Hi there,
I am strongly considering going to Ten West and wondered if anyone could give me their objective opinions about it's teaching methods etc...
I am an Elementary student wanting 1 to 1 tuition, 8-10 hours a week.
Many thanks!
How old are you?
I am 43 years old.
Sorry I misunderstood.
Yes, Elementary means my level of Chinese. Sorry for the confusion!
:)
I've attended TenWest for about 7 months, and I can't recommend it highly enough. The owner of the school did undergraduate and graduate work in the U.S. He has a very thick Chinese accent, but he's actually spoken English for 20 years. He has tried very hard to accommodate Westerners and their learning styles. I asked to be taught using the GPA method which is shown to be highly effective, and my teacher knew exactly what that was.
I will say, as you may have already noticed, that TenWest is more expensive that the university programs that teach Chinese; however, you get what you pay for. After seven months of study (with almost zero study outside of class), I feel comfortable traveling China by myself. For someone who has never learned a second language, I was impressed at how effective TenWest has been at boosting my language ability.
TenWest also just started what they call 说吧 which is basically Chinese language practice every Wednesday evening from 7:15-9PM. Coffee and snacks are provided. 10RMB per person (and you don't have to be a student to attend). This Wednesday, they are teaching us how to play mahjong (with as much of it in Chinese as possible).
They can also provide student visas for full time students if that's important to you.
As you can tell, I'm a huge fan of the school!
Wow, they charge 10 RMB for basically a Chinese Corner. Foreigners are expected to give free English lesson 24/7 here and all over the States there are free ESL classes for people wanting to take advantage of them. I did volunteer work for a couple of them. My first steps into my disastrous career as an ESL teacher in China. But Chinese people are going to milk it every time for that money ain't they.
Ummmmm... Not sure you understood what I was saying. The highly trained Chinese teachers (some of whom have taught abroad) are basically VOLUNTEERING their time for this Chinese Corner. This isn't random college kids at the 大学. It seems to me that they charge 10RMB a head to recoup the cost of coffee, tea, and snacks.
Dude, if your first instinct is to criticize all Chinese people as being money hungry, you are in the wrong country.
Thanks Backpack for that hearty recommendation, really helpful when considering things from another continent.
I like the idea of the Chinese corner!
BTW - What course books do they use?
