Finding The Right Tone: Options for Learning Chinese in China - Part 2

You want to learn some Chinese, but you don't have six months full-time to devote to it? Join the club. In July's Beijing This Month we covered programme options for learning Chinese, with a focus on comprehensive academic-style courses. But not everyone has the opportunity (some would say the luxury) of making that kind of commitment. To the rescue comes a profusion of short-term, part-time and direct-access Chinese learning opportunities in Beijing.

Short-Term Programmes

If you cannot give six months or a summer, can you afford two weeks? Several agencies and institutions around Beijing offer extremely intense "bursts" of Chinese learning in packages tailored to the kinds of time you might be able to take off work, assuming you can sell your boss on the benefits of increased effectiveness in your work, or a better result with your negotiations here in Beijing.

Assuming you find a course of the duration you want at a price you can afford, what can you reasonably expect to learn? Unfortunately, language studies are not like riding a bike. If you learned to ride your first bicycle at 5 years old, and haven't ridden since, it's safe to assume that if you took to Beijing's streets on a black Flying Pigeon you would at the very least not fall off. But if a second language is not used daily, it decays at an alarming rate. So if you plan to be in a situation where you will practice your "two week intensive business Chinese" every day, the two weeks may well help you get to the stage of greeting your counterparts politely and effectively, being able order food, give simple directions to taxi drivers, or haggle with a little more zest.

During your programme, and hopefully afterwards, avoid the trap of "tuning out" conversations in Chinese you might happen to overhear. Try to separate words and pick out of the flow of words the ones that you do know. You will find it amazing how far a little understanding can go.

"Don't expect anything approaching fluency, or even that your limited Chinese will be understood the first-time by a native speaker, and you won't be disappointed with the results [of a short-term intensive program]." Stephen Manney, an Australian agricultural scientist in his second year of working in China.

In the first stages of learning any foreign language, your mind will rebel against the new grammar structures that all your years of speaking your first language have hardened into rules inside your mind. Relax; take it slow. Breathe.

Beijing This Month cannot endorse any one institution or method, so use the basics to help you choose. Small class sizes are important as are a maximum time spent speaking and a minimum time writing. Up-to-date course materials are all important. The overall cost of courses of this type does not, in general, seem to bear a direct relationship to quality of the instruction. Rather, the costs seem to be heavily related to the brand of the course (the name of the sponsoring institution), and somewhat related to the relative comfort of the learning environment.

Part-time Programmes

The most common option taken is not short-term, full-time or intensive courses but some variety of part-time learning. Whether it's one night a week or all seven, or every second Tuesday at lunchtime, part-time courses on the surface seem to be a painless way to upgrade your skills. One should not forget, however, the adage "No pain, no gain." Although able to slot in to all but the busiest of schedules, and available in every flavour imaginable, part-time learning is at best a slow and steady way to learn, so expectations need to be kept suitably low to ensure continued enjoyment.

Unlike the more "by the book" approach of full-time study of any length, part-time success relies extremely heavily on the interpersonal skills of the person at the front of your class. Dynamic and forceful teachers tend to have the ability to continue to control fractious classrooms full of time-poor executives; retiring or easily distracted teachers are the bane of this form of education.

"Make a social connection with your classmates. My course was twice a week for two hours each time. A few of us got together into a sort of team, and we supported each other to make the commitment to go each week. If you are going to see your new friends, rather than just go to class, it's somehow easier to keep your schedule clear!" Suzanne Clewis, an embassy staffer in her first year in Beijing.

Again, Beijing This Month cannot endorse any one institution or method, however almost all the companies we spoke to in researching this article offer a demonstration lesson before you put your money down. Use this opportunity, and do not hesitate to switch should you have the slightest hesitation about the teacher's ability to hold your interest, and to cut off fruitless (thought doubtless entertaining) lines of student questioning. Costs for part-time programmes also vary widely; your best bet is to obtain several quotes before signing on. If you are subjected to any pressure-selling techniques, such as offers that are "only valid if you sign up today," we suggest you give such hucksters the experience they deserve: a clear view of you spending your yuan elsewhere.

Direct Access Strategies

One-on-one learning of Chinese as a method for the busy to increase their local word power is often not even considered, largely because of some enduring myths that exist about ensuring the quality of instruction, and because of some undesirable connotations with regard to personal ads offering "language exchange". Setting all that aside, with careful selection of one's teacher, this form can be the most rewarding and satisfying of all options.

The first source of wisdom on the teacher selection front is your own "old China hand" network. Who did they use as tutors? Are they still in contact? Considering how vital the personal introduction is in Chinese business and society in general, it's not surprising that this approach often gets the best results.

An equally well-trodden path is asking the teacher of your Chinese class for a recommendation, and in this way part-time or intensive programmes can be continued in a manner that is tailored precisely to your requirements. Ask your teacher to brief your potential tutor, accurately and without flattery, on your linguistic strengths and weaknesses.

It is worth emphasising that a doctorate in "teaching English to foreigners," while undoubtedly an indicator of academic success, says little or nothing about the owner's actual face-to-face teaching skill. In this game a "pair" of teaching skills beats "four aces" of qualification.

"The best tutor I ever had was someone who didn't have any academic qualifications at all. What she did have was a perfect ear, unlimited patience, and most importantly she spoke no English! We were introduced through a friend, and I can honestly say that without her I would not be doing what I am doing now." Anne*, a Chinese-English translator, enjoying her seventh year in Beijing.

Prices for one-on-one Chinese-language tutoring range from 50 yuan per hour to 150 yuan per hour. Depending on the distance a tutor has to travel, there may be some extra costs. Remember protocol, and if you are paying for more than once class at once (in advance or in arrears), present the money discreetly in an envelope.

Whatever method you choose, there is no doubt that any effort on your part to learn Mandarin will pay off in ways you cannot even begin to imagine.

*Anne is very well known in Beijing and has asked us not to print her real name, so she won't be asked for the name of her old tutor!