Personalized Learning
My son has been taking lessons with Ivy at ChineseLearning.com for about six years. As a parent, it has been a great pleasure to watch my son develop his Chinese language skills over the years. I appreciate the balance between the structured format of the lessons, and the flexibility to customize the lessons based on my son's learning style and my input and preference as a parent. For example, the textbook used in his lessons comes in two versions: simplified characters and traditional characters. As a parent, I have the option to choose the version I prefer. Additionally, when I discovered an online reading program that would complement the textbook, Ivy seamlessly incorporated it into my son's lessons. The customization is made possible by Ivy's flexibility and her openness to parent input, as well as the one-on-one format of the lessons. I had originally looked into local in-person classes for my son. Those classes were two-hour long weekly group lessons that are offered for about eight months per year. I felt shorter lessons (my son's lessons with Ivy are half-hour long) with higher frequency (twice a week) throughout the entire year would be a better fit for my son. At first I was not sure how my son would respond to online lessons. Fortunately my son adapted quickly, thanks to Ivy's patience, friendliness, and encouragement. When I decided to go with online individual lessons instead of in-person group lessons, I arranged trial lessons with several providers of online Chinese lessons. I asked my son for his input after the trial lessons. He felt the most comfortable with ChineseLearning.com due to the positive first impression he had with Ivy. I recommend anyone who is considering taking online individual Chinese lessons to request a trial lesson. Finding a teacher who is a good fit for the student contributes to a positive learning experience for years to come.