I have reached a point in studying Chinese where it is frustrating. I am not a beginner while most content I find online is for beginners. But I am not quite intermediate yet, so I can't read newspapers or watch shows in Chinese without having to translate at least 1 or 2 words in every sentence.
So I went back to iTalki, where I can find 1-on-1 teachers. My strategy is to have 2 1 hour lessons a day, with 2 different teachers with different teaching methods. I hope that by the beginning of the next year I have progressed enough to read Chinese news in Chinese without having to translate as much as I do now.
You can get 5 trial lessons and a $10 coupon code if you register under my link:
https://www.italki.com/i/ref/AafaHF?hl=en
Classes are so cheap and I have found good teachers, so 5 trial lessons are a lot, I have been using it for years and still have 1 trial lesson left. The $10 coupon expires in 30 days but the trial lessons are forever.
My calendar and my upcoming Chinese lessons with 2 different teachers
1-on-1 classes are expensive, but on iTalki you can find those lessons for cheap. I have paid a total of under $70 USD for 10 classes (2 classes a day for 5 days), including card processing fees.
One teacher charged $30 for the 5 hours of lessons (1 hour a day) and the other $35. It was a great deal since some classroom style courses were over $10 an hour!
Total of under $7 a lesson ($65+fees) for 10 lessons
I have this referral code and iTalki says you will get a $10 coupon when you get your first lesson.
It is very advantageous because most teachers have trial lessons, where you pay only $1 for a 30 minutes class to get to know the teacher. When I registered I got 5 trial classes and that helped me find affordable yet reliable teachers!
Take a look and experience it at:
https://www.italki.com/i/ref/AafaHF?hl=en
I have studied with those teachers before, but I dropped out because I was making a lot of progress very fast when I was a beginner. This time I accepted progress will be slower and things will be harder, but with time it will be worth it.