Request For Help - Chinese Tutor Sign

eupnea63355

I would argue that in my area, Chinese tutors are a pretty big scam. I have experienced several that try to charge $60 usd per hour, and get that because there is are government people here that get their tutoring paid for by their employer.

I have taught English as a volunteer for decades. I love it and am committed to helping immigrants learn English. When I want tutoring I have to pay for it. In reality I don't haggle. I just say "no thanks" and hope the phone rings again. Lately all of my students are Chinese, but I really am commited to not confusing my time with them in trying to learn their language.

So, can anyone help me phrase a little ad for an index card to be placed on a community board? Something like: "Wanted, Mandarin tutor, must have excellent pronunciation and diction. some English preferred. Please call...."

zhenlijiang

Hi eupnea63355, I would think most native speakers of Chinese would never--unlike Frank(shaoxlee)_Shenzhen_China below--offer, or think, that their pronunciation has problems. I guess you mean "standard" (as opposed to "excellent") pronunciation, though what exactly counts as 标准 will differ every time you ask another person. One thing you might do is specify that you are interested in a teacher from northern, or northeastern, or whatever other region of China. Of course then you still don't know if you're getting 标准 or not, but the si-shi you probably can avoid.

I don't know, if you do prefer that they have some English, perhaps put up your ad in simple, clear English and that's OK too? Just my thoughts.

bodawei

Hi eupnea63355

Listen to Frank below - you are thinking in English (well, you can't avoid that.) Actually, I don't want to sound rude, but I think pronunciation is the least of your problems. To put this another way - some very excellent Chinese teachers will have some kind of non-standard or non-textbook pronunciation; it doesn't really matter. In some provinces many people cannot distinguish say 'n' and 'l', in others 'r' and 'l'. It does not mean that those areas of China do not produce good teachers.

zhenlijiang

I just want to clarify that I am not saying northerners are superior teachers or that northern pronunciations are preferable or more "standard". Eupnea was specific about not wanting (and she has the right to have that preference) to pick up an accent characterized by the lack of distinction between s-sh. That was the only reason I suggested specifying a native speaker "from the north", as just one way of increasing your chances of finding what you're looking for while still being general about what you don't want. Also not saying that I think Frank's pronunciation "has problems". He himself called them s-zh-sh and n-l "问题"s and that therefore he is 不合适 for Eupnea's requirements.

I understand Eupnea being a little particular here. She's advertising on her local supermarket board for a tutor. Many who will respond are probably not professional teachers, may have no experience.

bodawei

Hi zhenlijiang

I 'am pretty bad at picking nuances but I definitely did not think that you are of the opinion that northerners are superior teachers. I see what you mean by nominating a region of China, but as I have already said, or at least implied, that is very hit and miss. My SO (I am picking up on ChinesePod acronyms - showing my flexibility) has a northerner teacher - he has not a trace of an accent. I asked him once and he said that his province 'has no accent'. But if you listen to people from Beijing.. you get a strong accent.

Anyway, I also see that eupnea has a perfect right to seek out a teacher with a neutral accent - actually my best advice is that a good teacher would be able to direct her to an 'accent correction' teacher. This often happens in the English-teaching world; I am sure it is feasible in the Chinese-learning world.

zhenlijiang

Sorry to make you explain Bodawei. And I know I'm not bringing up anything you don't know.

Perhaps it would have been better had Eupnea not referred in her post to "the s-zh-sh problems", as being opposed to "excellent Mandarin pronunciation and diction". She prefers not to speak like that, authentic as it may be, and many learners (perhaps Eupnea as well) have a preference not to acquire a strong erhua-ing northern accent. I know that a strong Beijing accent is not "standard" pronunciation. As for your SO (um, took me quite a while to recall what that could be)'s teacher saying that his province has no accent--well, according to him it doesn't. And of course just because someone is a Beijinger that certainly does not mean they can't speak or teach you in "standard" pronunciation.

There must be as many native-speaker views on what exactly is "standard", or "好听" putonghua as there are native speakers.

Again, Eupnea is hoping to find someone in her neighborhood to tutor her; she's not shopping for schools or teachers who do that for a living, who can be relied on to teach "standard" pronunciation, to provide in a way that is not hit-and-miss. That's probably why she has the criteria she does. Perhaps she's a "clean slate", has yet to acquire an accent of any kind. If so I would be similarly nervous, eager to make the "right" start.

Maybe what we're both saying is, it's better really to seek out a qualified, experienced, professional teacher if you can ...

zhenlijiang

（＾ｖ＾）

xiao_liang

我要: 一个普通话老师。需要良好的发音和用词.

电话号码：

eupnea63355

Thank you xiao_liang. :)

I've always wondered, is your avatar inspired by the tongyao?

小板凳，你莫歪，

让我爷爷坐下来。

我帮爷爷捶捶背

爷爷说我好乖乖。

In my quest for recordings of tongyao I came across the many videos of Chinese kindergarten productions (all too similar) with little boys with mustaches or wigs and little girls pounding their backs.