Online Chinese lessons

Chinese Lessons on WhatsApp, Zoom, Skype?
Chinese Lessons Online!

Click here if you want to learn Italian.

I put on this page vital suggestions that will help you avoid the most common mistakes students make wasting time and energy, here free for you even if you decide not to become one of my students :-(

However, acquiring and understanding what I explain on this page is a mandatory requirement if you seriously want to become my student.

From: Giuseppe Romanazzi
Shanghai (China), Tuesday, 10:11 a.m.

Dear Friend,

I'm glad to see your interest in Chinese language and that you're using what I have made available for free on my site.

I understand, however, that what you get on my site may not be enough if you're serious about learning Chinese and really want to progress as fast as possible.

For this reason I'd be happy to be your online Chinese teacher using WhatsApp, Skype, Zoom, or any other platform you choose.

"Yes, But, Who Are You?"

At this point, you may want to know who I am. Well, I have good and bad news for you.

Good news: I'm not Chinese. Remember, this is a basic course, you start from zero just like I did. I know what learning Chinese really means. My Chinese friends have never faced the same difficulties and obstacles!

As I use to tell to my students, between western languages and Chinese language there's a great wall of difference. I have already climbed over that wall and now I'm on your side again to climb it together with you. Our Chinese friends have never been on our side of the wall!

My pronunciation:It seems that I did things right because when I speak Mandarin Chinese my pronunciation is perfect (on the phone, Chinese people find it hard to believe that I am not Chinese), unlike my English pronunciation, correct but with an accent ;-).

Bad news: English is not my mother tongue. While reading this page, don't you feel my Italian accent? :-)

Map of Italy

What you see in the picture is the beautiful Italy. The areas around Bari (the city where I was born), Cavezzo, and Padua (cities where I lived for a few years) are highlighted in yellow. At that time, every Chinese man or woman living in those areas knew me, Zhusaipei, the one who can speak Chinese...

That's because I have no difficulty making Chinese friends, actually I'm quite good at that even here in Shanghai.


Talking Chinese in Rome
Talking Chinese in Rome

Talking Chinese in Prato
Talking Chinese in Prato

Maybe we (you and I) don't share the same interests, but I'm sure about this: we do have at least one thing in common...

  • ...at some point in our lives, we both have wanted to learn Chinese.

I started to learn Chinese language when I was 31 at Beijing Language and Culture University.

After graduation, I've been dedicating a few hours every day to my Chinese friends. We talk, read, study, play together. During my last years in Italy, I've even organized Italian language adult classes, and guess what, all students were...

...Chinese, of course! An Italian teacher speaking Chinese was manna from heaven for them!

Get prize

This is Prof. Dong of Beijing Language and Culture University awarding me for an article written in a competition organized by the university.
(Thanks to Andrew who took the picture)

Prize

If Only I Had Known This Years Ago!

I really don't like to say "Oh, if only I...", and actually never say that. It's easy to be wise after the event and, after all, what is done is done.

But, I'm going to say that here, over and over again, for one simple reason:

The sake of you.

I want you to benefit from what NOW I know and avoid the mistakes I made when, like you, started to learn Chinese.

Having my support online as your teacher, I'd promptly help you avoid wasting your time.

Please consider how the following problems have been brilliantly solved, so that you won't need to say "Oh, if only I..."

Problem #1 - See Below The Solution!
If Only I Had Known
More Chinese Grammar Rules Sooner!

Grammar rules in dribs and drabs: that's how I'd define the kind of approach to grammar made by not a few text-books, especially those made by Chinese authors.

When I was in Beijing, in my classroom all the raised questions were about grammar rules - a lot of questions. Teachers were great, text-books so-so.

Western people are not afraid of grammar, we want to know everything as soon as possible.

On the other hand, Western authors often make a different big mistake: they want to explain Chinese grammar, but apply the logic of English (or Italian, French...) grammar!

So you can find Chinese grammar books with subheadings such as:

  • Present Tense;
  • Past Tense;
  • Future Tense;

But the point is that there is NO present tense or past tense or future tense in Chinese!!!

I know, this kind of approach is intended to make things sound familiar to an English reader, but it's misleading and doesn't help to "think Chinese".

Solution #1
You Are Going To Understand
All Chinese Grammar Rules
- Easily Explained!

In my online course, Chinese grammar is explained applying the logic of Chinese grammar.

I'll share with you, as soon as possible, ALL grammar rules I could think of!

Just a few examples:

  • Measure Words;
  • Measure Words Omission;
  • Numeral-Noun Compounds;
  • Verbal Predicate Sentence;
  • The Subject-Predicate Construction;
  • The Sentence with Verbal Constructions in Series;
  • Adjectival Predicate Sentence;
  • Nominal Predicate Sentence;
  • The Declarative “是” Sentence;
  • “是” For Emphasis;
  • The Negative “是” Sentence;
  • The Attributive Genitive;
  • Attributive Genitive Without “的”;
  • An Adjective As An Attributive;
  • A Verb As An Attributive;
  • A Numeral As An Attributive;
  • A Verb Phrase As An Attributive;
  • A Subject-Predicate Phrase As An Attributive;
  • Numeral-Measure Compounds Acting As Attributives;
  • Prepositional Phrase As An Attributive;
  • “的” Construction Without Headword;
  • The “是…的” Construction;
  • Adverbial Adjuncts;
  • Adverb “也”;
  • Adverb “都”;
  • Adverbs “也” and “都” Used Together;
  • The TTT Rule;
  • Time Words Used As A Subject;
  • Time Words Used As A Predicate;
  • Time Words Used As An Adverbial Adjunct;
  • The Conjunction “和”;
  • Questions With “吗”;
  • The Affirmative-Negative Question;
  • Interrogative Word “什么”;
  • Interrogative Word “谁”;
  • Interrogative Word “哪”;
  • Interrogative Word “哪里”;
  • Interrogative Word “几”;
  • Questions with “是不是”;
  • Questions with “……,好吗?”;
  • The Elliptical Question With “呢”;
  • The Complement Of Result;
  • The Potential Complement;
  • The Complement Of Degree;
  • The Complement Of Frequency;
  • The Complement Of Duration;
  • The Complement Of Quantity;
  • Directional Complement;
  • ...
  • ...
  • ...the list is simply too long!

Problem #2 - See Below The Solution!
If Only I Had
Focused My Attention On
The Most Frequently Spoken Words!

In Beijing, I didn't take long to realize that memorize characters is... difficult - and here I'm sure there's not even a hint of surprise on your part!

At that time I even had nightmares of Chinese characters assaulting and trying to eat me!

I was good at my job, spent a lot of time writing again and again a lot of words, always testing my ability to remember and read them. I even made my own multicolored flashcards, a lot of flashcards, bags full of them.

But you know what? Only a relatively few of them have been really very useful. If I'd have concentrated first my attention on those few words, I'd have had better results sooner.

It's a matter of priority.

Furthermore, the motto "use it or lose it" is absolutely true. If you don't use again soon or find again soon a word that you've just studied, you simply forget it!

Solution #2
You Are Going To
Focus Your Attention On
The Most Frequently Spoken Words!

I know exactly which words and characters are the most commonly used, and I won't let you waste your time with those that are not.

You WILL HAVE TO learn more words and characters, but why learn them now if, chances are, you're not going to use them again soon?

Problem #3 - See Below The Solution!
If Only I Hadn't Been
So Distracted By Pinyin!

and at the same time...

Problem #4 - See Below The Solution!
If Only I Hadn't Been
So Tormented By Characters!

I've studied Chinese with the support of a few books. All of them (at least for the first lessons) use both pinyin and characters. That is good, we're not Chinese, we NEED pinyin.

Just in case you don't know, pinyin is the system of Romanized spelling for the Chinese characters, used by Chinese dictionaries.

In the example below (its meaning is: "How are you?") you can see how text-books use both pinyin and characters.

吗?
hǎoma?

So what's wrong here? Well, the problem is that when we have to read a text with both characters and pinyin, we read ONLY pinyin!

I still remember my teacher in Beijing asking:

"Do you read pinyin or characters?"

The answer was always an unanimous:

"Pinyin :-( "

Even I still need to discipline my eyes to read characters, not pinyin!

The truth is that Teacher could tell us hundreds of times "read characters!", but we still would be reading pinyin.

What's the result? When the text-book quits using pinyin (or when we read something in the real world), then we are all of a sudden completely lost.

Let's imagine this situation:

In a text or a dialogue you find a character you've already studied, but don't remember its meaning (or its pronunciation).

For example, let's say you find the same sentence mentioned above, but ,this time, without pinyin.

吗?

It's easy now for you to just go up a little and find again its pinyin (you did, I'm sure you did ;-)

Anyway, with your text-book might not be that easy. You start again from page zero scanning your book in search of that character...

...and again...

...and again...

...WHERE IS IT??

Often happens that you give up with the book and try with your dictionary, figuring out radical, number of strokes... and that 20 minutes have passed!

But do you know what I found most frustrating? Sometime (disappointment to the cubic power) you even realize that the unknown character has never been used nor explained in any of the previous lessons!

How could this problem might be solved? I, as your teacher, might tell you "try to recognize characters from the very first lesson, look at pinyin only if you don't remember the pronunciation of the character..."

Or, better solution:

Solution #3 e Solution #4
Your Characters Reading
Is Going To Be Refreshing
With The Help Of Pinyin!

When you study with me, pinyin does not distract you from reading characters - you start reading characters (not pinyin) from the very first lesson!

The sentence mentioned above would be this way:

?

Only characters? NO!

Pinyin is still there ready to help you! Just click on any character and its pinyin would appear.

Try now and click on the sentence above!

The mistakes that I have NOT made

Those described so far have been lessons I have learned on my own skin. However, there are aspects that I am proud of and that I hope you can replicate. They are listed below from 1 to 8.

1. Tones must be perfect from the start!

Chinese is a tonal language. For those speaking English, mastering tones is a big issue, it's a concept that generally takes some time to be understood. Some people immediately associate Chinese tones with the concept of tone of voice or with music, and then finally grasp it in its entirety learning to speak in this new, previously unknown way.

IMPORTANT WARNING: if you think that tones can improve over time and so minimize the inevitable initial mistakes, then I tell you to stop saying anything else in Chinese! You would only harm yourself by letting the mistakes make in your brain deeper and thicker grooves. It's not just a matter of accent. You'd say something completely different!

If this is your problem, first meditate on the need to remove this belief that I would at least define as very limiting... and then resume speaking in Chinese, having yourself corrected by those who love you and do not consider you irrecoverable ;-)

Fluency, comprehension and correctness would naturally improve over time, but NOT tones. On the contrary, the more time passes, the more difficult, if not impossible, it is to unlearn what has been strongly impressed between the synapses!

It is like trying to lose the accent or regional inflection. It takes long and very demanding diction courses and not everyone succeeds anyway. It is therefore imperative to immediately correct even the smallest pronunciation errors (especially errors in the tones), otherwise, I assure you, it will be too late or at least extremely difficult to do so later.

2. You must have a strong motivation!

You need to always have in mind why you want to achieve the goal of learning Chinese. This will be an incentive not only at the beginning, but also when the inevitable moments of discouragement come.

What's your motivation?

  • Find a better job?
  • Become rich?
  • Marriage?
  • Traveling?
  • Philanthropy?
  • Do business?
  • Schooling?
  • Stock Exchange?
  • Ward off Alzheimer's disease?
  • ...

You need an incentive — a reason to pursue your goal. Students with high motivation generally do best.

3. Choose the topics to learn!

The advantages of a personalized course are considerable, especially if the terminology you need to learn is specialized.

Imagine how helpful would be to study what to say in Chinese to get your hair cut... if you were bald!

If you decide to study online with me, please think about what your needs are, because among the first things I will ask you there will also be the field in which you plan to start using Chinese.

According to your needs, I would customize the lessons. Some real examples:

Area of activity
Foreign Trade
Subjects
It is essential to learn how to negotiate, maintain relationships, prepare offers and manage orders, all to be customized to the specific field.
Area of activity
Pass one of the HSK tests (Chinese Proficiency Test)
Subjects
Use of characters and words provided by the Chinese government for exam preparation.
Area of activity
Religious activities as one of Jehovah's Witnesses
Subjects
Material taken from the jw.org website
Area of activity
Law firm
Subjects
Yes, even lawyer jargon!

4. Use what you learn as soon as possible!

In Beijing, immediately after learning it, I remember asking at least 100 times to as many passers-by "Excuse me, where is the post office?" I was just starting out and I didn't understand what they were replying to me, but the fact of seeing that they understood me immediately filled me with satisfaction!

It is likely that where you live it isn't so easy to find Chinese people, but we all know that they are all over the world. You just have to go and look for them at, for example, Chinese restaurants, among the various shops, hairdressers or elsewhere. Once you find them, start talking without fear and tell them what you have learned! They will be delighted.

5. You need Patience!

It is undeniable that no matter how good you, your teacher or the study methods might be, learning Chinese still takes time.

You may at times feel as though you are stuck on a plateau​ — struggling along at the same level without seeing any improvement. What can you do?

  • Reflect on your original reasons for learning the language;
  • Have reasonable expectations;
  • Look for milestones to gauge your progress. If you look back to when you first started, no doubt you will see that you’ve made advancement.;
  • View the process as a long-term investment;
  • Use the new language as much as possible.

With language, the learning curve is more like a staircase, just when you feel you are not improving, you suddenly realize you have made progress.

6. You need Humility!

Be aware, the following is inevitable:

  • People are going to laugh!
  • Even children would speak better than you!
  • You'll need to ask for help!
  • You'll need to apologize!

None​the​less, trust your intuition, simply guess, be willing to take risks and to speak like ​— and in some respects, be treated like — ​a child, don’t take yourself too seriously, keep your sense of humor, listen to the kids, laugh along with them!

7. You need Adaptability and an Open Mind!

Because learning a new language often means learning a new, different culture, and different food, different music, it helps to be adaptable, to have an open mind.

I just said three times "different". Yes, because there is more than one way of looking at and doing things, and one is not necessarily better than the others​ — just different.

8. Better a little and often than a lot but seldom

I suggest to "eat" Chinese the way a chicken eats ​— grain by grain. Try to practice every day, even if for just a few minutes. Regularly devoting short periods of time to study is more effective than infrequently setting aside large chunks of time.

Be Seated All the Time
During my Lessons?

No, not really! Some teaching methods need you to have enough space to move freely. Adjust your camera so that I can see you while, for example, mime something, hit balloons, juggle scarves, etc. :-)

After all, while we learn a language we want the precious oxygen carried by the blood to feed our brain and not our gluteus maximus so comfortably seated in that chair!

Moving, or even just getting up, greatly promotes learning because, among other things, the accelerated heartbeat increases the oxygen supply to the brain.

The methods I use, optimized for the language, include:

  • Communicative approach (standard)
  • Communicative approach (15 seconds)
  • Communicative approach (using pictures)
  • Educational exercise (balloons)
  • Rassias method
  • Advanced Rassias method
  • Educational exercise (scarves)
  • Stress ball
  • Personal language manual
  • Audio education (CD, MP3, etc.)
  • Video education (short films, movies, DVDs, etc.)
  • Muted movie
  • Black screen
  • You are the actor
  • What next?
  • I watch, you listen to
  • Narration
  • English subtitles
  • Chinese subtitles
  • Freeze
  • Behavior and appearance
  • Thoughts and feelings
  • Cultural comparison
  • Words counting
  • Echo reading
  • Humor
  • Sounds and signs
  • Mind map (Tony Buzan)
  • Mobile mind map
  • Total physical response
  • Advanced total physical response (Vivaldi, Haydn, Mozart, Pachelbel, etc.)
  • Music dictation
  • Read and write
  • Flash cards
  • Most common words
  • Your own stories
  • Reading and pronunciation
  • Word association
  • Universal language generator
  • Spaced Repetition System
  • The never ending story
  • Community language learning
  • Creative genius
  • Tactile method
  • Grammar translation method
  • Idioms
  • Mozart effect
  • Mr. Bean
And a lot of:
  • Enthusiasm
  • Speed
  • Vigor
  • Volume
  • Clear​ness
  • Joy
  • Smiles
  • Gestures
  • Praise, praise, praise!

Normally, in a 1 hour lesson I use 3-4 different methods. Same things to learn, different ways to do it. So I don't allow any of your neurons, wherever they are in your brain, to fall asleep!

Lessons cost

THE FORM OF PAYMENT HAS BEEN UPDATED: times have changed, and I have found that it is no longer possible to request (as you can see below) the payment in advance of 50 or 100 hours. I therefore decided to change the payment formula, leaving the already low total unchanged. Now the lessons can also be paid individually as described in the following table:

HoursCost €/h
1ˢᵗ - 10ᵗʰ35
11ᵗʰ - 20ᵗʰ31
21ˢᵗ - 30ᵗʰ25
31ˢᵗ - 40ᵗʰ20
41ˢᵗ - 50ᵗʰ14
51ˢᵗ - 60ᵗʰ13
61ˢᵗ - 70ᵗʰ12
71ˢᵗ - 80ᵗʰ11
81ˢᵗ - 90ᵗʰ10
91ˢᵗ - 100ᵗʰ9

Or in a single solution choosing the 1+50 or the 1+100 package.

PackageCost *PayPal
1+100 hours18€/h *
1+50 hours25€/h *
one hour35€/h *

* The cost is per class, not per student. For example, if 10 students attend the same class, they would pay 1.8€/h each for the package 1+100 hours.

If you prefer another payment method, such as bank transfer to a Chinese bank or Italian bank, or to use Alipay or WeChat, please contact me: contact Giuseppe.

Free the first lesson

In the 100 and 50 hours packages, the first 1 hour lesson is free. If after the first lesson you decide, for any reason that you do not have to justify, not to continue, you will immediately receive a refund of 100% of the amount paid.

Stop whenever you want

If after the course has started, for any reason that you do not have to justify, you ask me to stop the lessons, you will be reimbursed based on the remaining time according to the following criteria:

Hours€/h
1ˢᵗ - 10ᵗʰ35
11ᵗʰ - 20ᵗʰ31
21ˢᵗ - 30ᵗʰ25
31ˢᵗ - 40ᵗʰ20
41ˢᵗ - 50ᵗʰ14
51ˢᵗ - 60ᵗʰ13
61ˢᵗ - 70ᵗʰ12
71ˢᵗ - 80ᵗʰ11
81ˢᵗ - 90ᵗʰ10
91ˢᵗ - 100ᵗʰ9

Do you have anything else to share or ask me?

I still have a lot to say, but this page has become far too long! To make sure you can study online with me before my available time runs out, choose now the package that's right for you, or contact me in person:

THE FORM OF PAYMENT HAS BEEN UPDATED: times have changed, and I have found that it is no longer possible to request (as you can see below) the payment in advance of 50 or 100 hours. I therefore decided to change the payment formula, leaving the already low total unchanged. Now the lessons can also be paid individually as described in the following table:

HoursCost €/h
1ˢᵗ - 10ᵗʰ35
11ᵗʰ - 20ᵗʰ31
21ˢᵗ - 30ᵗʰ25
31ˢᵗ - 40ᵗʰ20
41ˢᵗ - 50ᵗʰ14
51ˢᵗ - 60ᵗʰ13
61ˢᵗ - 70ᵗʰ12
71ˢᵗ - 80ᵗʰ11
81ˢᵗ - 90ᵗʰ10
91ˢᵗ - 100ᵗʰ9

Or in a single solution choosing the 1+50 or the 1+100 package.

PackageCost *PayPal
1+100 hours18€/h *
1+50 hours25€/h *
one hour35€/h *

* The cost is per class, not per student. For example, if 10 students attend the same class, they would pay 1.8€/h each for the package 1+100 hours.

If you prefer another payment method, such as bank transfer to a Chinese bank or Italian bank, or to use Alipay or WeChat, please contact me: contact Giuseppe.

Sincerely,

Giuseppe Romanazzi
CEO, WearYourChineseName.com

P.S.:
I'm sorry I can't offer free trial lessons anymore, but I'm sure it doesn't penalize people like you who want to seriously learn Chinese. The formula 1+50 or 1+100 in fact lets you try the first lesson for free (and if you decide, for any reason that you do not have to justify, not to continue, you will immediately receive a refund of 100% of the amount paid) and at the same time lets me have the certainty of having met someone who really wants to learn Chinese.
P.P.S.:
PayPal protects you. It has never happened, nor will ever happen, that a student of mine has resorted to PayPal to get a refund, but right now I am sure it will be reassuring for you to read the Protection you need, peace of mind you deserve page on the PayPal website.
P.P.P.S.:
The cost of the lessons does not vary even if you are more than one on the other side, or connected with different devices from different places, as long as the lessons are held simultaneously with everyone. Scheduled lessons cannot be made up if someone is not present.
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Biaoyu Business Consulting Services LTD
Shanghai, China
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