Learn Mandarin from someone who learned from the ground up!
That’s what one of my students said about my one-on-one lessons!
“Todd is the perfect choice, since he also had to learn the language from the ground up.” Carissa L.
Why is this?
Because, I persevered through the difficulties — and still do. So, if you’re learning Mandarin, why not take advantage of my decades of discoveries and experience?
Let’s look at the character “忍 rěn” — persist, perservere. It’s a fascinating character that gives us a glimpse into Chinese cultural practices. It’s what has kept me going through the challenges.
You might also be interested in a short explaination of the character “忍.”
And, a poem that gives us yet more insight to the concept of “忍.”
I’ve taught Mandarin to students of all levels, including heritage speakers, for over ten years. When working as a K-12 teacher, I received Chinese language instruction training through StarTalk and ACTFL. And, as a fluent non-native speaker, I have successfully created a revolutionary method of teaching Mandarin. I also successfully completed the U.S. Department of Defense DLPT5 Mandarin assesement.
My journey with Mandarin and the Chinese culture spans decades. It began in Taiwan in 1984. I lived in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Mainland China for over twenty years. And, I’ve spoken Mandarin for over forty years!
I teach proper Mandarin. The only way for non-natives to speak Mandarin is proper production of sounds and tones.
My journey to proper Mandarin started in Taiwan and weaved its way to Hong Kong, Hangzhou, Shanghai, to Beijing and even further north. This experience informed my understanding of — “What is proper Mandarin?” I experienced the language from the deep south to the far north, and worked in jobs that introduced me to what the Chinese themselves consider ‘proper speech.’
So, let me save you the trek and let’s get straight to proper pronunciation.
Once you have proper speech down, then journey off to the regional speech. It’s quite colorful. But, always have the proper speech to come back to — for high level encounters and when wanting to impress and woo your listeners!
It’s about literature, reading, and speaking
If you want to achieve a good grasp of spoken Mandarin, for non-native speakers, reading written Chinese is the best way to get there.
Endulging in Chinese literature exposes you to a broad spectrum of vocabulary and ways of expression. It showcases the alluring eloquence of the language and the mystic of the culture.
What you’ll get
Sometimes, I’ll create a lesson for a reading. Sometimes, I’ll create a video, or an audio recording, too. But there will always be something to take you to a new and fascinating place in the Chinese culture and worldview — via both the Chinese written and spoken languages.
I will share excerpts from books I’m reading — or have read. Plus, readings from simpler books for young readers. These readings for young Chinese readers are more difficult than the texts written precisely for foreigners learning Mandarin. This kind of writing is called “authentic materials.” Athentic materials are materials written for and read by the native speakers —authentic in language and culture.
All readings will be presented with Pinyin. Pinyin is very important for non-native speakers. Pinyin supports us to remember proper enunciation, confirm pronunciation, or simply reminds us of the correct tone.
If you feel you don’t need Pinyin, be careful, consider training yourself not to look at it. But when you need it, it’s there! Even native speakers’ tones can go astray. So much more so, that of non-native speakers.
This is a book I recently finished —《荆楚争雄记》
荆楚争雄记 (jīng chǔ zhēng xióng jì) is an historical novel written by “黄易 huáng yì,” a famous writer of martial arts novels. The story takes place during the final days of the Warring States Period — 战国时期 zhàn guó shí qī (475-221 BC).
The Chinese call this type of novel, “武侠小说 wǔ xiá xiǎo shuō” — a Martial Arts Novel.
Here’s a sentence from the book.
Translation:
On the road, his horse-drawn coach met up with Wu Zixu’s horse carriage. Wu Zixu invited him to come and sit on his carriage, and together hold a meeting.
Vocabulary:
座驾马车 = horse drawn coach (stagecoach)
途中 = on the way, on the road
遇到 = to meet up with, run into
伍子胥 = a person’s name
马车 = horse carriage
请 = to invite
过来 = come over
坐上 = to sit on
一同 = 一起;together
赴会 = 开会;to have a meeting