eChineseLearning: 1-to-1 Chinese Lessons with Native Teachers

I got a Chinese friend when I took part in a language-exchange corner last year. My new friend made it clear that before went to China to meet her family it would be a huge honor to know the culture and speak a bit of Mandarin. They are from Beijing and fortunately they speak standard Mandarin and not a dialect. I was terrified at first. Chinese is a very "scary" language. I was first apprehensive to learn a totally new language.

However, eChineseLearning made it easy! The teachers introduced cultural lessons in addition to the basic language lessons. The teachers taught me about which gifts would be appropriate and even introduced me to the specific Beijing dialect when I asked. The teachers also related to my cultural differences. It was like having a language teacher, but also like having a life coach. Great!

In America when we finish college it's a bit confusing. We often have some free time to explore or take on a new challenge. The process of learning Chinese was a good exercise to keep my brain busy. In Boston we have quite a few Chinese speakers, so I took the opportunity to go to Chinatown and practice the Mandarin Chinese that I had learned in my classes. Even though many of the people there spoke different dialects, they could understand my basic Mandarin. They even cooked me special dishes that were not on the menu, but only for true local Chinese. It was a great cultural experience!

After the first six months of lessons I went to Beijing. It was the greatest trip of my life because I didn't have to rely on English. I could talk to taxi drivers, waiters and even immigration officers. Everyone in China seemed to appreciate my effort. When I met my wife's family, they really appreciated my efforts to speak in Mandarin, especially with the "Beijing accent". Even my friend was surprised!

We have since returned to Boston but I continue the language lessons with eChineseLearning. I can even do the lessons in my boxer shorts. It's convenient, effective and cheaper than a local class in USD. I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in Chinese people and culture.

I was lucky enough to go to a high school in Seattle that offered Chinese as a foreign language. Because we have a large Asian community, we had a native-speaking Chinese teacher all four years of my high school study. We watched a lot of Chinese dramas, learned about ancient Chinese culture and fables and immersed ourselves in a new way of thinking about the world. It was an eye-opening experience that all the students in Spanish and French class really envied!

So, with inspiration from my high school experience, I decided to pursue Mandarin Chinese in college, with a double major in Chinese and marketing.

Before college, however, I decided to defer my acceptance to university and take a six-month Mandarin program in China the fall before I went into university here in Washington in the spring. Upon that decision and while waiting for my flight to China I wanted to take online classes over the summer after graduating high school. My Chinese teacher in Seattle recommends 1-on-1 classes with a professional. Since I only got to speak occasionally in the classroom, the teacher said that a 1-on-1 program would help me with my individual challenges. Boy, was she right!

I decided to do the Regular Chinese Lessons for Teens course through eChineseLearning. Since I'd already had 4 years of high school level study in Seattle, I qualified for Level 4- basic conversational level. eChineseLearning had a good system in place to assess which level I am at. I liked that they didn't just put me in some random class with a random teacher...they actually could grade my speaking and personalise the course to my needs. What I liked most about these lessons, as I mentioned, is how personalised they are. In a classroom, you just "go with the flow". But in these online classes it's all based on your specific needs. When I told my teacher I'd be moving to Beijing, she taught me all about the Beijing accent and speaking style. It was so specific and attentive!

Now I am in Beijing and in an intensive school. I have decided to extend my lessons with eChineseLearning and supplement my classroom lesson with personalised online lessons. The feedback you get from the 1-on-1 experience is a huge benefit.

My final year of college in Auckland I had a roommate from China. It was my introduction to Chinese culture, food and people! The food we tried and the stories she told made me feel like China might be some kind of exciting new world for me.

After graduating, I decided that before going to do my masters' degree, I would travel a bit through Asia- the "gap year" that Kiwis and Australians love to do! I thought about teaching English somewhere but I didn't want to spend my time working. I wanted to explore, and possibly learn a new language. Chinese was that language to learn! While preparing for my trip, I started learning (or TRYING to learn!) Chinese on my own through apps and websites. It wasn't working. The speaking tones and rhythm of speaking were so different from English and I was pronouncing words in unnatural ways. My Chinese friend, who was now back in China, recommend I hire a private tutor. Unfortunately, private tutors here in Auckland are really expensive.

I decided to try out some online options after watching countless hours of YouTube videos and coming across some companies that teach Chinese at more affordable rates than I'd find in New Zealand. After enjoying my Free Trial with eChineseLearning and explaining that I'd soon be leaving for China and Asia on a long trip, they recommended I take online lessons from the comfort of my hotel room (or even a cafe!) while I'm moving around. I signed up for the Chinese Immersion Program and learned Chinese as I traveled up through Thailand and Laos. When I crossed into China, I was able to use some basic Chinese as I was ordering food and buying things. I was even able to ask for a discount and bargain using numbers in Mandarin Chinese. In China, many cities have different speaking dialects, but everyone doing business speaks Mandarin, so I was able to learn online with eChineseLearning during the day, then use my Mandarin Chinese at night while eating and getting the bus or train. It was so cool!

I'd highly recommend eChineseLearning for the flexibility and fun. My teachers were always entertaining- bringing games to the classroom and making sure that all the lessons were fun, not only educational. Needless to say, when I left China after three months, I was really able to have some basic conversations. If you want to learn Chinese, you need a tutor. You can't do it by yourself. eChineseLearning is the one I'd recommend!

I had been a copywriter and contract drafter in Brisbane, Australia since I helped import / export companies with their contracts with clients in China 2 years ago. As my career representing Australians in China progressed, I found myself traveling to the Canton Fair, an international trade exhibition, each fall in October or November in Guangzhou. There, I would take in the excitement and opportunity of wheeling and deal in the Chinese economy. My work as a copywriter had kept me satisfied for decades but I found that the entrepreneur in me wanted to venture out into trade and business myself.

Before I decided to switch from law to commerce, I thought I'd broaden my skills. I took classes in accounting and then decided to further my skills by picking up Chinese. I knew that Guangzhou is the heart of Guangdong Province, which is traditionally Cantonese speaking. However, my clients told me that most of the business would be conducted in Mandarin, since the Pearl River Delta draws businesspeople from all over China. I started in a class at a local community college here in Brisbane but I had far too many questions than the teacher had time for. It seems I was motivated a bit more than the other students there, since I'd been to China a few times already and was eager to be doing business there.

I decided that only a 1-on-1 tutor could help me advance as quickly as I wanted.

After looking at the options for face-to-face tutoring here in Brisbane and seeing that a private tutor was expensive and inconvenient, I looked into online tutoring. Only one company I found online offered the kind of business program that seemed to be designed exactly for what I wanted. I signed up for their Business Chinese Lessons. I was at Level 1! After my first six months, I decided to renew my lessons for longer. I hit it off with all of my teachers and was not only learning Mandarin, but gaining insight into business in China. Today, after 18 months or so with eChineseLearning, I am now up to Level 3 in my lessons. I am still traveling to China on occasion and my Chinese colleagues really get a kick out of my Mandarin. Aside from the fun, it's come in handy quite a bit, as I can be sure I'm getting the best offers and deals in China.

eChineseLearning's Business Program has changed my life for the better. I'm now working full time with Chinese clients and dividing my time between Australia and Guangzhou. I highly recommend this style of learning for business or self-enrichment.

As so many people say' Mandarin is the hardest language to learn in the world ', but I don't believe that and want to challenge it by myself, hence I've starting my adventure since then. Firstly, I hired a one-on-one tutor here in New York, but unfortunately I was paying someone that I later found out to be not really qualified to teach Chinese. She was from China, but couldn't really guide my speaking in the way that a professional could. She's still my friend, but I decided I needed a more qualified teacher.
My friends recommended that I go online to find a company that offers Chinese lessons from a professional. At first, I doubted that an online teacher would be able to guide me on my journey (I'm old fashioned!). However, when I took my first free trial demo with eChineselearning I was really surprised how crisp and clear the connection was. In addition, a lot of my self-consciousness melted away once we got going. I was actually much more bashful face-to-face here in New York than I was with my online tutor who was all the way in China. Being comfortable to speak up and make mistakes is part of language learning and when I went online with my teachers I suddenly felt more free and open to "letting it all out". So cool!
I signed up for six months of lessons and it was so fun! I never thought I'd actually be looking forward to each lesson and considering it a highlight of my day!

As I learned a few characters and lots of speaking, I felt my brain working in a totally different way. It was exciting. In addition, my teachers at eChineseLearning recommended a lot of useful self-study. Along with my son's recommendations, I had a stack of movies and books to learn about Chinese culture as I learned the language.

Now I'm currently looking at cities to spend a year in. I'm considering somewhere south like Xiamen or Fuzhou. When I land in China, I feel I have a huge head start by speaking basic Chinese. I'm super excited to begin putting my language to use!

Learning Chinese online is a great motivation to go out there and travel. Highly recommended!

I've pretty much finished my first semester of learning Mandarin at eChineselearning and I must say it's been a nice experience. I have learned so much! I can read, write, and speak at an elementary level. I have never had a bad lesson! All of my teachers are amazing and knowledgeable. Anna's English was perfect. She made me feel comfortable and confident and I loved studying with her.
I consider myself very lucky that I found this school.

I am a Thai-American student studying in Florida and spending my time between Thailand and the USA. After living in shared housing with some Chinese students (we were all English majors) I decided to jump right into Chinese when I completed my courses in English.

In Thailand, we have five tones and so I am familiar with tonal speaking. I know the importance of speaking in the correct tones to be thoroughly understood. I also know the importance of speaking in a 'rhythm'. However, Thai and Chinese are quite different, still. They are in separate "families" of languages. I was surprised that my Mandarin Chinese teacher at eChineseLearning was somewhat familiar with the similarities and differences between the two languages and she really helped me along in my learning process, predicting which problems and confusion I may have and taking steps early on to make sure that these common errors Thai learners of Chinese often make.

In addition to the helpfulness of the teachers at eChineseLearning, the lessons were also fun! We focused on helpful structure and grammar (some things are similar in Thai, such as the SVO structure and others are different, such as the adjective coming after the noun). As I mentioned, my teacher introduced me to fun things such as Chinese fairy tales, tongue twisters and songs. Chinese class became something to look forward to, not view simply as homework.

After three months of lessons in my room from the convenience of my computer, I was able to begin talking in Chinese with my roommates (who showed a lot of patience!). When our time in Florida was finished, we all went back to Asia and I was able to make a stop in Shanghai to have a short Chinese reunion with my friends who were from Hangzhou nearby.

I liked learning online with eChineseLearning because of the flexibility and convenience. Eventually, the lessons and personality of the teachers made it more than just "convenient", but also personal and intriguing. I'd recommend it to anyone who is looking to enrich their language and their lives!

I accepted a job in Shenzhen as a lawyer reviewing import/export contracts and decided that learning Mandarin would benefit me not so much for work (since my job is all in English), but rather for my lifestyle while living in China and traveling a bit for work.

Living in Guangdong Province, I assumed that Cantonese was the way to go, but after some online research, I learned that Mandarin is far more common in Shenzhen and is widely-spoken now throughout Guangdong Province by the younger ages. I decided that Mandarin was the better investment over Cantonese because it would be easier to practice and would go further on the mainland of China.

I looked online for some Mandarin schools and I kept coming across e-chineselearning and signed up for a free trial lesson for 30 minutes. My teacher and I got along great and she was able to answer most of my questions about China and learning Chinese while teaching me how to introduce myself. I decided that since I only had a few months I'd sign up for their Summer Chinese Program since the dates would work out. I'd be moving in Shenzhen in October of 2016.

The program was awesome! The teachers were friendly and helpful. The lessons made sense and the progression went at a pace that was easy to follow.

I'm now living in Shenzhen and using the Mandarin I learned through the e-chineselearning summer program on a daily basis.