Information About Chao - Newmarket teacher -

(9 reviews)

Personal Description:

Born in Nanjing, China, I am a Chinese Teacher in a Chinese Sunday School, who has lived in the UK for over 30 years, during which I have taught Mandarin to many people of all kinds of backgrounds. I get along very well with people and can build a relaxed but professional relationship with them.
In my spare time, I love a few brain teasers or two, including Mandarin crosswords featuring Chinese Idioms and Proverbs, Sudoku, and a game or two of Chess. Cooking is a passion of mine where I can create and recreate recipes passed down from my family as well as from TV. I like listening to many types of music, especially Classical Music. Recently, I have also taken an interest in yoga and cycling.
During the holidays, I love travelling around the world, and taking photographs and videos of the places that me and my family visit.

Teaching Experience:

I have over 15 years of experience and I am currently a private Chinese languages tutor for several students between the ages of 4-50+.
For 2 hours each Sunday, I used to teach Chinese in a Chinese Sunday School in Leicester to under 18s from the community who are interested in learning and boosting their Mandarin skills.
In addition, my eldest son has passed his Chinese up to an A2 level with distinction under my tutelage.
I have been with First Tutors for over 6 years now, with all of my students doing extremely well and making rapid progress. My students have passed several formal exams under my tutelage, including HSK and GCSE exams, with excellent results.

Teaching Approach:

I believe every student has their own way of learning a new language.
Conversational practice is best for speaking, and I encourage this by greeting my students with Chinese and using Chinese in lessons as much as possible, including when giving instructions.
I encourage use of the dictionary as it exercises both their pronunciation as well as how to write characters.
Textbooks, such as those by HSK, Kuaile Hanyu, GCSE, and textbooks from my Chinese school, flashcards, and Classic Chinese writings, such as Chinese Folklore and Childrens' stories, are employed to provide a solid framework for each lesson.
Reading is an important part of fluency. To address this point I employ a wide range of relevant material according to the student's level.
Structure depends on students. For example if they are weak at written, we would use a hands on approach and practical exercises to correct this.
Conclusions and summaries are vital to retain past knowledge, these would be simple little quizzes in both written and speaking forms to make sure each section is covered.