What’s the difference between a Chinese language partner and a Chinese language tutor?

 

Some other schools offer a “Chinese learning partner” or a “Chinese language exchange”.  How is this different?  How is a language tutor better?

Good question!

Let's compare the two:

 

Chinese language tutor at CLIB

• Paid for performance
• Selected for quality in a competitive hiring process
• Qualified
• Evaluated for performance by our customers
• Risk of being fired if they can't perform
• Their job is to help you not help themselves
• We can be demanding of them
• Quality control and training
• Curriculum integration
• Tutors are paid to show up, they don't skip out to go out with her friends, or cancel at a whim

 

Chinese language partner or language exchange at most other schools

• They're not paid for their performance
• People are selected based on who volunteers and not a competitive process with rewards for the most qualified
• May or may not be qualified
• No risk of being fired equals no incentive
• Their job is to help themselves -- -- it is an exchange one hour of your time for one hour of theirs. 
• No incentive: the more they speak English with you the more they benefit
• Training, what training?
• Little or no curriculum integration
• Since it's not a job, language partners are free to cancel whenever they feel like it = unreliable

 

Little-known facts about language partners and exchanges:

Did you know...?

 

• English tutors are in high demand in China, therefore language exchanges are easy to find and costs most companies nothing
• Some schools even charge the Chinese students to have a language exchange partner or charge them a “matching fee”
• A company that charges at "matching see" actually has an incentive for the Chinese counterpart not to stay around for long.  Think about that.  The more turnover there is the more “matching fees” they get to make!
• Most language exchange partners are students or just random Chinese that want to improve their English without having to pay a tutor.  Most have no formal training or experience in teaching Chinese
• As an English tutor, your salary is five times higher per hour than that of a Chinese tutor, on average.  Does this sound like a fair exchange: to exchange one hour for one hour?  Or do you think the companies are taking advantage of the situation?
• A walk past any university in China or dorm will present several opportunities and dozens of fliers written in English looking for exchange opportunities.  So, how much value is really being offered to you when another company offers this “language exchange” or partner program?

 

Given all this, wouldn't you rather have someone whose job, training, and expertise, it is to devote their time to your improving your speaking Chinese ability, and has the motivation (backed up by their compensation and job security) to do so?