Who can benefit most from a personal Chinese tutor online?
If you are learning Chinese and not affiliated with any course, taking lessons from a Chinese tutor online is a great way to get professional direction on taking your spoken Mandarin to the next level.
Even if you are enrolled in a Chinese course in school, university, or in a professional setting, a personal Chinese tutor can be beneficial if you are feeling behind the rest of the class, or simply looking to get more practice.
A personal Chinese tutor can also well serve learners that are having a hard time finding a language partner – be it in your home country or in China.
Ultimately ask yourself are you getting enough practice in speaking Mandarin with a native speaker. If not, a person Chinese tutor may be a good fit for you.
What to look for in an online personal Chinese tutor?
- Experience – quality providers that match you with a personal tutor with a university degree in teaching Chinese as a foreign language and proven experience
- Chinese-speaking environment – your goal is to improve your spoken Mandarin. Therefore your personal Chinese tutor should speak English only when you need it.
- Original curriculum to match your learning goals – whether you are preparing to take the HSK, need supplementary lessons based on your class textbook, or interested in a specific topic, a quality tutor should have courses specific to what you want to learn
- Lessons should have continuity and not overload you with too much content – you are more likely to learn and remember things if they are repeated throughout the lesson in different contexts. Keep an eye out for this as you try a class with a personal Chinese tutor. Try to also see that the tutor is not overloading the lesson with too much material and that it is easy to digest.
- Reasonable price – although you need to invest a pretty penny for a personal Chinese tutor, shop around for a competitive price. The more classes you buy up front will yield a lower price.
So how can you find the BEST Chinese tutor online?
I’ve tried both TutorMandarin and eChineseLearning and find them to leading tutoring platforms that match students with native Chinese speakers for one-on-one classes. As long as you have a fast and reliable Internet connection, you will be good to go.
What is TutorMandarin?
TutorMandarin pairs students up with native-Chinese speakers with degrees in teaching Chinese as a second language. They also match you up with a teacher in your time zone, which is really helpful if you currently reside outside of China.
Their courses are based on HSK standards, which is great for both improving Chinese and preparing to take the HSK exam. They also offer courses in Chinese business, children’s Chinese, and many other topics to suit your language goals.
The biggest strong point of TutorMandarin is the tech they incorporate into their lessons. I really like their interactive whiteboard, which makes the lesson far more engaging.
They also have an awesome app built for tutoring sessions and also feature videos, articles, and individual learning statistics. Though the app is currently only available for Android, so I’m hoping the iOS version will come out soon.
TutorMandarin offers anyone that uses my affiliate link a free 50-minute trial lesson, so it is at least worth checking out to see if it is a good fit for you. As a heads-up, inquire about pricing prior to the lesson as you get an additional discount if you sign-up during your free lesson.
Register for a free demo with TutorMandarin
What is eChineseLearning?
Having been around since 2006, eChineseLearning is among the most experienced tutoring organizations. They have taught over 10,000 students from 100 countries aged between 3 and 86 years old.
All eChineseLearning’s teachers are trained in duiway hanyu or teaching Chinese as a foreign language and design the course curriculum around each student’s level and language goals. What I really like about eChineseLearning is they make it clear in their teaching methodology that they adjust the pace of learning based on the abilities of the student.
When I was taking Chinese in university, one of my classmates ended up quitting Chinese feeling that he had fallen far behind the level and pace of the class. With eChineseLearning, you never have to worry about this as your personal Chinese tutor designs the pace and structure of the teaching curriculum on your abilities.
eChineseLearning also offers a wide variety of classes suitable for every student from lessons for kids, teens, people in business as well as classes with a focus topic like HSK and culture.
In terms of experience, with eChineseLearning you can expect to have:
- A well-structured class with an experienced teacher that prioritizes a Chinese-speaking environment
- Conversational dialogue mixed with reading
- Exposure to new vocabulary
- Practice in pronunciation
- A review session at the end to point out mastery of the material or areas of improvement
They offered me one free 30-minute tutoring session to try it out and have also extended the same free tutor session to anyone that uses my affiliate link. After registering, you will be contacted shortly after to arrange the free lesson.
Their pricing is also incredibly reasonable and ranges from as little as $9 to $25 per 50-minute lesson. The best part is there is also a 30-day money-back guarantee policy if you are not satisfied with the service.
Register for a free demo with eChineseLearning
