Singapore Expats

I am a US expat looking to learn Mandarin Chinese. I am located near Holland Villlage. I have a few questions:

1. Any suggestions for private tutors or language courses/classes near Holland Village that you would recommend?

2. What is the typical range of hourly costs for private tutors?

3. Any thoughts on the effectiveness of Internet or language software programs such as Rosetta Stone? Any suggestions?

Thank you for your help.

Hi, I haven't tried private tuition but I've gone to the classes held by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce (Institute of Business - SCCIOB). http://www.scciob.edu.sg

Their Gateway to Mandarin class is quite good, very structured and needs no previous experience. If you're taking Level 1, there's no entrance test.

Here's the link to the class:
http://www.scciob.edu.sg/index.cfm?GPID=15

They're not extremely near Holland Village, but they're just a short walk from City Hall MRT.

My experience with software (other languages, not Chinese) is that I tend to give up after a while as I am just doing it on my own... and when actually speaking the language I make some silly mistakes if there is nobody to practice with who can correct me.

ching wrote:My experience with software (other languages, not Chinese) is that I tend to give up after a while as I am just doing it on my own... and when actually speaking the language I make some silly mistakes if there is nobody to practice with who can correct me.

Agreed, with a "caveat". We have used Pimsleur Approach CD's and they ARE very very good for conversational. However, they don't do written - Pimsleur designed this for CIA and secret spy types! While we're only on the first CD, we're improving but would like to make sure we're not saying things like "elephant" when we mean "grandmother" !!!

HTH, P & C

There is a Mandarin class (other languages too) offered by the Buona Vista community club, which is very close to Holland V. It's cheap, something like $70 for the course. I have no idea if it's any good so caveat emptor.

I've used Pimsleur. It's pretty good to get started, a little expensive though. Rosetta Stone generally gets bad reviews. What do you want to focus on and what type of learner are you? I can probably recommend something to you since language learning is kind of a hobby for me.

If anyone has recommendations for learning Thai (east area please, possibly central), I would be much obliged.

I started learning Mandarin two weeks ago with Pimsleur's CDs. Although I've only completed 3 lessons, I feel like i have made great progress. The first lesson I repeated twice as a lot of the words didn't stick, but after you master that lesson it becomes very easy with the learning method they utilise.

Weaknesses of Pimsleur's approach is that it's difficult to get some pronunciations correct as you can't follow the CDs in written form. Also, you don't learn to write Mandarin, but I'm onyl interested in speaking the language anyway. Finally, you will only learn the most commonly used phrases (although a great number of them - more than enough to get by).

So far, I am loving Pimsleur though

Yago lists a wide range of Chinese courses, private tuition and otherwise. Their website is at http://yago.sg

If I want to learn any language, I prefer a private tutor, you can learn more in one to one tutoring. Any suggest?

1. Any suggestions for private tutors or language courses/classes near Holland Village that you would recommend?

Check this out:
http://www.ci-ntu.com/c_programmes.htm#basicmandarin

how about tutors near the east coast area?

anyone taken any of these mandarin courses and have any feedback on their experiences? would appreciate any information. please email me: [email protected] - hoping to sign up for something as soon as possible.

SGPSGP,

What is your rate?

There are a lot of dialects in China. Some Chinese can not speak standard mandarin. The Chinese from Beijing speak standard mandarin.

ching wrote:Hi, I haven't tried private tuition but I've gone to the classes held by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce (Institute of Business - SCCIOB). http://www.scciob.edu.sg

Their Gateway to Mandarin class is quite good, very structured and needs no previous experience. If you're taking Level 1, there's no entrance test.

Here's the link to the class:
http://www.scciob.edu.sg/index.cfm?GPID=15

They're not extremely near Holland Village, but they're just a short walk from City Hall MRT.

My experience with software (other languages, not Chinese) is that I tend to give up after a while as I am just doing it on my own... and when actually speaking the language I make some silly mistakes if there is nobody to practice with who can correct me.

I have a Swiss friend who took the level 1 course and dropped out soon after due to his busy schedule. I saw the book as well. I would say its not so interesting and helpful for someone who need to pick up the language fast. For example they would dedicate 1 to 2 pages to teach you how to read a clock or time.

Hey... if you're looking for someone to converse in Mandarin, perhaps I can help you.


cheers, ly