Comments on: When To Pay For Private Lessons?

By: eemusings

eemusings — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 06:08:58 +0000

I’ve never had one on one tutoring for anything, but I would definitely distinguish between hobbies and work-related stuff. If I was learning a language to further my career, I don’t think $67 is too much to pay! As long as her teaching and your learning styles mesh well. It must be hard to pick a teacher; it’s such a subjective thing.

By: Red Lipstick Style

Red Lipstick Style — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 01:50:01 +0000

How exciting that you are learning Madarin! I HAD to pass algebra to complete my degree, no questions. I paid in total about $1000 for my tutor. But I passed. I work with numbers, but NOTHING like Algebra!!

By: Wellheeled

Wellheeled — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:48:19 +0000

@Molly
I don’t think skiing is not useful – I just think of it as more recreational than something like, say, golf. But how boring would life be if we just did things that are professionally useful. I’m glad skiing is fun and improves your network at the same time.

By: Molly

Molly — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:43:21 +0000

It’s funny that you listed skiing as a not-professionally-useful experience. In my field, there’s a very important conference held near a ski resort every year, and a lot of key networking gets done on the slopes. If you can keep up with the bigwigs, it’s definitely beneficial. So I’m trying to improve to benefit my career (and it’s really fun).

By: L.A. Daze

L.A. Daze — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:26:32 +0000

I haven’t taken private language lessons, but I have taken private piano and horseback riding lessons. The first one was paid for by my parents (from the age of 9-17) and then I quit because I realized I didn’t have a passion for it. The second one my parents also paid for until I was 18 and from then on out all my horsey expenses were on me.

I don’t make the distinction. I figure everything is useful, especially when you love it and it’s a passion! What may not be professionally-useful now, may be in the future. You never know!

By: feministfinance

feministfinance — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:35:39 +0000

I used to take private music lessons in high school but gave them up in college because of my schedule. At that stage I really needed someone to guide me through a repertoire and who had the background to pick pieces that were appropriate for my voice, rather than picking things because I liked them but that might not suit my range. Also, the teacher could accompany, which is key for voice.

I also recently took Spanish classes in Central America. (Thanks to the blog commentators who helped me rationalize that one!) I had a small amount of time between jobs and was able to travel for an immersion experience but don’t have a strong background in the language so it’s not like I could very well hop on a plane and just converse with a series of bartenders to bring up my fluency. I never studied Spanish, so I don’t know the grammar, and there are no native speakers in my family, so not casually familiar with it. Paying for a well-structured class in a country where I would be forced to use what I learned out of class was the best value for the amount of time I had and it was also a total blast.

Those are the only lessons I can remember paying for. But generally, I’d much rather spend on fun education (whether languages or salsa–just paying forward that rationalization!) than on stuff. I’m a nerd like that.

By: Wellheeled

Wellheeled — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:25:34 +0000

@Paragon2Pieces
I looked up GMAT private tutoring rates on a lark, and … it’s over $200 an hour! Needless to say I quickly scratched that idea.

By: Paragon2Pieces

Paragon2Pieces — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 06:53:51 +0000

I haven’t taken private lessons, but I’ve given them. The LSAT prep company I taught for billed my time to clients at $100/hour. Even at that price, I had more tutoring work than I wanted.

By: Wellheeled

Wellheeled — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 04:50:02 +0000

@Miss M
I didn’t know you were a classical musician! That is very cool – what instrument did you play?

By: Miss M

Miss M — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 03:53:17 +0000

I haven’t had private lessons since high school, in a former life I was a classical musician. I can’t remember the price now, I think it was $50 an hour. This was 20 years ago! I think with a language teacher your comfort is just as important, if you like her and feel comfortable learning from her then great. I didn’t know tutors could be had so cheaply, but I imagine there are many mandarin teachers here in LA. Lots of luck with your studies. I have set a goal of becoming fluent in French before retirement, we want to float around France for a few years and I have to know the language or I’ll be miserable.