The Ideal Teacher for Online Mandarin Classes

China is the up and coming superpower. It is already dominating the world’s trade, is the biggest producer and most importantly, it is producing a wealth of knowledge. Learning Mandarin has become a trend, and many people in Singapore want to learn it for the right reasons.

It would not be wrong to say that Chinese is the new English, and one who cannot speak it might have a hard time finding his place in the future world. But it is also true that Mandarin is among the hardest languages to learn and requires at least 2000 hours of studying before you can get proficient in it.

Competition is high in Singapore, be it for students or adults, so all of us have busy schedules and cannot dedicate ourselves to learning Mandarin. The option most aspirants choose is to take online Mandarin classes Singapore from a tutor.

But is every tutor capable of delivering the best Mandarin classes Singapore? Most evidently not! So how do you choose a tutor who brings results but in limited time and resources? This blog will tell you about the qualities you need to look for before signing up for online Mandarin classes Singapore with any tutor.

Qualities of the Ideal Mandarin Tutor:

Learning a language is starkly different from studying a subject, so the ideal qualities of a language teacher are most definitely different from that of a subject tutor.

1. Availability:

We have discussed the availability problem in Singapore earlier but let’s go into detail.

There would hardly be a person whose first priority would be to learn Mandarin. He or she would probably be busy with other activities, such as being a full-time student, a student and a part-time employee or a full-time employee.

With already enough on your plate, you will need a tutor who does not only offer the best Mandarin classes Singapore but is also available to work with you at odd hours. Odd hours do not mean in the middle of the night but are different from the normal working hours.

You will also need to see if they can be flexible in their sessions, cut them down, or extend them to meet your needs. You might also want to take the classes on alternate days or weekends, so you will need such a tutor for online Mandarin classes Singapore who is flexible enough to accommodate you.

2. Patience:

We also discussed how the requirements for a language tutor are different from a subject tutor. Being an expert in the language is not enough because your tutor also needs to be patient enough for you to catch up.

Many times, the tutor thinks the point under discussion is pretty straightforward, but you might not get it at all. It is because he knows the language and you do not. If he is impatient, he might react to your struggle, and it might discourage you, resulting in you giving up.

A patient teacher would know what you are going through and will not only empathize but will also give you solutions to overcome your problems easily.

3. Experience:

While patience can be a personality trait, experience is something that your tutor must have earned before you sign up with him. It is because there is no formula to learning Mandarin or any other language. The basic points are the same, but everybody has their own process, and you cannot surpass it.

An experienced teacher would be quick to evaluate which approach would suit you the best and teach you using that method. On the contrary, an inexperienced teacher would try to force you into his method, failing, which would shatter your confidence.

Before signing up, you should not only inquire about the experience of your tutor but should also ask for testimonials and ensure that he has a decent number of students who learned from him and achieved the results they wanted.

4. Culture:

Culture plays a huge part in learning a language because language is a part of the culture. To learn any language, you will need to understand the culture so you can use the language appropriately.

Even if your teacher is great at the language and is experienced in teaching, he will not be able to generate perfect results if he is not familiar with the culture or cannot help you get exposed to it.

If your teacher belongs to the culture, he will ensure that your speech sounds like natives and uses the words correctly.

5. Personality:

Learning Mandarin is already challenging enough, so trying to learn it from somebody with a dry personality will only be harder.

Your ideal teacher would have a fun personality and should be able to keep you engaged throughout the class. He should make creative use of words and sentences and have entertaining exercises planned for you that can get you emotionally interested in the class.

A recommended way to learn Mandarin is to speak it with a native speaker and consume the country’s media. Having a fun tutor will allow you to have interesting conversations and watch interesting films or shows that sharpen your mind.

Conclusion:

To conclude it all, these are some of the points that you need to look for. But remember, these are not all. Everybody has a different personality, so defining an ideal for everybody is virtually impossible.

The best way out is to find someone who ticks all the boxes but also offers a couple of free trial classes so you can practically experience if the tutor works for you.