Nanjing Mandarin Lessons

[Ivvy]

Hi guys,

 

Looking for a little advice on Mandarin lessons in Nanjing. I'm hoping to be there from June next year up until around March. How good is the university with respect to mandarin lessons? To be honest I'd rather hire a tutor for a few hours a day, does anyone know of a good one? If not has anyone tried the new concept Mandarin immersion course? It's unbelievably expensive but if it's good it's good! Also how expensive is accomodation?

 

Thanks very much for any info,

 

Dan

[Huina]

Which university are you looking at? There are many universities here. 

[GaryAlmond]

I have taken private lessons at my office from several teachers in Nanjing with a lot of success. When I first came here (Nanjing) about 5 years ago, I took a course from New Mandarin Concepts and was completely disappointed. I learned very little and the price was way out of line. Since then I have always looked for teachers who are students at Nanjing Normal University (teaching school) or Nanjing University. I prefer teachers who are in the "Teaching Chinese to Foreigners" Master's degree program. I don't attend the university, I just find students who are in that program and they come to my office and teach me. Right now the going rate is anywhere from USD12 to USD15 per hour for this kind of private teacher.

 

While I haven't taken any language courses at the university, I think they are good if you will be here for several years. I think the courses move more slowly than I wanted and I also wanted to emphasize business Chinese, therefore I chose my own teachers and together we found the right textbooks to use that met my needs.

 

If this sounds like something you're interested in, send me a PM and I can provide some more tips and a name or two.

[abcdefg]

You can probably find a private tutor through one of the universities. Several times in other cities (not Nanjing) I've gone that route. Sometimes winding up with a grad student and once with a faculty member.

[NickM]

Hi,

 

I'm looking for a Mandarin teacher in Nanjing. I like the idea of finding someone (grad student / staff member) from a university, especially if doing the masters course in teaching Chinese as a foreign language. Question is, how do I go about trying to find them? How to make first contact??

 

I wanted to PM GaryAlmond for advice, however seems PM function no longer exists?

 

Cheers,

Nick

[roddy]

He's not logged in for two years, but you can try to pm him now. 

 

I'd just figure out where the courses are, then go visit the campus and ask around. 

[GaryAlmond]

Hey Nick,

 

You found me! Somehow the Admin got your post to me. I'm still in Nanjing but I haven't taken Mandarin lessons for about a year. I'll see if I can get some names for you and pass them along. As you might imagine, the problem with using grad students, or other university students for that matter, is that after they graduate, they tend to leave the area. Others take on internships or go back to their hometowns.

 

The most recent teacher I had is returning from an internship in Poland this summer. I can highly recommend her. Let me see if I can find a few names or contacts and send them your way.

 

 

[NickM]

(roddy - thanks for your help to reach Gary!)

 

Gary - many thanks for the reply!

 

It seems I underestimated my (very tenacious, Chinese) wife. She very quickly found lots of students for me who are able to teach me Chinese at home. But the trouble is, term time will soon end and they all then go back to their home cities.

 

So if you can indeed help me with a few names (esp. ones who are likely to be in Nanjing for the summer), that would be most appreciated. I'll buy you a beer

 

Cheers,

Nick