Teaching English, Learning Mandarin

Gustavo is teaching English three times a week to one of the "Kindergarten Moms". We are also doing a weekly language exchange with two students. I'm proud to announce that I now can recognize ten (!) addtional characters. However, to read Chinese for understanding, one needs to be able to read the characters as a group to get the meaning. Reading individual characters is similiar to reading syllables - it doesn't mean much unless it's connected to another syllable. But it's a start! It's also a thrill to see something in print and pick out a "tree" among the "forest". Our speaking skills are improving, too. Gustavo is still ahead of me, but he always talks way more than I do anyway - in Spanish, English, and now Chinese...

Gustavo with his student ZhangJie demonstrating a common photo pose.


Our very patient tutors DanQing (on the left) and Liu.