Friends Chinese Class

Proficiency Levels: All

Start Dates: Any time

Class Times: Any time Mon-Sat, 8am to 9pm

Daily Structure: 1 on 2, 1 on 3, or 1 on 4

Class Description

Have your friends been talking about learning Chinese in Beijing? Grab a few friends and find a subject you want to study together. Our Friends Class is our most cost effective and flexible program.

Goals

Based on each person's individual goals, we will come up with a set of group goals and do everything we can to accomplish the common goals of the group. See the article below about studying in a group class.

The Pros and Cons of Studying in Group Classes

Group Study: The Advantages

When a classroom of 4 students are put together and they are matched fairly well, in that their Chinese language level is about the same, group study is quite effective for all parties. Your classroom peers may ask the teacher questions you never would have thought to ask.

Teachers can also have fun coming up with fun Chinese dialogue activities and other activities to facilitate student learning. It is also very motivating to have other classmates to study Chinese with - there is encouragement in knowing that when you're going through times of discouragement in language, others are there "suffering" with you.

Whereas learning Chinese one on one with a teacher can be quite intense and draining, learning Chinese in a group is less intense.Some students prefer this, and study Chinese more effectively in a less intense situation.

Group Study: The Disadvantages

In a group situation, students will not get as much as attention from the teacher as they would in an one on one class setting. Therefore, the teacher may not be able to meticulously correct tones, pronunciation, and grammar mistakes.

If you are wanting to dominate conversation time, this will not happen. Therefore, your speaking time in class will be reduced because of having to share that time with other students. Other types of suggestions you would want to make in class would first need to be agreed upon by other classmates. Therefore, depending on your classmates, there may not be as much flexibility to learn other things outside of the set curriculum.

See the ORIGINAL POST on our blog about the pros and cons of group class study and feel free to leave a comment.