Well Heeled Blog > learning another language

When To Pay For Private Lessons?

Written by on · 10 Comments

Today I had my first class with my tutor (whom I shall call Madam Instructor) for Mandarin class. I was pretty happy with how the session went and pleasantly surprised that I retained more comprehension than I thought I would.

Madam Instructor gave me a text that focuses on professional Mandarin – after we finish this text, she said, I should be able to read newspapers, business articles, and op-eds without any trouble. I am eagerly awaiting that day! Must use that for motivation as I begin the painful process of memorizing characters…

A few readers were surprised at the expense ($67 per hour – ouch. It hurt a little to write that). I chose private tutoring to get the best results within a short period of time. Even though private tutoring is expensive, I think the one-on-one attention and individualized curriculum are worth it.

MoneyMateKate commented in my previous post,

Here in NYC, state certified teachers make on average $50-60/hr for private tutoring. If your tutor isn’t a fully trained language teacher (as a former EFL teacher, I promise you, the methodology is different) and simply an expert because it’s her native tongue, you are paying about 3x what she’s worth. I’ve used both kinds of private tutors, and the difference is enormous.

I definitely agree that Madam Instructor is much more expensive than many other tutors. On Craigslist, I can find Mandarin tutors for as low as $15 / hour, and many more at $35-$50 per hour. I can, of course, also enroll in group classes at a much lower rate. But I went with Madam Instructor because of her experience teaching professional Mandarin (and because she was the most responsive to my inquiry). At the end of the day, I know her fee is high. But I don’t know if it’s too high. I hope not.

If I had unlimited funds, I would take private lessons in Spanish and Argentine tango. Hmm… maybe I can spend a few months in Buenos Aires, where I can learn Spanish during the day and dance tango at night! Mandarin was a more easily justified expenses because 1. It’s a professionally useful language, and 2. I already have a background in the language, so with some effort and time I can make a lot of progress.

Have you taken private lessons? Do you make a distinction between professionally-useful skills such as languages or golf versus purely recreational hobbies such as sculpture, dance, skiing, etc.?

Ni Hao Ma? Learning Chinese (Not On A Budget)

Written by on · 27 Comments

I’ve been talking about improving my Chinese Mandarin abilities for years now, but just haven’t really buckled down and gotten it done. Well, now is the time for me to invest in myself – and that investing usually means $$$.

I found a tutor to give me one-on-one private lessons at $800 per 12 hours of instruction, which evens out to ~$67 per hour. That seems like a fair price. Right now, we have tentatively set up tutoring for 3 hours a week, but if all goes well I may increase the lessons to 6 hours a week.

After Mandarin I really want to improve my Spanish, although the two languages are different enough that I can study them simultaneously. I briefly studied German in college, but decided to focus on Spanish instead.

With English, Mandarin, and Spanish under my belt, I can probably talk to most of the world’s population. Once, when I was in Prague, I got lost looking for a supermarket. A nice couple tried to help me – but I didn’t speak Czech and they didn’t speak English. So I tried speaking Spanish and they understood me. And pointed me towards el mercado. Oh the power of languages in an interconnected world! icon wink Ni Hao Ma? Learning Chinese (Not On A Budget)

And besides, it’d be pretty cool to be trilingual. What languages do you speak or want to learn?

Unemployed or In-Between Jobs? 4 Ways to Keep Moving and Grooving

Written by on · 10 Comments

As I enter my 3rd week of “in-between opportunities,” here’s what I’ve realized: the freedom to construct your own schedule means the responsibility to construct your own schedule.

Without a job to keep me at my desk for 10+ hours a day, it’s easy while away a whole day watching YouTube and chatting with friends (not that I have done it or anything…). But time is precious, and I don’t want this time to pass by without having anything to show for it.

If you are a young adult who is in-between jobs right now, like I am, there are blessings to be found! You probably don’t have any big obligations like a mortgage or college tuition for kids. You’re geographically flexible. You now have the opportunity to do amazing things that will be more difficult to do later on in life:

1. Freelance Projects / Internships: I’ve been working on a couple of freelance projects (hopefully I can share more information soon). Through these projects, I will develop another set of skills, expand my network, bring in a little bit of income, and set visible goals to work towards (not having any obligations gets boring after a while). The people I’ve been in contact with are really smart and seem good to work with, and I’m excited to be partnering with them. And it’s interesting work.

I am a big proponent of freelance projects and internships. Everything that you do during this time to further develop your abilities and contacts can only help you later on. A friend of mine took an internship at a online media company and did so well that they offered him a full-time job. So now he has a new career path (that he enjoys much more than his old one) and a repertoire of new skills, thanks to that internship.

2. Hobbies / Personal Goals: Have you ever said, I wish I had the time to do XYZ? This can be anything that you’ve wanted to do – run a marathon, volunteer on a political campaign, cook a 6-course meal, write a book – now’s the time to do it, with no more excuses.

My biggest hobby right now is Argentine Tango (and salsa, though salsa is a flirtation while tango has my heart). I’ve been dancing up a storm – taking 2-3 classes a week. I can tell that my frame is stronger, my following ability is more responsive, my posture more correct. I’m still light-years away from becoming a tanguera, but getting there is half the fun, no?

3. Languages: The ability to speak and read a second (or third, or fourth) language is an enriching skill both professionally and personally.Why not take this opportunity to brush up on your foreign language skills or start learning a new language? If you don’t have money to hire a private tutor, you can enroll in community college classes or arrange a language exchange (see Craigslist).

During the next few months, I plan on concentrating on business Chinese Mandarin to prepare myself for the possibility of pursuing opportunities in China in the future. I already have a background in the language, so that helps. But I want to go from “Dinner was really nice. My favorite dish was the Kung Pao Chicken.” (conversational) to “My experience in business analysis and strategic review will help your company in its expansion efforts.” (professional).

4. Travel: Where do you want to go? What’s stopping you? I know so many people who’ve traveled extensively during their time off. This is when you can truly take advantage of mid-week airfare / hotel specials or be able to take off months to go travel the world. I have a friend who is doing a self-constructed Scuba World Tour.  You can bet that will be much more memorable than spending 6 months sleeping in and staying up late.

Where do I want to go? Too many places to count! Austin, D.C., New York, China, Argentina, Galapagos, etc. etc. I’ll try to knock several of those off my list.

The worst thing to do is to sit around and do nothing. So go do something already. icon wink Unemployed or In Between Jobs? 4 Ways to Keep Moving and Grooving If you’re in-between jobs and doing something cool, share in the comments!

Goals Update… and Taking a Language Class?

Written by on · 16 Comments

How am I doing on those darn goals?

Save $21,000 in money market fund: Generally on-target. Year-to-date contributions total $3,200 as of the end of February. I am currently 15.2% of the way to my goal, and the year is 17% over…

Max out Roth IRA ($5,000 a year): On-target! I have $1,100 for my 2008 contributions, which means that I’ve achieved 22% of my goal.

Do not make extra payments on student loan: Er… I might have paid an extra month because I didn’t know my automatic debit has kicked in. So instead of 10 years, I’ll pay this loan off in 9 years and 11 month. Oh well. It’s not big enough of a deal for me to go through the hassle of postponing automatic debit for a month.

Keep track of spending: I am so on top of this its a little scary. I have truly gone from 0 (never knowing exactly where my $$$ went) to 180 (recording expenditures down to the penny in PearBudget). And dare I say, it’s even kind of fun. More personal data to manipulate in spreadsheets!

In other news, I do plan to take some classes for personal edification. I want to take a language class at a local college… but I’m a little hesitant because the class runs 5 hours a week for ten weeks. And cost is almost $500 (but that’s very reasonable – less than $10 an hour of class). If I do take this class, I’ll have to significantly expand my education budget and cut down somewhere else.

I want to become proficient (as in, I can put the skill on my resume, write a brief, watch movies, and hold a conversation on politics/investing/popular culture) in 3 languages – English (still working on this one… kidding!), Chinese Mandarin (ni hao ma?), and Spanish (no comprendo mucho).

I’ve taken classes in Mandarin & Spanish, but language is truly a use-it-or-lose-it skill. Unfortunately, I’ve lost my language mojo and now I’ve got to woo it back.