For the first time, I have found a group discussion in Chinese.
It begins at the top of the next hour.
I wonder if anybody will join me.
Yeah, you missed it. Derek Yang is excellent to speak with.
Of course, even a few tutors cannot be available for all possible times. So we need lots and lots of tutors.
I know you are disappointed that again there are no conversations being offered for Chinese. None!
I feel the same way. Chinese has been available on LingQ for more than 4 years.
The wait and see approach is not working.
Hape and Keith you have both been good friends of LingQ over the years, and Hape a great contributor of content. Give me some time. I will recruit some tutors via the net. Please tell me again which days and which times are best for you. If others are interested please let me know times that work for you.
Probably I misunderstood something. I tried to search Chinese tutors with the option “active tutors” clicked, and I found quite a bunch tutors listed on my screen. I don’t know how tutoring works here in LingQ. I found some with blue option “Request Conversation” offering predefined time slots which you can click in, and others offering tutoring whom you have to request conversions on his/her pages and find a proper time for yourself.
I assume here the Chinese language is referring to Mandarin. Actually, there are some other people except Chinese who speak Mandarin with very high standard or as a mother tongue I believe. I used the same options to do a quick search and I found a list including, Australian, Canadian, Mongolian, Malaysian, Singaporean, Taiwanese, etc. If you are not mainly targeting at Beijing accent, you can probably give them a try. 
Thanks @Keith for the nice words!
I had a great time speaking with Keith in Chinese (Mandarin) yesterday. It’s my first try at hosting such conversations at LingQ. I’d love to host similar conversations in the future on this site, if there are people who are interested in practising Chinese.
Maybe we Chinese simply have more concerns.
I can only speak for myself, I’m a native mandarin speaker but I’m not hosting conversations primarily because I don’t know what to expect and what’s expected out of a tutor. If someone stops me on the street and asks for a conversation in Chinese I would probably do it, but if someone is paying for it then I’d want to do it right.
A partial list of my concerns /questions:
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How are conversations timed and terminated? Is there a software that does it automatically or does the host has to keep and eye on the watch and bring up that time is up?
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Is there a mechanism to communicate the level and expectations of the learner before a conversation? I think this information is important for hosting high quality conversations, especially for inexperienced tutors. Suggested topic helps only to a limited extent.
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How do conversations go usually, particularly the initial ones? Do people normally exchange basic information like their occupation and hobbies, or if there is a topic do they go right into the topic?
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What’s considered a good conversation? @Keith mentioned #Derek is excellent to speak with, what in particular made conversations with him excellent? Was it the content, maybe he made the conversation interesting; or was it the feedback, maybe he helped with your speaking during the conversation?
I’m sure the format and style vary greatly from individual to individual, but having some idea of what to expect will greatly help me in overcoming the psychological barrier of hosting the first conversation. I briefly browsed the tutor forum and didn’t find it helpful. Maybe I missed it but the Tutor’s Manual doesn’t seem to address my questions http://lingqcentral-en.lingq.com/tutors-manual
If there is a guide for conversation host, or if any of you posted above, #Steve, #Hape, #Keith, #kigoik or #Derek would write here or chat with me about these things, I will be willing to host conversations in mandarin regularly from now on.
crusade.
thanks for volunteering to help with tutoring. In answer to your questions.
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The system for setting up discussions in the schedule is quite straight forward and most people have no difficulty. You will receive a reminder email. You just need to be there at the appointed time. Times are automatically adjusted for different time zones.
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The conversations are usually free flowing. It is the responsiblity of the tutor to keep the conversation going. The tutor can also set a discussion topic and this is more common for group discussions. The first few discussions are mostly to get to know the learner. Where do you live? How long have you been learning Chinese? Have you ever been to China etc.
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Good tutors keep the conversation going and and are able to induce the learner to speak. Corrections should be kept to a minimum. The more detailed the report containing the phrases that the learner had trouble with, the better.
It is really a friendly and not a stressful or formal occasion.
@u50623 @steve
Thanks for the outline and the responses, it’s really helpful. I also saw videos of Steve and Keith’s tutoring sessions on youtube, they gave me some confidence.
Now others should be able to request conversations from my profile. I might later post a timeslot or two for next Wed.
Again, thanks for showing support for new tutors!
I still don’t know if your available time matches the needs of Hape and Keith. If needed I will book some tutors. Keith and Hape and others, what time works for you?
I could attend conversations that start from 10:00AM to 12:00 noon GMT, which is 19:00 to 21:00 here in Japan.
@u50623 (Hape?)
I can accommodate your 6-8pm UTC timeslot for certain days of the week. Me too, can’t plan more than a few days ahead. If you are interested please let me know, I’m happy to help.
UTC 6pm 6:30pm for 1-1 on this coming Wednesday are added.
hi, i am a native mandarin speaker and i’d like to offer my help,
but could you tell me how I can do? I am juste idiot on the web things…
Thank you.
Have a nice day or evening!
Go to the Teach Tab, and click on it. There you will find a link to the Help on how to tutor. The following information can be found there.
What is Skype and how do I use it?
Skype is a free online telephone service. Download and install Skype on your computer in order to join conversations on LingQ. Once you have installed Skype, enter your Skype username on the Settings page. Your Skype username is the name you use to log in to Skype.
You should have Skype open at your scheduled conversation time and your tutor will call you. The first time you tutor with a tutor, you will receive a request to add that tutor to your contact list. Make sure to accept this request or they will not be able to call you. If you are late for your conversation, call your tutor using the Skype name provided.
We do recommend using a headset/microphone during discussions. You will be better able to hear your tutor and the microphone will pick up your voice more clearly.
How do I tutor conversations?
In advance of your scheduled conversation, open it in the My Conversations list. You will see the names of the participants and their Skype names. Add their Skype names to your contact list. At the scheduled time, start a conference call on Skype, with the participants. They will be waiting for you to call. If they are not online when you call, it is their responsibility to join in late. NB. You must have Skype installed on your computer to tutor on LingQ.
How do I create conversations or input 1 on 1 time?
On the tutor page, click Add/Edit Conversations in the sidebar. This will take you to the Calendar page where you can select the date and hours you want to tutor. You can make time available for 1 on 1 conversations or you can create Group conversations.
How do I complete a Conversation Report?
When you click on a conversation in your My Conversations list just before your scheduled start time, you will be able to open the conversation report form. Enter comments, suggested words and phrases, or mistakes into the Suggestions field, one comment per line. Enter overall comments in the Comments field and click Send Report.
How many points will I earn for tutoring conversations?
You will receive 375 points for each 15 minute conversation segment.
Can I convert my points to cash?
Yes, you can convert points into cash but you will need a minimum of 10000 points ($100) to do so.
Do points I earn for tutoring expire?
Yes, these points are no different than any other points you receive. They must be used or redeemed for cash within 90 days.
How do I share content?
Go to the import section. Choose whether you would like to import an individual Lesson or a Course or group of lessons. Then fill in the following fields:
Title - Create a title
Description - Create a description. The first few sentences of the article will do. This field is optional.
Text - Copy and paste your text here.
Upload audio - If you have the audio file for this lesson on your computer, you can upload it here.
Upload image - If you would like to upload an image to make your lesson look better, upload it from your computer here.
Category - Choose the category that best fits your lesson.
Type - Choose the content type that best fits your lesson.
Accent - Specify an accent, if you like.
Level - Specify a difficulty level or choose auto to have the system calculate the level.
Position - This number identifies the order in which Lessons will be displayed in a Course. You can edit this number to have Lessons list in a particular order.
Course - This is where you can attach a Course to an Lesson if you create the Course after you have created the Lesson.
When you create a Course, the Title, Description and Image are for the Course. You will still be able to create individual Titles, Descriptions and Images for Lessons in the Course.