Free Lesson with Speakmandarin.com for prospective students

[roddy]

Another in the ongoing series of free stuff. I think I might create a sub-forum just for these so everyone can see what's on offer more easily. Anyway...

 

Online tutoring provider Speakmandarin.com have agreed to offer forum members a full free lesson with one of their tutors, in addition to the normal free trial. So that's the usual 25-minute trial, plus a 50-minute bonus lesson, giving you a total of 75 minutes: Over an hour, all for nothing.

 

Check out the site and see what you think. We've had some feedback on them before and while I was putting this deal together I got in touch with the guy who posted that, JiangshiLieren, to ask if he was still happy with the service. He said he was still using it and would still recommend it, and that's over six months later.

 

However, there's no such thing as a free Mandarin lesson. Speakmandarin are incurring costs here, and would obviously like to acquire new customers. If they do there's a commission in it for me and I'm also keen just on general principle to make sure that these offers go to the people who benefit most, and that we generate good content for the site.

 

Also, initially we can only do this for ten people. The more successful we are, the more likely we can include more members in the future.

 

So ideally these free lessons will go to people who...

 

a) ...can look at the Speakmandarin.com site, particularly the pricing and schedule, and say "Yes, this is something I want to do, and I have the time and money."
b) ...have a clear idea of how they'd like to study. Look at the courses. Do you want practice in business Chinese? HSK? Intensive pronunciation work? The clearer your aims, the more likely this is to work.
c) ...will come back and offer feedback on their experience. If after the free lessons you decide you're not interested, that's ok - but come back and explain why, so other users benefit from your input and so the company can look at what they might do differently.

 

So if you're interested, make a post covering the above points as best you can, and please make sure your registered email address is up to date and regularly checked. Any questions or comments, add 'em in below...

[lechuan]

Ack, the voting buttons are way too small on an iPad. Please someone up vote the OP, because I accidentally down voted. Thanks!

[roddy]

Thanks Lechuan, your mistake got corrected three times.

 

So, plenty of approval but I'm a little surprised by the lack of interest. Did we misjudge this somehow? Just no interest in paid tutoring? 

 

If it makes any difference for anyone, Speakmandarin have told me that they now have accreditation from the Western Association of Colleges and Schools in the US, which apparently means you can earn high school credit or certification (not too sure how this works, so check with them before hand) and may mean lessons qualify for reimbursement by some employers. 

[adamnhms]

So, plenty of approval but I'm a little surprised by the lack of interest. Did we misjudge this somehow? Just no interest in paid tutoring? 

 

Not sure if others feel this way, but I honestly think tutoring isn't very helpful for language learning.  The amount of knowledge that you could gain from studying an online chinese course, textbook, and/or with a native speaker is much more in depth (to an extent) and learner friendly, without burning a huge hole in your pocket. 

[li3wei1]

I think tutoring is useful, but in moderation, supplemented by all the other stuff. The tutoring can be in the form of unpaid informal contact with native speakers, but sometimes that isn't available or convenient. If you have to pay for it, it can be had pretty cheaply at places like italki (disclaimer: I teach on italki, but not Chinese). I think there are some real bargains to be had at the cheap end of the spectrum, and very little reason to pay the higher rates.

[yyang]

 

 

The amount of knowledge that you could gain from studying an online chinese course, textbook, and/or with a native speaker is much more in depth (to an extent) and learner friendly, without burning a hugehole in your pocket. 

 

To adamnhms: 

 

First of all, I work for SpeakMandarin.com and I'm happy to have the chance to promote us by replying to your post because you raised a very good starting point for me.

 

Exactly as you said, you can gain a huge amount of "knowledge" through self-taught materials. But gaining fluency is a different issue, assuming anyone who learns a foreign language aims to use the language. And our slogan is "we fill the gap between the knowledge and fluency". We help you to apply your knowledge in the daily/professional communication.

 

True, language exchange with any native speaker could help with the fluency. However, there's difference between language exchange and professional teacher. Even if the learner already is at a certain level of fluency, most of time, he's using what he's already known to construct the conversation. This obviously doesn't help to bring up your Chinese skills to another level. Different from free-style language exchange with any native speaker, an experienced teacher is able to "entice" you to use those vocabulary/grammar/etc. that you're not familiar with. 

 

Read the testimonial from our students:

“Quality of teaching – very good. Having spent years studying languages (and English is not my native tongue) I can tell a good language instructor. The ones that have worked with me at Speakmandarin all have the pretty rare skills like:

a) They know how to create a situation that would make the student actually use certain vocabulary/grammar rather than let him go the easy way using what he already knew before.

b) They patiently wait for the student to say something by himself and THEN correct him, rather than speak INSTEAD of him.”

 

{By the way, Roddy, I love your popular post about how to tell if your Chinese teacher is good! We actually made an evaluation based on that for our teachers. And our teachers are qualified at your standard!)

 

So, admanhms, in terms of the price, think it in the formula taking efficiency into the consideration! Your time is money （时间就是金钱！). I've tried to learn Jazz piano for a long time, reading books, watching online videos, etc. etc. All free or low-cost subscription. But all I've got from those cannot beat 5 hours of 1on1 lessons with my jazz piano teacher. -- By the way, I'm not a dumb person.

 

Hope this helps! And try us out!!!!! 

[yyang]

To li3wei1:

 

In terms of rates, again, I think it depends on what your goal is. To maintain the current level of Chinese, keep the exposure to the language, probably free language exchange or lower rates on social learning platform is enough. But if efficiency is the goal, I would use the help from the professionals. 

 

We have many foreign service officer candidates who only got a short period of time (usually 2 to 4 months) to prepare for their ILR exam. Cheap tutoring obviously doesn't work.

 

Of course, not everybody has this urgency to reach the fluency. But if they want the efficiency, professional tutors are the way to go.

 

By the way, we're not expensive at all, guys!

 

Think about your local tutor who charges you $25-50 plus your transportation time. We only charge $14-25, 1on1, certified teacher, accredited program, and any time you choose!

 

[adamnhms]

So, admanhms, in terms of the price, think it in the formula taking efficiency into the consideration! Your time is money （时间就是金钱！). I've tried to learn Jazz piano for a long time, reading books, watching online videos, etc. etc. All free or low-cost subscription. But all I've got from those cannot beat 5 hours of 1on1 lessons with my jazz piano teacher. -- By the way, I'm not a dumb person.

 

I do take efficiency into consideration, my main problem with tutoring is pricing.  But honestly, to learn a language requires intensive studying.  I see on your pricing page, for 240 lessons within a year (NOT guaranteed if over a year) for $3499.  Within' a year with $3499, do you know how much a self learner could learn?  The amount of great textbooks, online (or local, both cheap regardless) courses, and other resources one could buy with that is amazing!  Seeing as you're Chinese, I'm sure you know of the millions of Chinese students eager to practice their English, who would also be willing to help a fellow learner out with their Chinese.  A learner could get in touch with them for free!  Regardless, that's just my opinion.  I hope speakmandarin works out.  Just remember: Studying is necessary, tutoring isn't.  ;)

[aslate]

Hi Everyone - For full disclosure, I also work for SpeakMandarin.com, and just wanted to throw in my 2 cents.

 

adamnhms – I appreciate you giving the time to share your thoughts. It sounds like you are a very disciplined self-learner, and have a strong affinity against tutoring in general. In that case, our program may not be a good fit for you. I’m not sure what your goals are for learning Mandarin, but everyone has different goals, different learning styles, different access to resources and different time frames for becoming fluent.

 

As for pricing, I want to make sure readers know that you chose our most intensive package to use as an example. But even so, 240 lessons a year for $3,499 comes out to less than $15/hour for your own private tutor. And that’s pretty comparable to what I see on other tutoring sites (including iTalki). But for those who do not want to commit to 4 lessons/a week for 1 year, we have MANY other options, and are even happy to customize plans and packages to meet your individual needs.

 

In terms of finding a Chinese English-learner to partner with, as Yang mentioned, that’s great for maintaining your current level of Chinese, and if it works for you, great. However, as a few people have posted on this forum, it does not work for everyone. Often times (and I am summarizing what others have said), your partner is more interested in learning your language, and not as interested in helping you with theirs, there are also scheduling conflicts when trying to schedule meeting times across time zones (on the other hand, our teachers are willing to work through the night to meet your schedule), and language exchange partners are not skilled in helping you advance to the next level or achieve the level of fluency you would like to reach in your desired time frame. But again, if it works for you, that’s great.

 

However, in looking through this forum, I do see quite a few people posting that they WOULD like extra support from a tutoring service. Like Roddy, I am surprised that more people have not taken us up on our offer, and would be interested in hearing more thoughts (hopefully, from people who do realize the value of tutoring).

 

As Li3wei1 mentioned, there are other options out there. I have never tried them, so I cannot speak about the quality of their services. However, in doing a quick search on this forum, I have found both positive and negative feedback on other services, including iTalki.

 

Bottom line, the only way you can really judge if it’s going to work for you is to give it a try. And that’s what we are offering, so I hope some forum members do decide to take advantage of it.

 

FYI - Here’s a link to more testimonials from satisfied customers.

 

Feel free to let us know if you have any questions!

Angela

angela.slate@speakmandarin.com

[adamnhms]

As for pricing, I want to make sure readers know that you chose our most intensive package to use as an example. But even so, 240 lessons a year for $3,499 comes out to less than $15/hour for your own private tutor. And that’s pretty comparable to what I see on other tutoring sites (including iTalki). But for those who do not want to commit to 4 lessons/a week for 1 year, we have MANY other options, and are even happy to customize plans and packages to meet your individual needs.

 

You're very right, I chose the most intensive, so that may have not been the best example (I'm not intentionally trying to mislead people).  You're also right about certain language exchange partners, but I've found that there are a good amount of Chinese who are willing to help others with their Chinese.  In addition, there are many foreign exchange students currently in America and Canada, which does allow scheduling to work out well (even for English speakers in the UK, considering the time difference).  I've met many such partners in person and around my area, so there definitely are native Chinese people out there willing to help an English speaker.  I hope tutoring works out for you and your company.  

[Flickserve]

I have been trying out speakmandarin.com

 

Unfortunately, I didn't see this thread beforehand.

 

I guess I fall into the moderate learner. I can't compare much with other mandarin schools as this is the only one I have done on a one-to-one basis.

 

I do try to keep up with at least twice a week. Progress was slow at the beginning (a lot of inner frustration) but I need to hear more mandarin to pick up the words. Now looking into podcasts to grab the odd 15 minutes of learning time here and there that comes up spontaneously. In that search, I came across this website!

 

Tutoring is useful to teach an irregular learner like me a more systematic way. It really depends which way the learner is orientated - group lessons are really non-productive for me wheras one-to-one is much more efficient. If one is really able to put in 4 lessons a week, plus supplementation, that's on the border of surreal for most people working fulltime yet trying to learn the language.

 

So far, my experience of speakmandarin has been decent. I can't give it a *stellar* rating but that's a characteristic of myself being a slow learner. Enjoying the lessons a bit more now because of getting through a little easier. I did have the same issues when learning another language so its me, not the tutor/language school issue.

 

My logic is, if I pay this money for one-to-one and am unsuccesful in learning mandarin, I am a lost cause for any language school.

 

Must go now to do more research in the efficacy of having a language partner!

 

 

[Flickserve]

Having been with speakmandarin.com for a 30 lesson course, things have got easier.

It was pretty frustrating at the beginning being able to listen to words but not comprehend. Or wanting to articulate but not having the vocabulary. I think it's similar when people have a stroke that affects certain parts of the brain affecting those specific functions.

One has to book 12hours in advance which is not easy for my occupation where things literally turn up at a fly.

If I wanted to arrange something at shorter notice, say in then morning for a few hours later, this would cost double. I appreciate the tutor needs advance notice so my particular circumstances make it difficult to match up.

I stuck primarily with two tutors which I have no issues with. They were pretty patient with me. Because I am on the road a lot, sometimes getting a connection to my laptop was inconsistent so we did lessons by Skype backup. It was not optimal but can work satisfactorily and I am pretty flexible. It got easier the more lessons I had.

Just to show how difficult it can sometimes be for me - I booked a lesson but was pressed for time. Hadn't had breakfast or lunch and was in a car. Had a conversation by Skype and went into MacDonald's to pick up a meal (scoffing it down in ten minutes). During the meal, we decided to try Chinese texting. That went alright despite me having to keep switching to Pleco which obviously was a bit slow. Then I continued the lesson (had booked two hours) in a local sports center over Skype. This was a place where I could sit down with less ambient noise. A bit of a novel situation and makes for a good story for my tutor.

I can remember how to say MacDonald's much easier now since I was actually in the place itself. I had learnt it in a previous lesson but the words actually hadn't stuck very well.

I think the tutor would have preferred me to be in KFC but there wasn't one conveniently around!

[aslate]

Thank you for sharing your experience, Flickserve! It sounds like overall, things have been going well. We appreciate your understanding about the difficulty of booking last minute sessions. Because our classes are live, our teachers do need notice. Not only do they need to accommodate the time, but also to prepare the lesson, so that we don't waste your time. As you have discovered (with the Skype option and the texting), we try to be as flexible as possible. Please let us know if there is anything else we can do. We really do appreciate the feedback!

[Flickserve]

After a bit of a hiatus, I am back on this thread. I had to stop over Christmas as things were rather busy but I still managed to stay on this forum. I also looked at other resources and really, it is a bit overwhelming to see everything out there.

 

I try to listen to a Beijing radio station each day - 99.9% of it is way over my head but I figure if I can just catch  a few minutes of speech, it will keep my ear "in tune". Pity my vocabulary is still weak. I did find the hacking chinese blog and read some of the articles. It's an enjoyable read though I doubt I can get through every single methodology.

 

I have had some communication with speakmandarin.com. They try to help, though really, the issue is with me for my highly unpredictable work schedule. Pleased to say I intend to start up with them again.

[Flickserve]

BTW, I had a bit of a think about adamnhms and his perspective. I think it is possible to do it his way. For me, I don't think it would work. I am not in an immersive environment.

 

I have pressures of time management which makes me very concious about how time is managed. I considered language exchange but it's not for me.

[Flickserve]

Just keeping an update on speakmandarin.

Some things they did well - they gave me some free credits for purchasing the next block of lessons. I didn't realise to get the extra credits, I had to pay up full rather than split payments. But this was sorted out very quickly so good for them to be prompt.

I notice they have recently streamlined their pricing structure. It's simpler to read for potential purchasers.

I have had a couple times where time came up during the day. So I contacted customer service who checked if my tutor was free for a class. I did this a few hours in advance and would not have minded if the lesson didn't happen. Fortunately it did. I try to keep this to a very occasional use.

As a structured course, I think their syllabus is good. On my recent trip in China, I did recognise some of the words being spoken in the restaurant from the lessons I had with speakmandarin.

The Webex software displayed PowerPoint slides clearly. Skype isn't good on displaying PowerPoint.

Things that can be improved:

Website is functional but outdated.

PowerPoint slide are in flash. So, they are not accessible on a mobile device. Or, if downloaded, there is no sound. I just rechecked now after downloading an old flash plugin for android and I can get the sound. But, this solution might be difficult for the less technology minded user. Not every user will be in front of a laptop/desktop.

The webex software was rather inconsistent with sound. We had more than a few occasions with the sound suddenly not working. Switching to skype solved it.

Webex meeting software doesn't let me cut and paste. Eventually, using the chat box on the webex allows me to do this.

Webex didn't work on my android even though there is an app for it.

There's a database of teachers but many don't teach. Not sure what's the benefit of showing inactive tutors.

It might be an idea for them to offer half an hour lessons. And lessons that can be arranged at half past the hour. The world is a busier place now and some clients might require a very flexible schedule. They did offer 15mins but I can't see that working - it's a bit too short.