Chinese teachers are everywhere. There are thousands upon thousands of them.
They can be found on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Italki… Anywhere you look, you’re sure to find one!
Many of them are lovely people. They beam at us with broad smiles, talk enthusiastically and make us feel warm and fuzzy inside.
Sadly though - and this is putting it mildly - only a fraction have the necessary skills, knowledge and attitude to help you learn Chinese.
And let’s be clear, when I say “help you learn Chinese” I’m assuming that your goal is to speak Chinese fluently.
If you’re looking for a kind-hearted teacher who will make you feel good regardless of whether you end up fluent or not - you don’t need to worry.
But in this post, I set out five core requirements all ambitious Chinese learners should demand from their teacher.
1. Personal experience of learning a language to a high level
Many Chinese teachers I’ve encountered are native Mandarin speakers who never learned to speak English particularly well themselves. This makes it hard for them to understand what it takes to rise to the kinds of challenges you’ll need to overcome if you want to become fluent in Chinese. Listen out for your teacher’s pronunciation and grammar when speaking English. Ask yourself: would you be satisfied with an equivalent level in Chinese? If the answer is no, you might want to start looking for a replacement.
2. A willingness to risk upsetting you with honest feedback
To learn Chinese well you need to receive regular, honest feedback on our tones, sentence structure and word choice. But it’s notoriously difficult to find a Chinese teacher who will give you it. There are two main reasons for this. First, some learners are overly sensitive about being corrected, making teachers who’ve encountered such students nervous about being too strict. Second, Chinese culture values extreme politeness towards strangers a lot. As I covered in this podcast, it can be difficult to find teachers who are willing to break this taboo. If you do manage to find one, you’ve struck gold.
3. An understanding of the folly of proficiency tests
Chinese teachers love proficiency tests. Many of them basically regard themselves as test coaches and can’t comprehend what other possible role they might have beyond that. And that’s fine…if your goal is to pass proficiency tests. But remember what I said at the start? This post is written for ambitious learners whose goal is to become fluent in Chinese. As I covered in another post, becoming fluent in Chinese and training for tests are 两回事 (two different things!) Your ideal teacher should be aware of this.
4. A genuine interest in your goals and requirements
Your first session with your teacher is a chance for them to get a deeper understanding of your unique goals and requirements. It’s also the perfect opportunity for you to assess their attitude towards you. If you find that your teacher is mainly talking at you rather than asking questions out of a genuine desire to understand your needs, that’s a serious red flag. A helpful teacher should be using the session to figure out what you need - not tell you what they’ve already decided you need.
5. An excellent level of Chinese
Some Chinese teachers aren’t native speakers. I don’t have a problem with this on one condition: Their Chinese - including pronunciation, tones and general use of language - must be excellent. If it isn’t (and sadly in many cases it isn’t) they’re frankly unqualified to help you reach a high level and you’re likely to pick up their bad habits.
My view - which probably wouldn’t be considered controversial for any language other than Mandarin - is that non-native speakers with mediocre pronunciation and grammar should not be teaching Chinese. These teachers take advantage of the fact that their students have no way of telling their Mandarin is lousy and wouldn’t pay for their services if they were aware of it.
What do you think?
The five points above don’t exhaust all of the qualities a good teacher should have. They’re intended to set out a few prerequisites to start out with.
What qualities do you demand when looking for a Chinese teacher?
Let me know in the comments!