advice on two language schools - anyone been here recently?

[Flickserve]

对外汉语 - I would say it is only one of the things to be considered

A teacher has to have a balance of knowledge of Chinese, methodology of teaching and ability to engage the student. Imron mentioned his best teacher was a Chinese literature graduate. We are not sure if that person had a teaching certificate but does that really matter? Perhaps that is the best person for an advanced learner.

Teaching beginners is a different matter. An advanced level Chinese teacher may simply be a bit bored at low level teaching. Teaching Chinese is not the same as teaching an engineer, pilot or accountant where you really need somebody highly trained in a specific area.

Learning languages can be more similar to learning sports. You get dads teaching groups of kids football. You get middle level coaches for youth and amateur teams. You get coaching qualifications to be a first team pro coach/manager.

Hongputaojiu has specific needs that certain schools cannot match. However, that is not to say other learners should avoid it - that's quite unfair to the school. It is much better to have visited the school, looked around, talked to teachers etc.

With respect to the point about english majors teaching Chinese. I don't think it is a problem at all! It depends what the consumer wants and feels most comfortable with for best efficiency. Some learners need a mixture of English and Chinese to facilitate learning especially me

[艾墨本]

@Omeida,

 

Thank you for such a thorough and respectful response to this thread. While you may have lost one student on account of "teaching background" it is likely you have found many more just now.

 

I am looking into your school now solely because of your post above.

 

It is this kind of professionalism that I look for in a school. Quality teachers is just one part of it. 

 

With gratitude,

艾墨本

[hongputaojiu]

I think that has been an excellent discussion the last few days.

 

As I said yesterday or the day before:

 

There is no perfect combo to get the best teacher. Having said that, I do believe having completed an undergraduate study in language education does teach you about how learners learn.

 

I wish everyone well in their pursuit of improved Chinese!!

[imron]

I haven't had formal training in language education, but I think being a teacher made me a much better student.

[roddy]

Some thoughts:

 

1) There simply aren't enough Chinese teachers with relevant degrees to go round. If you want them out of the classrooms you're going to need to shut half the schools down.

2) That's an unnecessary degree of professionalism. A degree might be nice, but it's entirely possible to be a competent teacher (sure, maybe not the best, but not everyone is willing or able to pay for the best) without one. See: every private language school in Europe.

3) Chinese universities are not necessarily turning out good teachers. I'd rather take someone with a few years good teaching experience over a new graduate - or even an old graduate who's been working at a badly-run school.

4) Why exactly are you recommending people avoid this school? Because they were honest with you? Half the schools in China would have told you exactly what you want to hear and then Photoshopped a certificate to show you when you complained. You ought to be thanking them. 

[bart.mandarin]

I suggest you put your research in reverve. Instead of looking for schools, and then look for reviews: Go to review sites where they collect reviews about different schools. From there you can choose one in a price range that fits your budget. This is how I did it and ended up at a school (which I will not name to show I do not have conflict of interest), and did not ended up dissapointment because I read reviews on multiple websites.

 

I hope it help!

[LongGe]

I have question for the OP (hongputaojiu) ... did you finally decide on a Chinese school to attend?  If so, I would be interested in hearing the details.

 

All the best.