The first lesson will be mostly for me to get to understand your experience with the language and your goals for learning Mandarin! From there, I have a few different beginner level activities we can try, including beginning to understand the transition from pictographic to character based script in Mandarin, understanding tones, and learning conversational staples.
Based on what I’ve learned about your experience, interest, and goals, I’ll craft some lessons more specific to your person! This could look like learning key vocabulary for your hobbies, focusing in on the basics for reading and writing, or beginning to explore Chinese media that can help you engage outside of the classroom.
As you begin to pick up momentum, we’ll begin working on some more drills for language basics, engaging in simple practice conversations about your hobbies, and recognizing key question words and how to tackle them.
From here on the world is your oyster! I’ll continue to update your lessons based on your progress, to make sure we’re keeping the curriculum challenging without overwhelming you. Especially if you are taking this tutoring series in preparation for a trip or a class, we can begin to talk about what support will look like in the next stage of your language learning. Typically this is where I like to introduce more emphasis on media from China, so that we can make sure our work is staying relevant to current culture and pedagogy.