Mandarin lessons: a guide for pros
What customers ask, how to win the job, and what to put on your profile.
Offering mandarin lessons
You teach Mandarin from basic phrases through tones, characters and conversation. Your listing should show whether you teach speaking, reading and writing, and the learners you help most.
What customers ask
- I keep getting my tones wrong. Can you help me hear the difference?
- Do you teach characters, or only pinyin and speaking?
- How long before I can hold a basic conversation?
- Do you teach children, and how do you keep them focused on tones?
- I am visiting for work next month. Can you focus on the phrases I need?
How to win the job
- On the first call, ask what the student wants to do with Mandarin and whether they want characters.
- Offer a short tone and speaking check and explain how it will set the first lessons.
- Show a sample lesson that uses tone pairs and phrases tied to a real need, such as ordering or introducing a colleague.
- Share a sample character drill and say how many characters a student can expect to learn at each stage.
- Put the lesson count, focus areas, homework and re-check point in the quote.
- Say whether you teach simplified or traditional characters, so students with a specific need can choose you.
What to put on your profile
- Your Mandarin training, such as a degree, a teaching certificate or time spent living in a Mandarin speaking area.
- Whether you are a native Mandarin speaker or a trained second language teacher, and which characters you teach.
- Photos of your teaching space or online set-up, with no student faces unless they agree.
- The learner types you work with, such as travelers, heritage learners or children in school.
- Reviews that name the goal and what the student achieved, once they agree to share them.
Follow-up that helps the customer
- After a level check, suggest a short plan with one clear goal and a date to re-check.
- Send a list of the tone pairs and characters covered in each lesson so the student can review them.
- Recommend a conversation group or a reading course when the student's goal fits, and let them decide.
Licenses and permits
No license is usually required to teach Mandarin privately. Keep your degree, certificate or references ready, and check your state and local rules for any business registration you need.
Questions
Do I need to be a native speaker to teach Mandarin here?
Not usually. Students look for training, a clear method and the kind of Mandarin you teach, so describe those on your profile.
Can I teach characters and speaking together?
Yes. Say how you combine them on your profile so students know whether the lessons fit their goal.
Do I pay to join?
Joining is free. You pay only for leads you accept, you can decline any lead for free, and every profile is reviewed before it goes live.
Pro reviewers
Pros who offer mandarin lessons remotely can improve this guide, like Wikipedia. We check every edit before it goes live. Every approved edit is credited in the edit history and on the pro's profile.
Edit history
- Oct 29, 2026: Drafted by infinibell to our content guidelines.
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