Learning To Speak Chinese

I imagine this was broached before but I could't find it. I have some free time during the week now. I want to learn how to speak properly. I am tone-deaf so I need something with audio. I've tried to download a few programs but nothing is great. I'm even willing to pay as much as 100kwai 

I need grammar, not just memorizing vocabulary. Writing is not necessary   

There's a huge thread on Chinese learning in The Bar. I'll see if I can find it and bump it up for you DD. It has lots of great tips and info.

谢谢

Grain of salt: I've only been here 3 months. Newbie gains, etc.

Skritter has a mode where they test your knowledge of tones. This only works for certain words, and the break it up syllable by syllable, but overall my comprehension has gone from nothing to 70-80% for HSK 1 & 2 vocab.

Good luck!

I made great progress with independent learning but have recently started using tutors to bump up my speaking skills.

I did not have great luck with local teachers with them as they are a, hard to come by and b, stupidly expensive when you do find them.

But I found a website that has lots of teachers and tutors to choose from some of them for as little as 20 RMB an hour. IT made it a lot easier for me and I would highly recommended it for teachers and tutors.

You can find it at http://www.italki.com.

These days I don't even bother to look locally any more and I have a large choice on that website. OF course there is now just a few teachers I have settled on as being more suitable for me. They have a trail lesson function but it was abused some time ago and now you are limited to just 3 trial lessons but at 10 RMB for 30 minute a trial. I can understand the website wanting to protect it teachers from the abuse of the system.

"Most schools will want to teach you Chinese the way it is taught to Chinese children – with a heavy emphasis on the Hanzi."

That's because they can already speak Chinese, and are just illiterate by the time they go to school.

I'm all about the classes. I am shit by myself, even just practicing Hanzi. If I don't have external pressure, I just don't do it.

I go to class at my uni for free, but during holidays and when I was prepping for HSk I hired a teacher. It was a real teacher, his job is to teach chinese to foreigners, and he was only 70 rub an hour, so I thought it was a bargain.

thanks for the heads up on italki -- EggCluck.       

Im looking forward to finding someone to help this sorry state of foreign-language affairs. 

I have been using a website called Yoyo Chinese.  It's really good for beginners.  I would get a three or six month sub and just learn from that site.  Then after that once you have mastered that content up to the intermediate level, I would switch over to a site called Chinesepod.  They have good intermediate and advanced lessons.  Those two sites are great for people who are independent learners or those who can't find reliable and good teachers.  It's actually quite hard to find a good Chinese teacher I think.  Most are not suited to teaching us North Americans.

I'm on yoyo too and it has a great structured programme for lazy people like me.
3 years in China, plus local wife, and still can't speak the lingo!

Well I tried here and there but a daily lesson plan is better, and it brings everything together, loads of mp3 files too for the bus.