Bad Mah Jongg Advice is Everywhere

With the giant increase in Mah Jongg comes along a lot of people who claim to be Mah Jongg experts. For the record, there is no certification for mah Jongg teachers. There are no Mah Jongg teacher colleges and certainly no PhD’s in Mah Jongg.

There are lots of teachers who have been teaching for many years. Many years still don’t make them good or bad teachers. What we seem to have a lot of now are Mah Jongg tile manufacturers who have created “ambassadors” or “mentors” who sell tiles. Selling tiles is great, but just because who have played a little mah Jongg and have been deemed a “mentors” by a company whose product you are selling does not make you a teacher, or an expert.

Ambassadors or Mentors are more like Mary Kay sales girls who teach you how to do your make up and then sell you that make up. They aren’t make up artists, they are sales people.

Now I grew up selling stuff. I love sales people. I think it’s great for women to represent a product they love and am happy for them to sell it. What I don’t like is these sales people making videos as teachers giving advice that is just not correct.

In their defense, they might have learned this advice from a not very good teacher, but that does not mean anyone should listen to them. Right now the internet is flooded with these people. So many “experts” giving wrong advice.

I know that people want to learn as much as they can. It is an exciting and addictive game. But it is difficult to decipher the real experts from the Mary Kay girls. My advice is if the reel, intsa, tic toc, you tube you are watching is tagged with a tile company brand you are not watching a teacher who teaches for the love of the game, but a sales person and should take what they say with a grain of salt.

There are some online folks I consider true experts like Modern Mah Jongg. I don’t make videos despite the pleas from my students. The exception is my new card class which was recorded when I did the zoom session. I like to spend time with real people and that is what makes teaching fun for me. I get energy from being in the room with the students. So making videos would be boring for me.

I also don’t search out mah Jongg videos, but sometimes when I am scrolling they come up. This is how I see all the incorrect information and it makes me crazy.

My advice is find a real teacher who has been doing it a long time and for a lot of people. A bad Mah Jongg teacher can turn off more people than they excite because learning mah Jongg is hard at first. If someone does not have a very systematic way to teach you it will be so much harder to learn.

Ask around about teachers. Good teachers will have lots of students who will be happy to tell you what learning from them is like. Time is important. Don’t waste yours with a non-expert. It will take you five times as long to learn.

If you have questions I am happy to answer them. If you are unsure you got the right advice ask me. The one thing everyone who has taken from me knows is I will always have an answer and I will give you the reason behind the answer.

If you want to further your mah Jongg knowledge I have a Beyond beginner Class May 27-29 in Raleigh from 6-9 pm that still has room. I don’t represent any companies so I will not try and sell you any tiles.