Take Chinese lessons
in Pretoria

Taking Chinese Classes for Adults in Pretoria

According to a Chinese proverb, “All things are difficult in the start.”

Learning any language is a difficult thing to do.  Being a beginner Chinese speaker means having to learn new pronunciation, and a range of new words before you can even think of stringing along sentences in the language. You must remember that the Chinese language is very different from South African languages like English, Zulu, and Xhosa that you are used to.

Maybe you want to learn Chinese because you plan on visiting China or Taiwan soon. If you are an adult and you are wishing to expand your knowledge of the Chinese language, consider taking Chinese lessons with a private tutor. You need to remember whether you are visiting China for business or pleasure, there are very few Chinese people in the country who can speak English. So how will you communicate with the locals in China? Knowing how to speak traditional Chinese or Mandarin Chinese is your answer when visiting the Far East.

Did you know that Mandarin is the second most spoken language after English?

There are about 1.3 billion people in the world who speak Chinese and learning the language will not only mean being able to communicate effectively with Chinese natives but by learning Chinese you will also learn all about the culture of the Chinese people. As an adult wanting to learn all about the Pinyin romanisation system, or even all about Chinese calligraphy, you can always reach out to a Superprof tutor to help you.

Further Information About Chinese

Chinese is often referred to as a single language, however, it's a combination of a variety of languages. It is comprised of:

1. Mandarin Chinese
2. Wu, spoken by people living in Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zheijiang.
3. Cantonese, spoken by the Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, Hong Kong, Macao, Southeast Asia, and by Chinese immigrant communities around the world.
4. Gan, used by citizens of the Jiangxi province.
5. Hakka, used by people from Taiwan, Guangdong, and Fujian.
6. Min, which is spoken by over 50 million people to date.

As an adult wishing to learn the Chinese language, it is most likely the Mandarin Chinese language that you will be taught. Despite learning Mandarin Chinese, you can’t run from learning the Pinyin Romanisation System. The Pinyin Romanisation system was adopted in 1979 by the Chinese government as a means to also help people learning Chinese languages.

While the system of writing may look too complex to the English speaker, it was developed to make the language understandable for English speakers who know the Latin alphabet system well. The Pinyin system can be helpful in terms of pronouncing Chinese and learning grammar rules.

Another thing about the Mandarin language is that the language is tonal. A fast fact is there are over 50 000 Chinese characters in the Chinese dictionary. These characters represent syllables. As you get a grip on the Chinese vocabulary, you can also begin to understand more about the culture of the Chinese people.

Chinese Tutorials: All About It

There are more and more people who are taking an interest in Mandarin and starting to speak the Chinese language. Being familiar with Mandarin could mean excelling in your career field. Imagine working your way up the career ladder just by adding another language to the number of languages that you can already speak. People who have language skills have far more career paths available for them.

As a South African, knowing Mandarin Chinese and other African languages will look great on your CV. Learning a new language as an adult allows you to fully immerse yourself in a language and understand all about the culture of the language. Being mature when you learn a new language could mean thinking about foreign career prospects and showing more respect to cultures other than your own.

Taking Chinese Lessons with Superprof Tutors

As an adult wanting to spread your wings of possibility and success, you may want to learn the language with a few work friends in a small group. You may even want to learn the language on your own. Either way, learning Chinese using your own devices like internet resources, and YouTube videos are no easy feat. You need to get some help if you wish to get better at speaking and understanding the Chinese language.

When you begin taking Chinese classes, your tutor will start you off by narrowing the focus to the Chinese writing system, phonetics in the language, and simple Chinese vocabulary.  Once you master Chinese vocabulary and phrases, you will advance to reading small passages and texts in the language. If you are learning the language as your need to understand the Chinese civilization has gotten the better of you, our tutors can help you learn more about the history of China, the Han people, and previous Chinese dynasties, etc.

Private language tutorials can be fun. You will learn how to speak, read, and write in this new foreign language in no time. Plus, you can learn at your own pace and according to your own preferences. Many Superprof tutors are happy to tailor their courses to align their teaching with your objectives.

Again, keep in mind that you are learning the language for your growth and development. Keep at it irrespective of how difficult it may seem. Yes, learning Chinese is far harder than learning other unique languages like Russian or Arabic. However, with determination and self-belief, you can excel in this language learning journey.

How Do You Choose the Right Private Chinese Tutor?

Yes, plenty of Chinese tutors await your message on Superprof as they are all offering their services to students in Pretoria.  Learning the language with your private tutor is the best way forward for you.

When choosing a private tutor, rates charged by the tutors are important. In Pretoria, the average price for an hour of Chinese tuition is R150. Again, the price depends on a variety of factors. Tutors set rates based on:

• The number of years that they are teaching the language for
• Their teaching qualifications and accolades
• Your location and the travel costs incurred when traveling to you
• Your learning objectives and goals

The beauty part about sharing your chow mein and aspirations with one of our Chinese tutors is that you won’t get charged for the first hour of lessons.  Perhaps this is the best way to see if one of our tutors can make your Chinese lessons as enjoyable as the traditional Chinese dumplings.