Personalized Mandarin & Japanese Lessons

After returning from Japan to the US due to Covid, I didn’t want to lose my language skills. So, I started a freelance tutoring business for teaching both Mandarin and Japanese.

The new need for virtual tutoring and eLearning materials sped up my proficiency with tools such as Google Slides, Zoom, and Quizlet. This undertaking also jump-started my interest in motivational theory, and the specifics of linguistic and cultural learning.

Overview

I studied abroad in China in the 11th grade, and lived in Japan for 2.5 years after graduating from college. In the effort not to lose my language skills and make some side cash, I thought it would be a great idea to start tutoring both Mandarin and Chinese.

To do so, I was introduced to a variety of authoring tools and technologies to facilitate the tutoring process. I also wanted to tailor each learning experience to each learner as much as possible, to see if it would facilitate learning. This, of course, required me to become deeply familiar with the ADDIE process, conduct formative and summative evaluations, collect feedback, and iterate with each lesson.

I had two students, both in their 20s, who I taught over the course of once year. I am very grateful to them for investing their time and money in my growth as a tutor, eLearning developer, and instructional designer!

The Situation: How can I author and deliver eLearning experiences for Chinese and Japanese tutoring?

Duration of project: 1 year

Audience: American learners of Chinese and Japanese

Format: Zoom meetings

My Role: I independently developed and delivered the materials for these tutoring courses.

Skills Demonstrated: Instructional Design, Language education, Tutoring, eLearning Development

Technologies Used: Zoom, Google Slides, Google Docs, Quizlet

Final Result