London south bank university have a Confucius institute offering lessons. I’m soon to be starting the same course but via Sheffield university (fits my schedule, I’ll be doing it online)

Now, I started learning before Xmas, with 1-2-1 sessions via a teacher on Preply. She’s lovely and being 1-2-1 means it’s at my pace. I feel I’m learning quite quick but want the Confucius course just to add more.

Really it comes down to how you learn, a traditional should give more chance for partner work and speaking (which is the hardest part in my opinion) so it’s good for that. But it’ll largely come down to the work you do in your own time as to how far you get with it.

I like Duolingo for daily hits, don’t rely on it to teach you the language but it’s handy for those 5 minute bursts of language.

I use anki for vocab but I’m not great with it.

I also use books off amazon to practice handwriting.

parent

1 points Extension_Garden_310

Thank you very much!!

That sounds like it would be a good fit. I completed my university studies last year but am missing the feeling of 'learning something new' - and the institute is relatively near my work so should work well!

Will also look into preply - I had only considered 1-2-1 lessons in-person up until now, but sounds like it would be a good way to boost my learning.

parent root

1 points FreedomNo9116

It’s handy as there’s bloody hundreds of teachers on there, so if you don’t like one it’s easy to just move on. Mine speaks very little English, so it’s a real baptism of fire which I quite like but probably wouldn’t suit everyone (especially if you want anything explained!)

That being said, if I had the chance of seeing someone face to face and interacting I’d take that over online lessons. Get yourself some mandarin speaking friends and you’ll progress much faster.

I’m with you on the learning front - I’m 41 and generally know how to do most things I need to so having something to actively learn is a nice thing to do

parent root

1 points FreedomNo9116

London south bank university have a Confucius institute offering lessons. I’m soon to be starting the same course but via Sheffield university (fits my schedule, I’ll be doing it online)

Now, I started learning before Xmas, with 1-2-1 sessions via a teacher on Preply. She’s lovely and being 1-2-1 means it’s at my pace. I feel I’m learning quite quick but want the Confucius course just to add more.

Really it comes down to how you learn, a traditional should give more chance for partner work and speaking (which is the hardest part in my opinion) so it’s good for that. But it’ll largely come down to the work you do in your own time as to how far you get with it.

I like Duolingo for daily hits, don’t rely on it to teach you the language but it’s handy for those 5 minute bursts of language.

I use anki for vocab but I’m not great with it.

I also use books off amazon to practice handwriting.


1 points Extension_Garden_310

Thank you very much!!

That sounds like it would be a good fit. I completed my university studies last year but am missing the feeling of 'learning something new' - and the institute is relatively near my work so should work well!

Will also look into preply - I had only considered 1-2-1 lessons in-person up until now, but sounds like it would be a good way to boost my learning.

parent root

1 points FreedomNo9116

It’s handy as there’s bloody hundreds of teachers on there, so if you don’t like one it’s easy to just move on. Mine speaks very little English, so it’s a real baptism of fire which I quite like but probably wouldn’t suit everyone (especially if you want anything explained!)

That being said, if I had the chance of seeing someone face to face and interacting I’d take that over online lessons. Get yourself some mandarin speaking friends and you’ll progress much faster.

I’m with you on the learning front - I’m 41 and generally know how to do most things I need to so having something to actively learn is a nice thing to do

parent root