Mandarin Tutoring in Chengdu

[speedy7]

Hi, I am currently considering to move from Beijing to Chengdu. I heard so many good things about that city that I really want to go there and live it myself.

I want to learn Chinese there but not at a university - I want to learn it by tutoring. I am also not interested in language exchange.

I have the folowing questions:

1. Are there any universities where the students learn "Teaching Chinese" in Chengdu?

2. Which other universities might be suitable to find tutors?

3. What would a flat cost in that area?

4. Anybody knows tutors from Beijing or the Dongbei area, who happen to live in Chengdu?

Thanks in advance.

[Prodigal Son]

You should check out Grandma's Kitchen on 人民南路 near the Age of Red club. There's a corkboard on the wall near the entrance which has listings for Mandarin tutors living in Chengdu. I'd expect it to be pretty cheap, in the range of 20-40yuan per hour, but that's just a guess. Chengdu is indeed a pretty fantastic city. Let me know if you have any other questions about Chengdu.

[Roee]

If you are planning to use a tutor for 10+ hours a week than for sure you should not pay per hour. Settle on a weekly amount and it would cost much less.

[chengdu-zx]

i am a chengdu local resident and i don't think tutors fee would be as cheap as that .generally,the price of a formal educated chinese teacher who tutoring a student should be about 80~120 yuan per hour.and this price would be about the same with english,math,piano,voilin...etc. and no matter how many lessons you will take,the price would not cut down too much.

chengdu is a nice city and the climate is quite mild,no broiling summer or frore winter,but sometimes a little bit fuggy in summer.

wish you have nice days in chengdu!

[Xiao Kui]

When I was in Chengdu 2 yrs ago - there were 2 private language schools that had one on one Mandarin tutoring by experience Chinese teachers - One of the schools is called "One to One Mandarin" and is run by a Chinese man named Ben Li. The other was called "Four Tones" and run by a foreigner named Andrew. Unfortunately googling them was useless, and I have no contact info, so you'll have to ask around. I know "One to One" tutoring was 50 RMB per hr., and I think "Four Tones" was the same.

[Cheryl.H]

I'm really doubt about the quality if you would learn something for free. I'm local in Chengdu, well, yes there're a lot of people who would like to teach a foreigner Chinese for free because they regard the foreigner as a free English tutor as well, but if a Chinese would like to effectively learn English in Chengdu, the tutoring fee will be thousands RMB for only 2 or 3 months... I'd suggest that if you are a foreign student, it's ok for you to practice daily Chinese Mandarin with your classmates or teachers, then after 4yrs study, you may speak Chinese Mandarin well, but if you are a businessman or a foreigner who has limited time or would like to arrange your life on your own, you'd better to learn the new language with a specific schedule and follow the schedule to see the improvement of your study. My suggestion is to hire a professional tutor who's a native Chinese and speaks fluen English and it's best if the tutor knows well about Chengdu and have good relationship with local authorities which will be a big help for your life here and even for your business here~

[Chinadoog]

I have a really good tutor who is from the northeast and speaks clear mandarin, has experience teaching, and is really educated, but she isn't looking for any more students. She charges 50yuan an hour.

You can probably find a student to help you for 20yuan an hour, but someone with experience and knows what they're doing will probably want at least 50. 80-120 is really expensive.

If my tutor loses a student or two, I'll try to keep you in mind.

[Prodigal Son]

I saw an ad in Grandma's Kitchen this week advertising mandarin tutoring starting at 10 yuan an hour (discounted from 30). Finding a tutor should be pretty easy.

There are a few tutors who've advertised their services on here, too: www.chengduforum.com

[mfgillia]

Spent the last month in Chengdu on business and found an outstanding Chengdu Chinese tutor. She actually works at our company as the translator. Been working with various tutors for the last 3 years mostly in Taiwan. Those have all been full time professional teachers that also teach at the big Taiwan universities to foreigners.

For my needs, this tutor in Chengdu is by far the best. My biggest challenge these days is improving my listening and communication skills (less so on pronunciation and tones) so want to get lots of practice really listening and understanding Chinese and communicating more naturally in different environments as efficiently as possible as my workload doesn't leave much time anymore for continuing my Chinese studies.

Had mixed results getting the other teachers to really embrace what I need. However, this tutor in Chengdu just seems to have a natural talent for creating a very immersive environment energetically role playing multiple scenarios while switching back and forth to different drills correcting some grammar problem I'm still having using as little English as possible. If I want to hear something in a normal speed 8 or 10 times to really get it down and concentrate on being able to distinguish that last word or two hidden in a longer statement she'll do it effortlessly without seeming fatigued (unlike my normal Taiwanese tutor that requires a bit of prodding to go beyond 1 or 2 repeats).

So for others trying to find a decent tutor recommend sending her an email. She's a bit busy with work so not sure how much time she may have. I was able to schedule sessions on both the weekends and after work in the evenings. Her name is Megan and email is anbabylove@yeah.net

[insighter]

I live north of Chengdu in Dujiangyan (都江堰) and have only been able to find an overpriced tutor that is moderately acceptable. Maybe I'll try some of these emails. You still in Chengdu Chinadoog?

[MartinVenator]

Hi insighter, how much do you pay for your lessons?

I will relocate to dujiangyan soon, are you still there?