Chinese 中文 · IGCSE · IB · A-Level
IGCSE & IB Chinese Tutors in Hong Kong 中文補習
First language, second language or Mandarin — the choice of paper matters as much as the tutoring. We help you get both right.
Chinese is the subject where Hong Kong families most often get the entry decision wrong. A locally educated student pushed into IGCSE Chinese as a Second Language leaves marks on the table; an international-school student placed into First Language without the writing background struggles for two years. The paper matters as much as the tutoring.
We tutor IGCSE Chinese (First and Second Language, Cambridge and Edexcel), IB Chinese A and Chinese B, A-Level Chinese, and Mandarin for students who need spoken and written fluency alongside their exam course.
希信教育提供 IGCSE 中文、IB 中文 A／B 及普通話補習。導師會先評估學生的讀寫能力，再建議適合的卷別和課程安排。
Choosing the right IGCSE Chinese paper
This is the first conversation we have with every new Chinese student, and it is worth having early — ideally a year before the option forms are due.
| First Language Chinese | Second Language / Chinese as a Foreign Language | |
|---|---|---|
| Suits | Students educated in Chinese, or with strong reading and writing from home and primary schooling | Students whose schooling has been in English with limited formal Chinese writing |
| Demands | Extended composition, comprehension of literary and argumentative texts, formal writing conventions | Functional reading and writing, controlled vocabulary range, everyday and semi-formal contexts |
| Risk | A student without the writing background loses marks on composition however good their spoken Chinese is | A strong student is capped below the grade they could have achieved on the harder paper |
Spoken fluency is a poor guide to which paper fits — plenty of students speak Cantonese at home and have never written a formal Chinese composition. We assess reading and writing directly at the trial lesson.
IGCSE Chinese tutoring
- Composition formats — 書信、報告、演講辭、記敘文、議論文. Each has conventions that earn marks on their own, and students who have not been taught them lose those marks regardless of content quality.
- Reading comprehension — question types and how to answer them precisely rather than generously.
- Vocabulary and idiom built for the exam rather than in the abstract.
- Simplified or traditional characters, according to the board and the student's schooling.
IB Chinese A and B
Chinese A: Language and Literature is a literature course taught in Chinese, with the same analytical demands as IB English A — Paper 1 guided analysis, Paper 2 comparison, the Individual Oral and, at HL, the essay. Students who are fluent speakers but new to literary analysis need work on the analysis, not the language.
Chinese B is the acquired-language course, assessed on the four skills with prescribed themes and text types. As in English B, the text-type conventions are learnable marks that students routinely leave behind.
Mandarin tutoring
For students who need Mandarin alongside or instead of an exam course — including Cantonese-speaking students whose written Chinese is strong but whose Putonghua is not, and international students starting from the beginning. Lessons cover pinyin and tones, listening, everyday conversation and, where required, the written work for school assessment.
What Hong Kong parents and students say
Bob is able to make learning fun and effective. He puts fun, structured learning and target oriented together in his lessons.
Nice learning environment. Tutor Bob sir is excellent :)
Book a free Chinese trial lesson 免費中文試堂
Tell us the year group and whether the student is a first or second language candidate.
填寫表格，安排免費IB／IGCSE試堂（包括網課），我們會於24小時内聯絡。
- Free trial lesson before you commit
- Tutors screened to a 10% acceptance rate
- Change tutor at any time, no questions asked
- Causeway Bay · Kowloon · online
Prefer to talk? 2781 5514 or WhatsApp +852 6155 6896
Frequently asked questions
Should my child sit IGCSE Chinese as a First or Second Language?
It depends on their reading and writing, not on how well they speak. Many Hong Kong students speak fluent Cantonese and have never written a formal composition in Chinese. We assess reading and writing at the trial lesson and give you a direct recommendation — ideally before the option forms are due.
Do you teach in Cantonese or Mandarin?
Both. For IGCSE and IB Chinese we match the language of instruction to the student's schooling and the exam. For Mandarin tutoring, lessons are taught in Mandarin with as much Cantonese or English scaffolding as the student needs at the start.
Do you teach simplified or traditional characters?
Both, matched to the exam board and the student's school. Tell us which your child writes and we will match a tutor accordingly.
My child is at an international school with weak Chinese. Is it too late?
It depends on the target and the timeline. Two years before IGCSE there is time to build genuine writing ability. Six months before the exam the honest answer is usually to make sure they are on the right paper and to maximise the marks available on it. We will tell you which situation you are in.