Finding a good private tutor

[insighter]

I am looking for a good Chinese 1 on 1 tutor and am asking for advice on how others found there's.

 

Now advice to questions like this varies depending on my each person's situation, so very briefly: I'm working in eastern Beijing, studied the language in college, have some Chinese friends, colleagues, etc. but work far more than 8 hours a day so I just don't get the studying in that I need to keep up an advanced level. I'm estimating that I should take at least two or more classes a week to keep up my language level, but here's another problem; I'm somewhat cheap and picky. I've had enough Chinese classes to tell what good one is, but I'm not made of money so I can't be spending several hundred RMB per hour at a designer Chinese language school. Therefore the most economical and effective teaching situation for me is to find a private language tutor. It seems silly though, but how exactly do people go about finding good private tutors for Chinese in China? I'm expecting people in my situation usually:

 

1) Respond to lots adds: I could spend lots of time wading through adds on different portals like thebeijinger.com, but just wondering if there was a faster way or a particularly good resource people have found.

 

2) Try Skype classes: Seems like an economical option but again, how do you locate a good one amongst the pages of adds written in poor English (I feel like I'd get a better sense of what a teacher's strengths were if the add was written in English, but not sure if there's a forum for those).

 

3) Through a personal connection. I'd love to hear people's stories about how they found a good tutor through a former language school teacher, sports team, etc.. I'd love it even more if they had suggestions for how I could replicate that (or maybe even provide a reference to a tutor via PM).

[OneEye]

If you're at an advanced level, consider looking for a tutor or language exchange partner at a university department of translation/interpretation. The students will tend to have higher standards for correctness and authenticity (higher than the vast majority of Chinese teachers in my experience), making them much less likely to tell you your Chinese is "already good" ("for a foreigner" being the implication) and more likely to hold you to the same standard they'd hold a native speaker, since that's also the standard they want to be held to as language professionals themselves. I did an exchange with an interpreter for about a year and it was brutal, but effective. I also took a yearlong interpretation class (Chinese to English, consecutive), which was tremendously effective at broadening my Chinese and left me with a ton of material to work through on my own later.

 

As far as how I met her, I'm friends with an adjunct in the department and he set us up. You could probably just go to the department office and ask though.

[studychinese]

I am not a big fan of 'language exchange'. I would say just pay for the lessons. When I was in Beijing (2011) I put an ad on 'The Beijinger' asking for a tutor. I got a tutor for 45 RMB/Hour, on the basis of two hours a day. Given inflation the price is probably a bit higher now. Certainly not hundreds of RMB however.

[OneEye]

Just to clarify, my point wasn't about language exchange, but about the type of person that tends to make a good language informant (whether you're paying with money or time/English lessons). I certainly agree that hiring a tutor might make more sense, it just happens that I did a language exchange (and it was extremely fruitful).

[abcdefg]

1) Respond to lots adds: I could spend lots of time wading through adds on different portals like thebeijinger.com, but just wondering if there was a faster way or a particularly good resource people have found.

 

I'm in Kunming, not Beijing, but the above is what I usually do. Plus I place an ad myself, in Chinese, explaining my situation and what I'm seeking. Then I do a good phone interview before any arranged meeting to keep from wasting lots of time on inappropriate candidates. I write out questions before the phone call.

 

The only "trick" I've learned over the course of about 7 years of doing this is related to timing. I search hard by the above methods just before the Winter school holiday and again just before the Summer school holiday. A couple times I've found Chinese teachers looking for vacation work, and that has been ideal. Other times I've found students wanting something to do while they were on break (from university or grad school.)

 

What I try to do if we hit it off is promote something less intense on a continuing basis once they return to class. For example meet fewer times per week or at different hours. I also pay well, a little more than the going rate. For example, here the norm has been 50 Yuan per hour or so, and I offer 75. More if the tutor has extra qualifications. I don't want to insult them with a low-ball salary proposal.

 

Additionally, I'm always on the lookout for someone I might meet through mutual friends who has time and inclination to help me advance some specific aspect of learning Chinese language or culture. Have found it best to focus on projects that are narrower and better defined than just "learning Chinese."

 

What I mean by that is I might ask someone I meet who loves movies if they will teach me about Chinese film, or I might ask someone I meet who loves Chinese poetry or opera if they will teach me about that. Then we set up classes and I get the benefit of an enthusiastic guide to some aspect of Chinese life. 

 

Your situation is not entirely the same as mine in that I'm not trying to squeeze this in at the end of a busy work day and I'm not trying to economize on the tutor's fee.

[insighter]

Thanks for the responses here guys.

 

abcdefg, I really like your approach and working on it. I'm guessing that an average to slightly above average rate for Beijing will be about 100 RMB.

[abcdefg]

Sorry, but I really have no idea as to appropriate rates of tutor pay in Beijing.

[studychinese]

Insighter, the Japanese magazines for Japanese people in Shanghai put 1 to 1 tutoring at 80 RMB/hour. I doubt prices are that high in Beijing - not that you won't see people asking that.

Put an ad in the Beijinger asking for a tutor. I did and got one for 45 RMB an hour on the basis of two hours every weekday. This is three years ago and most online were asking for 70 RMB+ and hour.