Chinese studying environment. BLCU seems to have the same problem. BNU mighto be a good choice judging from earlier threads.

To improve your reading, you'll have to do much of the hard work yourself by reading, looking up words, jotting them down, reviewing, and so forth. At that stage, it might be helpful to find a tutor for a one-on-one two, three times a week to discuss the materials. But much of the work you'll have to do on your own.

These older threads might be helpful:

zoticogrillo, who's studying at IUP, says that the best programs are IUP, Princeton in Beijing, ACC, Taipei Language Institute, CET and Fluency Beijing.

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/8252-summer-programs-in-beijing-2006-uir&highlight=Fluency+Beijing

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/896-dragon3&highlight=tli

Queries on studying in Beijing

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/6710-tsinghua&highlight=tsinghua

Tsinghua

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/8100-prc-study-academy-beijing-query&highlight=tsinghua

PRC Study Academy - Beijing - Query

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/8099-taipei-language-institute-beijing-dongcheng-query&highlight=tli

Taipei Language Institute - Beijing (Dongcheng) - Query

Our Chinese school in Beijing may fit your needs.

It depends on your level now and some of your preferences. We generally help beginners only, but may be help you on the custom-built thing b/c we are small.

Now generally speaking:

The problem is this:

Your requirements are inherently contradictory.

2. one on one tuition with daily homework

3. Flexibility to custom tailor the tuition towards my specific language needs

In order to have one on one class with homework means that you have to have a curriculum planned. However custom tailoring requires drawing up a curriculum from scratch and/or changing it repeatedly.

If you want a quality custom built curriculum put together you're looking at having a teacher spend anywhere from four to eight hours of preparation time for each hour of class time. And I think this is at a minimum.

Conversely, just playing it by ear has less structure and can be less efficient, but is considerably cheaper.

So it is a trade-off. You have to decide the balance between the planned out curriculum that's been custom-built for you and the day-to-day flexibility.

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise; it is an inherent trade off in this business.

No matter who you ultimately choose, keep these kind of things in mind.

I think for this the most important factor should be your match with the teacher. Even teachers with equal abilities match students in different ways. Sometimes you two just won't click as well as another match, no matter the preparation or curriculum. In this case, a pay-as-you-go situation might be best. That way you can pay by the week. I know you wanted to get this set up before you came to Beijing, but the one to one environment amplifies the teacher-student compatibility issues.

Hope this helps,

The thing to watch out for is that IUP only accepts students that have achieved their level of intermediate Chinese. They define this as two years at the University level, which if you don't have, they won't accept you.

If you do have the required experience then IUP would probably be the best because while they don't offer 1 on 1 all day, they offer enough 1 on 1 time that you probably won't feel burdened by the problems of your classmates.

If you aren't at that level yet I would suggest enrolling in a university and finding a part-time tutor who has a good understanding of the grammar and semantic errors you will run into. You have the structure and daily homework of a class, then you also have the control and the vocabulary you would like to learn on the side. I would suggest taking this path, which would add a little more time in your day with a native speaker that also (hopefully) understands English enough to help you with your grammar, vocabulary (especially the specific vocab, maybe you can even find an Economics student that could really help you) and character writing/reading dificulties.

Hope this helps

It's given me a lot of food for thought. I'm not a total beginner, I've had over 500 hours of one on one training with an excellent teacher already. I'm not sure if that's the equivalent of 2 years of college, but in any event, I have to start in Beijing in August, which won't match IUP's program. I really do think they are probably what I'm after, however. Thanks again for the input.