Finding a Chinese Teacher in Shanghai

When looking for a Chinese teacher, there are several factors that you need to consider. Learning Chinese can be a wonderful and rewarding process, but you need to make sure that you have the right partner to guide you. Shanghai has more and more Chinese schools popping up and it seems like half of the local population promote themselves as part-time Chinese teachers. To navigate your way to an effective teacher, focus on these items: experience, curriculum, training and support.

Teaching Experience

In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, he claims that all experts require 10,000 hours of experience in order to truly master their field. Many people believe that this claim is exaggerated, but it can still serve as a reminder that there is no substitute for experience. Make sure that your teacher has a real track record of working with students and you’re not going to be an “experiment” while this person learns how to teach. Teachers with real experience will be more able to identify your weak points and create a targeted strategy for improving as quickly as possible.

Chinese Curriculum

In order to make sure that your progress is structured and comprehensive, all good Chinese teachers will use a formal curriculum of some sort. This doesn’t mean that it is rigid and unresponsive. In fact, a good curriculum is quite the opposite. Your Chinese curriculum and the textbooks it uses should outline all of the necessary linguistic elements in a logical manner. This way you and your teacher will have a full understanding of the steps between your current level and where you want to be. If you have the right curriculum then you can confidently identify which elements you already know, which ones you want to focus on now, and which ones are remaining for the future.

Teacher Training and Support

One more item to keep in mind is that before you have taken several lessons with your teacher, it may be difficult to know if their personal teaching style is a good fit for you. If you really want to learn Chinese, it will take from 50 - 150 lessons to become conversational, and you should make sure that you are spending your time with the right teacher for you. If you choose an independent teacher, there is a risk that this person is under-qualified or not fully focused on teaching Chinese. Naturally, we recommend that you work with an established Chinese school that is incentivized to train and promote only the best teachers. Additionally, with Mandarin House, you can always switch to a different teacher free of charge, if the first teacher’s personal style isn’t a great match for you. We also ensure that all of our teachers are degree-qualified, highly experienced, and have completed specialized training in the technical and social aspects of teaching Chinese.

Living in Shanghai is a fantastic opportunity and learning Chinese is one of the best ways to understand and appreciate life in China. Find the right teacher and learning Chinese will be an efficient and enjoyable process. Want to get started? Fill out an application form, contact us for more information or read more about our Chinese classes in Shanghai.