I currently work for a large U.S. Federal Agency advising on agreements between the U.S. and Chinese governments. I regularly must maintain relations, negotiate and function as a U.S. representative to Chinese officials within the context of Chinese culture and express sensitivity to Chinese history and modern society while utilizing Mandarin to effect results.
I am U.S. born but am of Chinese descent and have learned it throughout most of my life, perfecting pronunciation in Chinese during my studies at Columbia University, and living in China, cumulatively, for over a year.
Besides having to serve as a diplomat to the Chinese, through my undergraduate and graduate studies I focused on Chinese modern history, economics and culture. My grasp of modern Chinese history is solid from the Last Dynasty through issues affecting modern China's rapid growth and introduction to global politics.
Before working for the Federal Government I also served as the Executive Director of the Shuang Wen Academy Network, a New York City-based non-profit that works to apply dual language learning in Mandarin Chinese to the public education system. Although I was not a teacher there, I managed 27 Chinese language teachers and closely monitored their methods and pedagogy.
With regards to Mandarin language, I focus more on tutoring pronunciation, listening and and practical spoken applications to those who are interested in either living or working in China, or must interact with Mandarin speakers for work. Also, my services are perfect for parents of children who are learning Chinese and would like to facilitate their education at home by offering an environment where Chinese is spoken. I look to give students a practical grasp of spoken Chinese off which they may communicate in Chinese and learn more on their own time.
I don't tutor reading and writing because it is not my specialization, and written Chinese demands much longer class time, rote memorization and lengthy practice and repetition, and in my opinion, should be reserved for a classroom where the student can spend more time in studies.
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