I've been learning Mandarin on my own for a few months (Pimsleur courses, Rosetta Stone, New Practical Chinese Reader with the audiotapes, and of course PlecoDict) and I'm at a point where I really need to start talking to people on a regular basis. I've tried talking to Chinese friends. They can give me some feedback on my grammar -- though I get nervous when they disagree about whether I was correct or not! -- but it's difficult to hold a very satisfying conversation with someone who will likely reply to whatever I say with a sentence of 10 words I've never heard before. Plus my friends are not linguists and are sometimes unable to answer my questions about the language very well.
So I'm thinking a tutor or a small group class would be appropriate. One thing I've learned from lessons I've taken on other subjects over the years is that the difference in effectiveness between a mediocre teacher and a top-notch one is huge; my learning is not just a little faster with my good teachers, it's many times faster. I'm definitely willing to pay more for a more effective learning experience.
Unfortunately, I don't have clue one about how to look for a good language tutor. I assume some of you guys have had private or semiprivate language instruction in the past. How and where did you find the people you were most satisfied with? What did you do beforehand to find out which people were good? And what the heck, may as well ask: Any recommendations in the Silicon Valley area?
(At some point I fully intend to go to China and do the immersion-course thing, but sadly that's not a practical option for me in the short term.)
So I'm thinking a tutor or a small group class would be appropriate. One thing I've learned from lessons I've taken on other subjects over the years is that the difference in effectiveness between a mediocre teacher and a top-notch one is huge; my learning is not just a little faster with my good teachers, it's many times faster. I'm definitely willing to pay more for a more effective learning experience.
Unfortunately, I don't have clue one about how to look for a good language tutor. I assume some of you guys have had private or semiprivate language instruction in the past. How and where did you find the people you were most satisfied with? What did you do beforehand to find out which people were good? And what the heck, may as well ask: Any recommendations in the Silicon Valley area?
(At some point I fully intend to go to China and do the immersion-course thing, but sadly that's not a practical option for me in the short term.)