in Uncategorized

Looking for a private Chinese teacher

After almost 8 years in China, my Chinese is still not at the level that I want it to be. Of course that is totally my own fault, because I have focussed mainly on my businesses over the past years, instead of improving my Chinese. In fact, 5 years ago I spoke the language a lot better than now. I could express myself quite well, and my vocabulary was a lot bigger than it is at the moment. At that time I was even able to write 1000 different characters, right now I already have trouble to write my own Chinese name!

In 2002 I spent one semester at Beiwai (Beijing Foreign Studies University), and my plan was to continue one more semester at Beida (Peking University) right after that. Even though I was admitted to the program, I decided to skip the second semester and focus on my business instead. I had just set up my first company, because just studying only took me 6 hours a day, so there was enough time to do something else. I still regret that decision, but on the other hand I might not have been where I am right now.

Anyway, during my early entrepreneurial career I did not manage to keep up my Chinese skills. I had some good private teachers, but I did not focus enough on the language. Work always came first, and I did not give learning Chinese enough priority. I now feel that I should change that. I want to improve my oral Chinese only (listening comprehension and conversation), without spending time to learn the characters.

My idea is to find a Chinese teacher who can come to my office twice a week in the morning (before work) to teach / talk with me for 1.5-2 hours per session. I am looking for a teacher who does not speak English fluently, I prefer someone who hardly speaks English. The reason is that it is so easy to switch to English, and I want to avoid that. This person preferably should have experience in teaching foreigners and prepare the lessons in advance. Furthermore, the teacher should speak Putonghua without any accent and be able to use pinyin without mistakes (if not using characters I need to rely on pinyin).

I realize that people who fit this profile might not read this blog, but I want to give it a try anyway. Feel free to spread the word (no reward this time :-). Renumeration to be discussed, depending on qualifications and experience. Location: Spill Group Asia office in Xujiahui, next to Jiaotong University. If you are interested, or know a suitable candidate, please contact me at marcvanderchijs (at) gmail (dot) com, or by leaving a message in the comments.

Write a Comment

Comment

19 Comments

  1. I am looking for a teacher who does not speak English fluently, I prefer someone who hardly speaks English. — That is hard.. Why you don’t interdict her/him from switching to English? — train both of you..A good idea.:)

    Yeth…Good luck..:)

    L.

  2. ???Marc?
    Nice to hear that you are going to pick up your Chinese;-)As I’m teaching Mandarin Chinese in Amsterdam, I know this language is getting more and more popular here. I hope that you will find a suitable teacher in Shanghai and wish you good luck.
    ???

    Hua

  3. hi, i have chinese friends in shanghai, and i will try to persuad some one to take this chance,can you tell me your exact address ,i alreadly send you a email about that

  4. hello ,I am a native speaker, and i am glad to be your personal chinese tutor in Shanghai.I am an active Chinese boy living in Shanghai, my chinese is very well.And I have many hobbies, such as basketball, swimming, music ,movie and reading and so on, so pleae don’t worry about we have no same topics to talk about.

    I just want help your chinese, so don’t mind the fee, because i am a Mandarin volunteer.

    If you are in Shanghai, you can call me: 13817413605, or send me an email:liqiang1ooo_liqi@163.com.

    thank you.

  5. hello ,I am a native speaker, and i am glad to be your personal chinese tutor in Shanghai.I am an active Chinese boy living in Shanghai, my chinese is very well.And I have many hobbies, such as basketball, swimming, music ,movie and reading and so on, so pleae don’t worry about we have no same topics to talk about.

    I just want help your chinese, so don’t mind the fee, because i am a Mandarin volunteer.

    If you are in Shanghai, you can call me: 13817413605, or send me an email:liqiang1ooo_liqi@163.com.

    thank you.

  6. learn Chinese with Betty(shanghai)

    Betty provides Professional Training on Mandarin at Shanghi for foreigners

  7. wo de min zi shi faye ru.
    wo shi bei jing ren.
    so yi pu tong hua hen hao
    ru guo ni yuan yi,
    wo ke yi cheng wei ni de zai xian zhong wen jiao shi.
    wo xian zai mei you gong zuo.so yi you hen duo shi jian zhun bei.
    zhe shi yi ge shuang ying de ji hui.
    zhe shi wo de lian xi xin xi:
    skype:Faye.Ru
    msn:FAYEILOVEYOU0709@yahoo.com
    jing hou jia yin

  8. wo de min zi shi faye ru.
    wo shi bei jing ren.
    so yi pu tong hua hen hao
    ru guo ni yuan yi,
    wo ke yi cheng wei ni de zai xian zhong wen jiao shi.
    wo xian zai mei you gong zuo.so yi you hen duo shi jian

    zhun bei.
    zhe shi yi ge shuang ying de ji hui.
    zhe shi wo de lian xi xin xi:
    skype:Faye.Ru
    msn:FAYEILOVEYOU0709@yahoo.com
    jing hou jia yin

  9. nice to see your your imformation on your blog about to learn chinese.I am a chinese and live in shanghai. if you improve you chinese language skill then you can contact me with email: guowei0246@163.com or phone me 13917174425.

  10. Hello ,I am a native speaker, and i am glad to be your personal chinese teacher in Shanghai.I am an active Chinese boy living in Shanghai:warm-hearted and very kind. my chinese is good.And I have many hobbies, such as swimming, music ,movie and reading and so on, so please don

  11. ni hao!Marc?
    xianzai ni zhaodao heshi de zhongwen laoshi le ma?
    wo ou’ran kandao ni de blog. ni hen youqu!
    wo jiao liu jianying. wo jiao waiguoren zhongwen yijing jiaole 2 nian le. ni shuo xiwang laoshi de yingyu butaihao, youde ren juede hen qiguai, danshi wo wanquan tongyi nide kanfa. youde zhongwen laoshi weile lianxi ziji de yingyu cai zuo zhege gongzuo, danshi wo shangke de shihou shi quanzhongwen shangke, zhiyou zai xuesheng tingbudong de shihou, wo cai shiyong yingyu, jin’guan wo de yingyu hai bucuo.
    wo de putonghua henhao, wo keyi chushi wo de guojia putonghua erji jiadeng zhengshu. erqie wo de jia he wo shangban de difang li xujiahui dou henjin, ruguo gei ni shangke hen fangbian.
    qidai ni de laixin.ruguo ni ganxingqu de hua qing geiwo fa youjian, janet-shanghai83@hotmail.com, huozhe ni liuyan zai zhege blog shang.

  12. Hi, my friend

    You’re still in Shanghai?
    How is your Chinese now?

    I don’t quite agree that you want a Chinese teacher whose English is not so good. Because he may not be able to explain to you if neither of you can understand each other. A good teacher is supposed to know how to express in other sentences or method.

    But pity i’m in Shenzhen, may not help.

  13. I love teaching Chinese,I think it is challenging job.Every foreign-friend in China want to enjoy communicating with his or her Chinese friends.I hope I can work as your Coach and do a lot of Strict training to encourage you.I am a Chinese teacher with two and a half years of rich experience in teaching foreigners. Using unique teaching methods can give clear explanations to difficult language points.I can teach you how to speak and write Chinese&help you to prepare HSK tests at any appropriate place in Nanjing&any time on Internet.

  14. ???
    ???????????????????????????????????
    ????????
    ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
    ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
    ?????????????????????
    ?????????????
    ????????????????
    ??????????
    ?????13764776240/13338644318
    QQ 31574708
    Email: 31574708@qq.com
    Michael Du
    ???

  15. I just like the helpful information you provide on your articles. I’ll bookmark your blog and test again here regularly. I’m slightly certain I’ll be told many new stuff proper right here! Best of luck for the following!

  16. Hoa,it’s been long time, guess you’ve achieved a lot. Good luck and I find your blog interesting.