Skip to content
  • Epic Quest
  • Contact Me!
  • About Me
Instagram YouTube Facebook
Menu

Writer. Traveler. Tea Drinker.

Writer. Traveler. Tea Drinker. Doing all three in China
Instagram YouTube Facebook
  • Epic Quest
  • Contact Me!
  • About Me
Hit enter to search or esc to close
Home  >  China • Learning Chinese  >  I Hired a Tutor!
Posted inChina Learning Chinese

I Hired a Tutor!

Posted By Becky Ances Posted on November 17, 2012
Please install Travelera Share Buttons plugin

An actual picture of me and a friend with my teacher. Yes, I’ve taken to wearing green dresses and white bows.

So, I finally decided to fork over the cash, and get my own chinese teacher. You see, speaking Chinese is now a common thing in my life. I speak, or write, Chinese every single day now. Sometimes a lot, sometime a little, and my speaking and listening is getting noticeably better for which I’m super psyched (speaking and listening are my weak points).
What is getting noticeably worse is my grammar and vocabulary. I hang my head in shame when I try to recall words I learned last August in my private Kunming classes. And when I try to use grammar patterns, fugghetaboutit. It’s shameful.
I want to go to the chinese classes here at the university (free for english teachers to attend), as it is the way I have learned so far, but this semester my English classes totally clash with the Chinese classes and I’m unable to attend any. So I’ve just been going chinese-less recently. Apart from 5-20 minutes a day practicing writing on my Skritter App, I haven’t done any real studying to speak of.
That’s why, when a friend mentioned she was hiring a tutor, I jumped on the bandwagon and met the teacher too. My teacher, Hu Laoshi, seems very nice. She spent some time teaching Chinese in Cambodia and has recently moved back to Lin’an. With no full-time job yet, her schedule is pretty wide open so I can have class when it’s best for me.
She does an hour and a half, one-on-one for 100 rmb (about 15 bucks) and she will teach me anything I like. I’m just about done with the Hanyu Jiaocheng textbook series, so I want to finish that off before moving onto something else. Class officially begins tomorrow. She seems very nice and speaks slow, clear Mandarin. I’ll meet her twice a week for 3 hours total. It’s not as much as I’d like (I’d prefer 2 hours a day), but with my schedule, and the fact that I actually have to pay her, limits it a bit.
As an added bonus, I cleaned up and re-organized my spare bedroom into a study room so we’ll have a comfortable place to meet. Yay for forced cleaning!
My friend, who also hired the same teacher twice a week, was trying to justify the money. (It will be a little over $100 a month, a not insignificant amount when you earn chinese rmb.) But I told her to not worry. It’s classes, learning, not some expensive piece of clothing you’ll only wear once or a fancy meal. This is something that will help us connect with local people, make traveling easier and help to make daily life not only more understandable, but more enjoyable as well. I feel, like travel, money on a Chinese teacher is money well spent.
So I’m back on the bandwagon and learning chinese again. I know I sound like a total Hermione, but I’m pretty excited to study again!
Photo credit

Tags: chinese learning chinese private tutor
Previous Article Out and About in Lin'an, China
Next Article A Short Film about European-Chinese Love

Related Posts

Walking with Pikachu

I’m not sure how it started. Maybe I just thought it was cute the way my Taiwanese boyfriend pronounced Pikachu (pi-ka-que), but for the past five years, every time one of sees a Pikachu doll, toy, game etc we have to talk about it and point it out, and end

Read More about Walking with Pikachu
Please install Travelera Share Buttons plugin

Here We Go Again!

Bored, playing around on my computer the other day, I started looking through old bookmarks on my browser. Since I have been an Apple user for a long time, whenever I get a new device or computer, it copies everything over automatically and I have bookmarked websites I haven’t looked

Read More about Here We Go Again!
Please install Travelera Share Buttons plugin

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Recent Posts

  • Walking with Pikachu
  • Here We Go Again!
  • The Five Books I Keep Returning To
  • “Do You Like Bread?”
  • 100 Years of the CCP and All I Got was This Lousy Light Show

Archives

Categories

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Recent Posts

  • Walking with Pikachu Becky Ances June 17, 2022
  • Here We Go Again! Becky Ances June 9, 2022
  • The Five Books I Keep Returning To Becky Ances July 30, 2021
  • Popular
  • Recent
  • The Swiss Family Robinson are a Bunch of Jerks December 11, 2009
  • Making it Official: My Chinese Boyfriend December 7, 2012
  • Good Chinese Wife Review and a Chance to Win a Free Book!! July 27, 2014
  • 10 Signs You've Lived in China a Long Time March 29, 2014
  • Walking with Pikachu June 17, 2022
  • Here We Go Again! June 9, 2022
  • The Five Books I Keep Returning To July 30, 2021
  • “Do You Like Bread?” July 16, 2021

Subscribe Now to Our Newsletter, It’s Free!

Get the best content delivered straight into your inbox!

Facebook Twitter Google+

About

I’m an American who has been living in China for more than a decade! This is my blog where I muse about all things China. Please also check out my YouTube channel “Badminton Becky” and my other badminton blog at www.badmintonbecky.com

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • Walking with Pikachu June 17, 2022
  • Here We Go Again! June 9, 2022
  • The Five Books I Keep Returning To July 30, 2021
© Copyright 2017. Theme by BloomPixel.