1^st lesson free

Abigail

Rate $32
Response 1h

$32/h

1^st lesson free

Chinese
Mandarin
Cantonese

Native Mandarin speaker in Melbourne AU | Real-life Chinese, natural conversation & cultural context

Chinese
Mandarin
Cantonese

Lesson location

- online

About Abigail

Hi, I’m Abigail. I’m a native Mandarin speaker living and working in Melbourne.

I completed my under+postgraduate study in Australia and use English every day in both work and life. I scored 88/90 in PTE, so I’m very comfortable explaining Chinese expressions, nuances and cultural context in English when needed.

I taught myself Cantonese, also learning Korean and Spanish. I’ve always been interested in how languages actually develop and change - from accents and pronunciation to dialects, regional expressions, and why people in different places end up saying the same thing in completely different ways.

I’m the kind of learner who finds “just remember it” a little unsatisfying. I usually want to know why an expression works, where it comes from, what alternatives exist, and what changes when the context changes. That curiosity naturally shapes the way I teach.

My style is relaxed and conversational, probably closer to a knowledgeable language partner than a traditional classroom teacher. I’m a good listener, I enjoy asking questions, and I’d much rather help you talk about something you genuinely care about than make you practice sentences you’ll never use.

About the lesson

Chinese can be confusing in a very specific way: sometimes you understand every word in a sentence… but still have no idea why a native speaker would say it like that, That’s exactly the kind of thing I love exploring.

My lessons are relaxed, conversational and built around real-life Chinese. We can talk, go on useful little tangents, unpack expressions that feel “weirdly natural”, and explore the cultural context behind the language. I am not a big fan of saying, “Just memorise this phrase - that’s how people say it.” I’d much rather help you understand why it works, when it sounds natural, what alternatives you have, and how the meaning changes depending on tone and context.

Chinese is a highly contextual language, and native speakers can be surprisingly flexible and creative with words. So instead of only learning vocabulary and grammar, I want to help you get a feel for how Chinese actually works in everyday life.

We can focus on:
• practical conversation
• everyday expressions
• pronunciation and speaking confidence
• Chinese for travel or study
• workplace Chinese with colleagues, clients or suppliers
• cultural context and “what people really mean”

I am happy to correct you, but I generally prefer not to interrupt every few seconds. I would rather help you keep talking, then pick out the patterns that will make the biggest difference. We do not have to follow a textbook unless you want to. If a conversation takes us somewhere useful, I’m very happy to follow it.

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Pack rates

5 h: $160
10 h: $320

free lessons

This first lesson offered with Abigail will allow you to get to know each other and clearly specify your needs for your next lessons.

1hrs

online

$32/h

Native Mandarin speaker in Melbourne AU | Real-life Chinese, natural conversation & cultural context

Lesson location

About Abigail

About the lesson

Rates

Rate

Pack rates

free lessons

online

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Native Mandarin speaker in Melbourne AU | Real-life Chinese, natural conversation & cultural context

Lesson location

About Abigail

About the lesson

Rates

Rate

Pack rates

free lessons

online

Other tutors in Chinese

Jue

Xiaozheng

Ruting

Liz

Jessica

Coco

Zhanzhi

Grace

Elfa

Jian

Iryna

Cheng-Hung (Jerome)

Gloria

Ms Shiren

Amber

Della

Wendy

Zhihan

Lei

Ivy

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