Learning Chinese in Dublin, Ireland

[prephil]

Anyone learning chinese in Dublin? I'm married to a Chinese girl and want to improve my Chinese. Have the basics but can't seem to get past those.

[Xiwang]

Have you checked into the local Confucius Institute in Dublin? Judging by the breadth of the courses offered, there seems to be quite a few students in Ireland interested in Mandarin.

http://www.confuciusinstitute.ie/

[chrix]

There's a well-known Irishman in the CSL scene, Ken Carroll of chinesepod fame. Before he left China under somewhat controversial circumstances, I think he was involved in promoting Mandarin studies back home...

[Neil_H]

Are you saying Ken Carroll has left Chinese Pod?

[Neil_H]

To the original poster- If you are starting off I would suggest you invest in the Pimsleur series to boost your speaking ability. You can do these everyday which is what you will need rather than just one class a week.

My wife is also Chinese and I have been seriously studying mandarin for almost 3 years now.

[chrix]

Are you saying Ken Carroll has left Chinese Pod?

We don't really know. He no longer works there, but he might still hold shares...

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/23536-problems-at-kaien-language-school

[Neil_H]

Strange as he is still listed on Chinese pod as being one of the teachers.

I know they recently announced large price increases.

[geraldFjord]

I agree with the comment about Pimsleur. You could also check out Rosetta Stone, which has helped me a lot, as they have many pictures as references, rather than spoken translations. I think this helps tremendously with memory and association. Good luck!

[TMM]

Hi - I've just established a Chinese language school in Dublin - delighted to help anyone who wants to learn! We have our first two courses booked out, but are re-enrolling now for January. http://www.teachmemandarin.com/index.php/book-now/january-2011-start-date.html

[Marguerite]

I hope that this isn't considered unforgivable thread necromancy, but here goes.

I've been working in Guangzhou for the past month and have been doing some intensive Mandarin study while I've been here. I'd like to continue once I return to Dublin. I know about the Confucius Institute at UCD, and Sandford and some of the other private language institutes, but the nature of my job means that I can't always commit to a few months of lessons at a time.

Does anyone have experience with good one-to-one learning, or casual/conversation meetups? I'm making some enquiries, but would love to hear feedback from others. I'm sure the scene in Dublin has changed quite a bit over the past three years, and there are more resources available now!